Gunnison 9/9 to 9/13

[underhillsbill]

Made a trip to Gunnison, CO with a buddy on Wednesday 9/9 through 9/13.  Planned 3 full days of fishing plus a couple nights on the Taylor.  Weather was great, a perfect reprieve from north Texas, low/mid 30s in the mornings and low 70s in the afternoons.  Started with some creek fishing on Thursday in the Gunnison National Forest.  Drive from Gunnison west past the Blue Mesa reservoir and north into the national forest was not for the weak of stomach.  Beautiful drive but my kids would have been green..  Fished off an on in a 5 mile stretch and didn't see a single person all day.  Quite a few cows, deer, grouse (I think), and plenty of brook trout.  8' 4wt all day with dry flies was a blast.  Rubber legged stimulators (orange and yellow) and royal humpys were the winners.  Stealth with long upstream casts and 5x and 6x tippet required.  Once we got the hang of that, it was fish on.

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[underhillsbill]

After pizza at Mario's in town (great!), we headed up to the Taylor river just below the reservoir for some night fishing.  Neither of us had night fished but figured what better place to learn (just decided to stay out of the water as much as possible..).  Got to the bridge just after 9p and there were only a couple other cars/trucks there.  Basically had most of the stretch to ourselves.  We both fished mostly nymph rigs with two mysis shrimp, lead fly with some flash then a smaller epoxy shrimp tailing.  My first drift I hooked up with a fish and I certainly wasn't prepared for the run.  Had the fish on the line for maybe 15 seconds then it turned and hauled a** down river.  Lost that one..  There were also a ton of bugs coming off the water and fish rising all evening.  Mostly small BWOs (maybe?) with the occasional bigger fly.  We tried a dry fly or two and I even threw a mouse for a while but no strikes.  Back to the shrimp, fish hammered those til we left about 1a.  Between the two of us, we landed 10 or so browns and 1 rainbow, probably lost another 7-8 after the hookup on big runs.  Fished the 5 wt, wouldn't make that mistake again the 2nd night.  While walking back to the car around 11a for some fortitude, there were a couple guys parked next to me rigging up.  I said hi and we exchanged a couple comments about how great the fishing is but it's completely dark so couldn't really see either one of them.  I paused after one of them said "yes sir"  and completely recognized the voice.  My huge surprise, Peter Breeden and Ryan Ellis were parked right next to me.  Great to catch up and hear about their summer in Lake City.  They both had trips that day and the next day but were still planning to fish well into the night.  Who needs sleep right?  Peter caught a monster that night he may later share (it's on his Instagram RRFF).  Great to see Peter and meet Ryan.

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[underhillsbill]

Friday morning we decided to fish in the Taylor River Canyon.  Stopped in at the Gunnison River Fly Shop for flies and some local advise.  Great folks at the fly shop, helped us two novices the whole trip.  Started above Harmel Ranch at the south bank campground.  Fished north a few miles stopping at every campground and turnoff access point.  Big boulders and fast pocket water all morning.  Beautiful but extremely humbling fishing.  We both hooked into a few and landed a couple 8-12 inch browns.  Most every stretch we were the only people fishing.  Saw the occasional rock climber (especially at south/north bank) and a river raft trip or two.  The afternoon we fished south from Harmel's to just north of Almont.  Nymph rigs all day.  20 inchers and caddis pupa/emergers for the lead fly, dropping small baetis nymphs and midges.  Rubber legged stoneflies too.  Tried a dry or two but my skills aren't there with the fast water.

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[underhillsbill]

Friday night we headed back up to the hog trough for round two of night fishing.  My buddy took his 6 wt and I fished my 7wt after we both lost a bunch of fish the night before.  Why take a knife to a gun fight right?  Quite a few more people this night but we figured that since it was a Friday.  Very social crowd.  3 guys on the other side of the river were cracking a beer after each fish.  Funny, they must have caught 50 fish.  Land the fish, hear that distinct can opening, then shortly after hear the empty rattling in the cooler.  Heavier rods helped immensely as we only lost a couple fish.  Had to run down river a few times but we landed probably 15 fish.  Many browns around 20" and one close to 24 or 25" (easily the biggest fish I've ever caught).  That big fish got a little revenge.  Took my lead fly.  While I was wrestling him in the net trying to get the fly out, he flipped over and the bottom fly stuck in my finger.  I'm pretty sure he had a look in his eyes plus an evil grin.  Flopped a few more times pulling the fly deeper into my finger.  That fly was imbedded all the way past the shank.  Ouch.  Just another good reason to fish barbless hooks or pinch down the barb.  All the while, my buddy is standing on the shore laughing and I hear the guys across the river yell "nice fish dude."  Hooks out, quick picture, and we parted ways.   A great night.  Started about 7:30 that night and called it about midnight (that's a winding 35 minute drive back to Gunnison).  Mysis shrimp again but did tie on a squirmy for a while that got a few strikes.

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[underhillsbill]

By saturday we were pretty beat, decided to stay close to town and check out the Gunnison.  Folks at Gunnison River Fly Shop drew us a map to get to a half mile easement around private land.  Something like, turn left at the fence made of skis, go a ways until you get to an alley, take the alley to a dirt road and park, find the trail and walk a mile to the river.  Nice.  Beautiful stretch of water, saw several drift boats go by but no other wade fisherman.  Again humbling fishing.  Plenty of fish in the water, just operator error.  Called it early that afternoon as our beloved Sooners were kicking off at 4 against Tennessee.  Proceeded to drink our remaining beer and whiskey and get the attention of everyone at our lodge.  Overall great 3 days of fishing, some hiking too.  Can't spend enough time in Colorado and there's an endless number of rivers and creeks still to explore.  Now to find more time to head back..

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[dainw]

Thanks for the trip report and pics and congrats on the big brown. Sounds like a sweet trip.

[underhillsbill]

Dainw, definitely a great trip. Just further reinforces the need to spend more time fishing in Colorado. On the drive up, we drove by what looked like a great stretch of the Arkansas from Texas Creek to Salida, need to add that to the list too.

[golferjeff]

Texas Creek to Salida is awesome at flows between 300-500. Above 500 is floating water, which it is most of the summer. The Coaldale/vallie bridge area is especially nice. 80% Browns, mostly between 12-16".

[underhillsbill]

Thanks for the details Jeff. I need to follow your lead and have a rod rigged and ready in the car, if a spot looks fish on the way (and has public access), I'll be ready to stop. Tomichi Creek just west of Monarch Pass looked interesting too (although I think most of it is private).