Taylor Brutes

Output of Taylor Reservoir

After a great float trip on the Gunnison with  Gunnison River Guides the day prior Darren, Ben, and I met up with my folks for a day on the Taylor. My Dad has been trying to get up to the Taylor while the flow was still around 500 and he just missed it! I had actually been up once already this spring at the end of May and the fishing was good but I didn't see many big fish. It seems though that things had changed since my last trip. My folks had stopped by the hog trough the evening before while we were finishing up on the Gunnison and saw a guy land a 30" rainbow..... That was good news. Sounded like at least one brute was back in the trough. Interesting too since the flow had just gone from 500 to 450ish....

After a quick planning session at the hotel we decided that we would join my folks on the river a few hours after they were planning on starting (EARLY). We would get a little rest from our hard days work on the Gunnison and they would be able to scout things out before the crowd showed up. I thought of waking up at 3 AM to shine our headlights into my folks room. I could see my Dad jumping out of the room to catch any possible early Taylor departers! Would have been funny but I'm getting soft and 3AM is too damn early.

I think we showed up around 8:30 and we were definitely behind the power curve. Plenty of cars around the bridge. I did have the pleasure of meeting Warren Pattison and his buddy Marc Pizzimenti in the parking lot though. I've seen Warren around on Facebook and it turns out that Warren and Marc read the blog. Meeting cool people like these guys really is the best part of having the blog. We would wind up running into each other on the river later on that day...

I did a quick scan of the river and saw my folks up below the wire. They had started at daylight and were already on the board with some nice bows. I had left some flies in a fly box for my Dad at the front desk of the hotel the day before for Father's Day. I told the front desk to hand them to him and tell him that they had pre-charged them to his room. Figured it would be worth a good laugh later on. The front desk blew it but he did get his fly box later on in the evening. I threw in a mix of flies, tied and bought, that I figured would be good for the Taylor that day. There were a handful
of nice #18 beadhead flashback Hare's Ears that I had found in the bargain bin at Angler's Covey a few days before. These were working well early for the folks and continued to work well throughout the day. It was a great start to the day and it was awesome to hear that some bigger rainbows had already been caught!

I decided to walk around a bit and see what was swimming around in the hog trough. What I saw was very promising. I spotted at least half a dozen 20" plus trout on the first pass. I walked over the bridge and up to the wire on the other

side and spotted a few more. I stopped here for a while and picked up a few nice bows and missed a 20 incher on a long run. I walked back over the bridge to where my folks were and took a few casts to some descent trout that were holding in open water. I was scanning the far side of the river when I spotted a large shadow on the far side (where I had just come from). Back down stream and over the bridge again. On my way up I spotted a 24" class rainbow that was in open water before I even got to the one I spotted from the other bank. Wow! This was awesome! Large trout on the move. They were eating too.


It seems like on this river lately they are either there or they are not. I know its surprising how far a trout can move in a river and I'm thinking that the high flow pushed a lot of them down below the first section of public water. Lots of room down there. Less shrimp but lots of stoneflies. The drop in flow the day before may have sent some of them back upstream to the private water under the dam. Who knows???? That's what I would do if I lived around the hog trough.

I got in position and started casting, carefully to lay down soft casts without lining anything. The good news was that I wasn't spooking anything. The bad news was that I wasn't hooking anything. I decided to change my rig. A few more casts without anything. I knew I was getting good drifts because I could see my flies in the water. That is when the brute showed up. He swam up from the first deep cut below the wire into the run that I was fishing and parked it 3 feet below the trout I was fishing to. O..... M..... G...... I was instantly nervous. This thing was ridiculous. A HUGE male bow that I figured was 10 pounds plus. I have seen these freaks of nature before in this river and they are VERY hard to cast to without spooking. Luck was on my side though. I was already in position and he swam up to me. I just had to relax and not make any stupid mistakes.

My first cast was well short of where I needed to be. Always best to aim short and go from there. If you line them they are gone. My second cast was on the money. He looked and then let himself slide downstream back into deeper water. Ahhhhh!!!!! He didn't spook though. He just lazily drifted downstream 10 feet or so. I knew he would be back if I just had patience. He came back quicker than I thought he would, within a minute I think, and I took the same cast. Same thing..... He slid back downstream 10 feet and held. I know better than to try and force feed something like this and I knew I put two good drifts in front of him so I decided to let the water rest and change both of my flies. This is something I'm doing more and more, vs. a single fly change. It takes a little more time (less if you use the Davy (Wotton) Knot [only if using small hooks and small tippet]) but I've had good results. This Wotton Knot is quick, it totally disappears, and leaves your line super clean (no kinks whatsoever). Just be careful to make sure its fully tightened.

Now I know it sounds like I have a total man crush on John Kleis since he's in most of my posts lately but he gave me a little tip on our way back from a trip to Spinney in May on a certain fly that he heard worked well up on the Taylor when the Mysis bite was on. This was not the Kleis's Mysis (which is always worth having on at the Taylor and what I actually had on the previous two casts). And when he said it, it made total sense to me. One of those things I couldn't believe I didn't think of before. One of those things that you knew would work even before trying it. Thing was I did actually try it during my last trip to the Taylor at the end of May and it had worked.... really well.... Now I know how terrible of a move this is since you have read to this point but...... I can't say what it is. Anything I learn on my own I throw out there freely but this tip is not mine to give. Now if Kleis wants to pipe up and throw it out there that is another thing - Sorry Buddy! I did tell my buddy Nick (who I met on my last trip to the Taylor and saw again this trip) since I've tied them a little differently but that was an on the water thing between new friends. And I may have let it slip in talking to Warren and Marc....Ben was in the car when you told me and my folks are a given. Last tip I ever get out of Kleis...

Back to the brute! I was confident. I was in a good spot, with two good fresh flies, on a clean rig, set at the perfect depth (shot and indicator), in a position that I knew I could make a good cast without spooking anything. Confident. Ever hear the term confidence flies? Confidence plays a huge role in fly fishing. If your gut is telling you something is off change it till you feel good about it. I was also surrounded by great nets, my Mom and Dad, Darren and Ben on the far side of the river, Marc downstream from me on my side of the river, and Warren upstream a ways on my side of the river. There were a bunch of plan Bs standing below Marc on my side of the river as well. I had rested the water for a few minutes and the brute was back.

I made the same cast a third time and saw a head turn and a mouth. Time stopped.  Very surreal moment lifting the rod. I felt a solid stop and knew I had a good hook set. Usually I'm pretty vocal about things like this but I think all I got out was a pretty quiet, "oh my god he ate it". The next 5 minutes or so are pretty blurry. I knew Marc was on it with the net. He was able to stay below the fish in the perfect position. We went up and down the river and I do remember two times specifically when I had to apply too much pressure in order to steer this thing around some rocks. In those situations you just have to realize that if you don't do anything you'll lose the fish for sure. The whole thing came to a head when I caught another lucky break and the fish came into thigh deep water just above Marc. The fish was only a foot down and I was getting good vertical pressure on him. I THINK Marc asked if he should go in or something to that effect. Could just be my imagination but I THINK he asked and think I remember saying do it, do it.

My Mom and Dad on the far side of the river

Fish was in the net. Mostly.... Wow what a site that was. Burned in my brain forever. Marc went in and came up with a whole lot of fish. We got a good tape on him, keeping him in the water of course, and he was a solid 29". Almost a "dirty thirty" as Marc put it. My longest trout ever. I lifted him out of the water for a quick pick and put him back in the current. I was going to turn around and lift him up one more time to show my folks, Darren, and Ben but he kicked that idea and was gone. Nothing better than a good release of a big fish. Had a great feeling of accomplishment, and thankfulness come over me. Perfect setting, around friends and family, and an absolute masterpiece of nature. Living.

I decided to step aside and point out the original shadow I had come across the bridge a third time for to Marc. He really added to the experience. He was so happy for me. We even had a riverside toast. Marc set a perfect example of how to be around others on a crowded river. On top of that he pulled off a helluva net job. It was the absolute least I could do. Thanks Marc and I hope I run into you again soon!

Marc and SLAB

The trip was far from over. Marc's karma bank was full and he got dialed into the run quickly. I really only had time to get back over the bridge to talk to my folks about what had just transpired when Marc hooked a SLAB. I knew I wouldn't have my fish without Marc's net so I grabbed my net and started to head downstream when I heard everyone going nuts! The whole thing was over just as quick as it started. I didn't see it but apparently my Old Man transformed into what Marc described as a "ninja" and just plucked this pig out of the water mid run/jump behind his back!!!! Whaaaa???? As Warren would later describe it, "You're going to have to write about you're Dad's trick shot on grabbing my buddy, Marc's toad right from the air and behind the back... instant classic". I had to get a quick video of this fish. Another unbelievable specimen at 25". This day had just crossed over from great to epic.

Just after the ninja net

Warren fighting a pig, Marc in pursuit

And it wasn't over! After a quick "lunch" we were back on the water. Warren and Marc had hooked several other very large trout on the far side and had moved on to new water. I figured what the hell. It was open so I figured I'd take a few more casts in the sweet spot. More good luck..... I was at the end of my drift and was getting ready to cast when I felt a tug and saw another red slab absolutely losing his mind on the way across the river. He came completely out of the water twice. Another prime moment with the GoPro in the truck. The river
ninja was on it with the net and we had another river gem. This time a 22" bow. At this point I just felt guilty. No one deserves this kind of day on the water. Unbelievable. Score another one for the bargain bin too. #22 olive sparkle wing RS2. Whoever is stocking the bargain bin at the Covey deserves employee of the month (Steve?).

Still not done with this trip..... we weren't done with the bargain bin flies either. Remember that #18 beadhead flashback Hare's Ear? I rigged my Mom up with one of those and a San Juan and she would wind up capping off the day by
hooking into yet another big rainbow! I grabbed the net and got downstream. Darren was johnny-on-the-spot and helped my Mom wade downstream a little after the fish made a long run. This fish actually made three or four long runs. Did NOT like the looks of the net. I should have let the river ninja jump in! We finally got her in the net, a 20" beauty. Bargain bin!

What a trip. Best ever to the Taylor. We've put in some hard days on this river but we always come back for more and it certainly paid off for us this day. My folks commented on how nice it was to have everyone on the river chatting it up and having a great time together. I really can't remember another day like it. We wouldn't have had such a great day without everyone who was there. Grateful to spend such a day with this group of family and friends.

Update: Just got some great pics from Marc and Warren! I was right about Marc's karma bank and Warren's netting skills!!! Yowza. What a day...

Marc and SLAB 2

OK this is getting ridiculous

Oh Common! You're just showing off now Marc!