Alicia's First Trout on a Dry Fly!

Alicia's first on a dry fly!

19 incher out of Elk!

20 incher out of Spring!

Alicia spent the morning schooling Marty, Ben, and me at Rainbow Falls and she caught her first trout on a dry fly! Not just any trout either but this sweet bow! She really was flawless in her execution. I think it took her by surprise a little (as it does all of us the first time we see a fish eat a dry fly) and she very calmly lifted the rod and held the perfect pressure as the fish made its first few runs. This was only after Alicia pulled in two other slabs up top!

We spent the morning fishing Spring, Eagle,Palmer, and Elk Lake. Alicia hammered a STRONG 20 incher in Spring Lake on a #18 bead head, flashback Hares Ear. This thing peeled some line. Alicia is getting very good at fighting fish! So proud of her.

Alicia has actually dramatically improved in a lot of areas over the last year or so. Casting, spotting fish, knot tying, fighting fish, netting..... Very cool to see Alicia enjoying this sport. She out fished all of us today and I couldn't be happier.

Marty also did very well today. He missed a brute on Spring Lake early in the morning but made up for it at the end of the morning on dries with some nice fish during the Caddis hatch.

It is bug season at Rainbow Falls as Richard pointed out in the last Tightline. Ditch the streamer rod, San Juans, and eggs and hit the midge hatch early with very small Griffiths Gnats. Trail one behind an Elk Hair Caddis so you don't go cross-eyed trying to see it on the water! Other good combos today were #18 Chocolate Shot Glass and #18 bead head flash

Marty with a nice one that crushed a dry!

back Hares Ear 12" behind an Elk Hair. Don't be afraid to move your flies. A slow retrieve with quick pauses was working well as Ben pointed out.

Great day at one of my favorite places soaking up some sun and catching some sweet fish. Always fun spending time with this crew. Even got to catch up with Richard who was, as usual, out and about working hard on the property. He has some great plans in the works for this coming off season and next season is only going to be better!

Marty again on a dry!

Dream Stream with Landon Mayer

It's taken a minute (month +) to wrap my mind  around the fishing trip Ben and I went on with Landon Mayer. As far as I can tell Ben is in the same boat. We've spoke about it more than a few times and neither one of us can really pin the right words on it. It's been hard to write this post because every time I've sat down to do so I've had trouble figuring out where to start.

I think it's best to start with guides in general. I fly fished for over 15 years before going on a guide trip. My Old Man and I never really considered it when I was growing up and after not really thinking about it for so long it was just a thing that other people did. It wasn't that we thought we were good enough to not need a guide but I think it was just our time and didn't really want to share it. Plus I needed time to cement my bad fishing habits in my brain.

So after years of not thinking about it much Ben Lewis shook things up and we planned a guide trip to the North Platte a year and a half ago. This was my first guide trip and float trip and once that genie is out of the bottle there's no turning back. Since that trip we've been on several guide trips and I've been totally blown away at the caliber of guides we have in and around Colorado. It's staggering the amount of knowledge that's available from these guys. Ben and I have been on 4 or 5 more guide trips since that first trip and we have learned a ton and have had a blast doing it with guides like Jon Kleis, Greg Muller and Jason Booth.

Ben with a sweet bow

Ben and I have talked about trying to get a Dream Stream trip booked with Landon for pretty much as long as we've been fishing together. It all came together at the 2013 Fly Fishing Film Tour. Landon donated a full day Dream Stream trip for two to benefit Project Healing Waters. Perfect! We could donate to an amazing organization and finally get on the water with Landon. What we didn't know at the time was that we'd have to reschedule a few times due to the terrible flows coming out of Spinney last fall and a Colorado springtime snow dump the night before our first rescheduled date. Just like everyone else we wanted to hit some big spawners but the timing just didn't work out this trip.

We did have the flow on our side though. There had been plenty of water coming out of Spinney and the word on the street was that the Dream Stream was living up to it's name. I started getting that Christmas Eve type feeling about a week before the trip. Our expectations were sky high which got me thinking about how you handle client expectations when you have a reputation like Landon does. That question would be answered before our first cast.

A beaut of a brown

I have to say I was a little intimidated to meet Landon. A guy as accomplished as Landon would actually have justification for an ego the size of some I've encountered in the fly fishing world. So I admit it, I was a little nervous. It took about a minute to get over that though. We all hit it off right away. Landon is just a cool Dude. Very approachable and easy to talk to. We chatted it up in the parking lot while we were getting ready and on the walk over to the river and I knew it was going to be a fun day before we started fishing.

When we got to the river Landon gave us a quick block of instruction which totally blew me away. My expectation going in was that I was going to learn a lot but I think I identified at least 3 things I knew I could improve in my fishing before my flies even hit the water. Expectations exceeded before casting...

Cutty!

Then there was the fishing. It took one maybe two casts to get our first take. It totally caught me off guard. Usually it takes me a while to dial in on this river. I was not expecting to hook up that quickly. Landon came over and gave a play by play on what happened and what I could have done better to keep the fish on. Learning!

Ben was hooked up and moving downstream just after that. Landon coached while we made our way down river keeping ahead of the fish which was a good trout. Wow... 5 minutes and we've been hit and are now hooked up on a good fish. It just kept going from there.

One of the things I've learned since going on guided trips is that you really don't need any super secret flies to be successful on the river. There are time tested patterns that just work year in and year out. This was something that was reenforced on this trip. We didn't use any crazy patterns. Landon knew what bugs were hatching and what bugs to expect during the day and we stuck to a few tried and true patterns like Pheasant Tails and Buckskins. We saw first hand how it's all about finding a target, planning an approach, and executing on the plan. This idea is in Landon's books but it's another thing altogether to experience it on the river. Especially on a river that has schooled me time and time again. 

Finding a target.... I have spent a lot of years reading water and have relied on that for a long time. It's only during the last several years that I've really concentrated on spotting fish. Landon's books have had a lot to do with that. It's not something that has come naturally to me and I've made pretty good progress over the past few years but I think I may have improved this skill more during a single day of fishing with Landon than I had working at it on my own for several years.

Target

I know it's been said a million times but Landon really does have superhuman trout spotting abilities. It's just unbelievable. It's worth going fishing with Landon just to get an idea of what is possible when it comes to spotting fish. It was great to just stare at the trout Landon was finding in order to burn those images in to our brains. I've learned not to look for a fish so to speak but I had no idea what clues I was missing. It really built my confidence up and by the end of the day I was spotting fish I wouldn't have before.

Getting schooled by a big brown

The day just blew by in what seemed to be a few hours. We were completely dialed in by lunch.
Landon would jump between Ben and me. He stayed busy for sure! We were having a blast and it just felt like 3 old friends having an incredible day of fishing. It turned out that it didn't really matter what time of year it was. I had my chance with a big brown. Landon spotted him across the river and once my eyes adjusted I was able to pick out the form of a very large brown. He ate after a few casts but took me directly down into a gauntlet of rocks and eventually ran me under a log. Landon and I were pretty much running after him in some pretty tough current! It hurt to lose him but Landon pointed out that you learn the most on fish you lose not the ones you catch.

One thing that Ben and I have said a few times since the trip is that Landon is just on another level completely. It really opened my eyes and connected a lot of dots for me. I've used several things I learned on this trip on some recent outings and it just blows me away that I spent so many years not doing a few simple things that really can be the difference in hooking or not hooking fish and landing or not landing fish. I would recommend a trip with Landon to anyone. No matter what level you are at you will learn something new that you can apply immediately and you will have fun doing it. Ben and I are already booked for October!

Camping Trip to Beaver Creek

Had an awesome time camping with my sweetie at Beaver Creek. We spent some quality time together in an absolutely beautiful area and had two perfect Colorado blue bird days. Alicia captured some stunning images and we brought in a few river gems. What's better? My sweetie writing up the trip for us!

Between Jamie’s crazy work schedule, his fly fishing bug, our family life, and me being a full time student we do not get to spend much time together as a couple. When we do it is usually over a quick meal. So a few weeks back while Jamie and I were enjoying a quick lunch date I became slightly irritated by his phone (to be fair my phone too) interrupting our time together. I needed to get away with him someplace where his demanding job, future fishing plans, our kids, pets, cell phone service, and responsibilities would not interrupt my time with him.Yes I was being selfish when I suggested the idea of a camping date. It was a necessary evil.

I had originally wanted to hit Chalk Creek, secretly hoping to make a stop at the Mount Princeton Hot Springs, but while Jamie was on his epic Gunnison/Taylor trip he sent me a text suggesting Beaver Creek. We had been there a while back with our youngest daughter Madi. Remembering how beautiful the area was my daydreams of the hot springs were quickly replaced with the excitement of being behind the lens of my Nikon and spending quality time with my hubby.

The day before our trip I went through our camping supplies and came up with a very comprehensive list of things to pack. This is not something that comes naturally to me. I was proud of the list and all of the things that I remembered we might need until I started to shove the items into the large backpack I would be using. Stubbornly determined I only crossed two items off the list. My pack was heavy, really heavy. Thankfully Jamie is strong and was able to put the tent (which is surprisingly heavy) and other things in his pack along with the fishing gear.

We arrived at the parking lot of Skaguay Reservoir around 4pm, parked the White Buffalo (our near mint condition 92 Jeep Cherokee), placed our cell phones in the glove compartment, hoisted on our ridiculously heavy packs, and began our hike down to Beaver Creek. Confession time, I had been pep-talking myself for nearly 24 hours that I would be able to hike with that pack on, and that I wouldn’t whine about it.  I was able to achieve the first but not the second.

We passed a few campsites that looked perfectly reasonable to me (wanting to offload my pack) but Jamie had his 6th sense working and encouraged me to keep going, he had a feeling that there was a better site further down. I am so glad he did because we ended up with a site that not only was exceptionally beautiful, secluded, and near the creek it also had a lot of firewood left by the last campers.It was perfect, almost as if the camping gods were smiling down on us. The hike really wasn’t that long maybe a mile to a mile and ½ at the most. We quickly set up camp. I rigged my camera up and Jamie his fly rods. I captured some beautiful scenery and Jamie caught a couple river gems. It was a good night.

The next day after a campfire breakfast and coffee, we packed up camp and headed down stream for my quick lesson in small creek fly-fishing. Most of my fly fishing experience had been at Rainbow Falls and the Arkansas in Pueblo so this was a new experience for me. Thank goodness I have a good and experienced teacher. I gave creek fishing a legitimate try, worked on casting a dry fly and then turned to my camera. I couldn’t help it. Watching Jamie in his natural element brought more joy to me than catching any fish… (well maybe not a 29 and 1/2 incher;)).

The hike out was a little harder for me than the hike in even though Jamie was a sweetheart and took more weight out of my bag and put it in his. I think it was the gravity of natural beauty slowing me down.

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!

Gunnison River Float (with a touch of Taylor)

This is a long one! After writing this I couldn't believe how long it turned out. Just too many good things to ignore. I won't be offended if you skip straight to the vid/pics but this was an awesome trip and I hope you'll stick it out.


GUNNISON RIVER FLOAT TRIP 6-13-14 from Jamie Roth on Vimeo.

I love it when a plan comes together. When a plan comes together that you didn't even really have to do anything for, it's great! I admit that I'm not the best at taking the time to plan a fishing trip much in advance (which I'm sure the Old Man loves). Usually it's just a "Hey Dad/Dude, wanna hit the X on Saturday"? Luckily for me Ben Lewis was on POINT planning this bad boy out.

Darren second from left and Ben right end in AK

This trip started out with news that Ben's buddy Darren Peterson, who lives in San Diego, wanted to come out to our great state of Colorado for a little water whipping this summer. We (Ben) had some really good fishing to plan! Ben met Darren through a mutual friend up in Alaska when Ben was stationed there with the Chair.... eh hem Air Force. They have gone on some pretty epic fishing trips together. Several day floats down big Alaskan rivers, bears, huge flesh fly on 2x eating rainbow slabs..... Ben's first trout actually was up in Alaska. It was 26". Ben asked if that was good. All downhill from there but hey Ben, you have good fishing buddies at least.... And Darren is one of them.

I guess I did contribute a little to this trip. Ben and I spoke about places to fish and I have been wanting to do a float on the Gunnison for years. Ben was totally down but I was a little worried about runoff. We didn't know if the river would be fishable mid June. We decided to book it (Ben) and if it came to it we could always hit the Taylor twice. We already had reservations (Ben) to stay in Gunnison after our float trip in order to introduce an Alaskan Veteran to the hog trough. Worst case scenario we could take the Guide trip on the Taylor and learn some juicy tid-bits.

Ben did some digging and came across Gunnison River Guides. He compared a few web sites and decided on these guys and I'm glad he did. These guys were great to deal (Ben) with from day 1. They expressed the same concern about the river flow but offered up a few alternatives including the Taylor and even a day for Pike fishing on Taylor Reservoir. We almost just chucked the float trip idea for the Pike idea but decided to save that for plan B.

Darren, Ben, and I met up the morning before the trip at the Angler's Covey to stock up on flies, tippet, split shot, etc, etc. It never seizes to amaze me how much of this stuff we go through. I've actually gone away from tapered leaders on my nymph rig but I don't skimp on tippet. Especially with the trout we fish to. By the way, always check out the bargain bin flies at the Covey. I picked up a few patterns out of that bin and they paid off big time on a very recent trip.

We loaded back up in the truck and I had a great feeling come over me. Freedom.... We didn't have any hard plans for the rest of the day other than to get some fishing in on our way over to Gunnison. Maybe thats why I suck at fishing plans...... what a great thing to experience during summer in Colorado. I felt like I was in high school again on a Friday afternoon with a full tank and nowhere to be....The next best thing, a Thursday morning in the Fish Pimp Tacoma, on vacation with three days of fishing planned (Ben).

I pulled out my eerilysmart phone and took a quick look at flows. Elevenmile Canyon seemed to be just right so we decided to hit that for a few hours. We mainly wanted to show Darren that area since it is such a pretty section of the South Platte. We caught a few and missed a few but we were eager to get back on the road. We were headed to the Gunny and had big flies on the brain. Small emergers just weren't cutting it! I wanted to hear my bugs hit the water!

Cottonwood - Older pic but could have been taken last week

We decided to head over Cottonwood Pass. It's my second favorite Colorado Pass (second to Independence) and we thought Darren would appreciate it. Somewhere along the line I remembered that I had fished Willow Creek (which flows off of Cottonwood and into the Taylor Reservoir) before when I was in high school with my buddy Nate Pamperin (how the hell are you anyway Man?). We decided to get a little small stream fishing in. Plus we could scout out the Taylor. My folks were going to meet us in Gunnison the next night and were thinking of hitting the Taylor before fishing it with us on Saturday. Could be some biggins to steer my Dad away from.

Willow Creek brown

We fished for an hour or so and landed some nice little browns. Willow Creek was running high and wading was actually pretty hard. I took my first and only swim of the trip after stepping into an overgrown hole instantly stopping the lower half of my body while my upper body continued into the COLD Cottonwood water (I feel ya Marty). It didn't matter though. We were on a beautiful creek with 3 weights fishing for aggressive little trout. Last time I fished this creek it was all top water but they weren't too interested in dries with the higher flow. So call me crazy but I was using a sparkle worm and a bead head PT. They were crushing both when I took the time to sneak up on them and present a descent cast.

Taylor Res output

The wind picked up and the clouds started
moving in so we decided we better start heading towards Gunnison. Besides we (Ben) still had plans to make with our Guides for the next day. We found out that our Guides were going to be on the water the day prior so we decided to see how they did before deciding on where to fish. We stopped to show Darren the output of Taylor Reservoir which is worth a quick look if you've never seen it. It's no wonder Craven's Mysis work so well here. They certainly take a beating on the way down.I'm thinking a white crystal flash dubbing ball on a hook....

On the way in to town we (Ben) were able to get in touch with one of our Guides for the next day and the word was that the river was still high but fishing well! Saweet!!!! I love the Taylor but I really didn't want two days in a row of light tippet and small flies...... (I was forgetting the kind of fish that live in the Taylor).....

THE FLOAT TRIP PART!

We met up with our guides at 10 AM in Almont. Yes 10 AM! Turns out that the river flow peaks overnight from the previous day's runoff and it's best to start late and fish late in order to get the clearest water. You would think after 20 years of fishing I'd know this but it just goes to show that you never stop learning in this sport. Especially when you change things up and take a break from tailwaters to cover some ground on a big freestone.

When we got there our guides already had the boats in the water and were rigging up. Jason was going to be guiding Darren and Ben in the first boat and I was going to jump in the second with Hunter. They both had about half a dozen rigs setup for us. Why? With the water moving as fast as it was, taking time to rig up on the drift would burn lots of river. Score a quick one for the Guides. So far so good. 

I'll save you a few, I promise!

Now I have to say that I had full intentions of rotating out of the second boat before we started. I figured Darren and Ben should get some fishing in together but if they wanted some time on a boat to themselves I'd be more than happy to jump on with Jason. I was even planning to offer it up the first chance we go. It quickly became apparent though just how good I had it. I'm an ass... Hunter got off to a quick start and we were the first boat to start downstream (I think to Ben's dismay - see pic - Sorry Ben! :-))

Great Guide and cool Dude Hunter

I could tell I liked Hunter right away. Another one of those guys that are just on the same wavelength as me. The first piece of advice I got from Hunter, before I even got in the boat, was to ditch the waders. This little gem of advice alone was worth a good tip it turned out. (The river was too high to wade and even though we stopped at good runs we never jumped out of the boat. Would have been WAY too  hot in waders).

Hunter has been guiding in Colorado for almost two decades. He has guided on many rivers but he finally decided that the Gunny was the river for him. He would wind up doing a fantastic job of convincing me why during the rest of the day.

One of the nicer browns

The "upper section" of the trip was really bonus water for us. With the river running so fast our Guides decided that we'd need more water than what they usually cover in order to fill a full day trip. Great! This trip was getting better and better. The upper section was between Almont and Gunnison and it turned out to be a great warm up for the day. Plenty of aggressive browns ranging in size between 8 and 14 inches. This was the type of fishing I was looking for. We had HUGE tippet on and double rubber legs (Girdle Bugs). Strikes were not very subtle! I absolutely live for this kind of fishing. When Hunter told me that it was feisty browns up top around Almont and bigger bows closer towards Gunnison I knew I was in for a really good day of fly fishing.

Darren having fun

We continued downstream hitting pockets on the drift along fast water and stopping at slower runs where the trout could get out of the heavy current. This provided an excellent mix of technical and laid back fishing. Half a dozen quick casts followed by half a dozen drifts through a nice run. Hunter had us on every possible holding area and there were a bunch of them. We found some pockets with no one home and some with players but every cast held the full expectation of a take. This lasted the entire trip which is really the kind of day you are after....They go fast.

Walking on water

Darren, Ben, and Jason in the sweet spot

Turned out that Darren and Ben were having just as much fun with Jason. We would leap frog each other on the way down stream and several times I'd see them go by with a fish on or in the net. It was a great feeling just being on the water. There were a handful of sections that were just a little too fast to hold much of anything. It gave me a chance to just stand up at the front of the boat and relax as we drifted down river. Float trips are a recent thing for me and for anyone who has never experienced one I full heartedly recommend it. There are a few things to get used to but with a good Guide it's easy. If you find yourself getting a bit tired of fishing the same crowded areas with very small flies and very light tippet, the remedy is a float on a large freestone river. Go with the Guides we went with and you will not be disappointed.

We continued downstream switching between a big nasty nymph rig and a hopper dropper combo. The hopper dropper was great to cast and added the element of a big bushy top water bug to the mix. I saw a few flashes just below the fly in the off color water but didn't wind up getting any takes on it. It did disappear frequently though. One second it's there and the next it's not. When it's not you set the hook and hold on.

Just as Hunter predicted we started getting into nicer and nicer bows the further toward Gunnnison we got. Both boats netted a 20" bow with several others in the 18" range. These were just icing on the cake. I have no idea how many fish we netted but I'd say somewhere around 40 total. Darren and Ben never asked to switch boats and I never brought it up! I would have switched but I just couldn't bring myself to walk away from the kind of fun I was having and neither one of them looked ready at all to jump ship.

I actually had a chance to catch up with Jason on the way back to Almont and he's a very cool Dude (see note below). Probably knows more about this river than anyone on the planet. He's put a ton of days on the water over the years and knows the river like the back of his hand. I'm so glad that Ben picked these guys for our trip. Ben hit a home run picking these guys and I recommend them 100%.

I'll finish up this friggin dissertation with some pictures of the bows we landed. Enjoy and do yourself a favor and take this trip! (BTW GRG - I'm willing to take any "referral" days we could perhaps earn from referring you to millions of readers).

Jason Booth with a Taylor Hawg!

Jason Booth: I did get a nagging feeling that I had seen Jason somewhere before when we met up that morning. I didn't think anything of it till I was talking to him on the way back. Turns out Jason is a good friend of Landon Mayer's and is in Landon's book, "Colorado's Best Fly Fishing" in the Taylor chapter. He gives some killer advise in the caption under this unforgettable photo - some advice that I use on the Taylor and some advice that led me to the biggest fish I ever caught on the Taylor (upcoming blog post). Buy the book! Well worth it.

First Trip to North Catamount

I have got some writing to do! I'm three trips behind and I definitely wanted to get this one written up. It's tempting to skip right to the just under dirty thirty bow on the Taylor but it would be a sin to skip this trip and an awesome float on the Gunny so I'll go in order!

I have no idea why it's taken me 20 years to get up to this reservoir. I have always heard that there are good fish on Pikes Peak but I guess I've never been into stillwater enough to actually make it up there. A few things have changed my opinion on stillwater though in the recent past. The first is getting a membership at Rainbow Falls the past two years. I have learned a TON about stillwater fishing at that fishing paradise especially when it comes to streamer fishing. The second is a trip Ben and I did with Jon Kleis to Spinney Mountain Reservoir. Lets just say I have a new interest and appreciation for stillwater fly fishing.

Anyway, Ben and I learned a few things about the reservoirs on Pikes Peak. There are three of them. North and South Catamount Res and Crystal Creek Res. South Catamount and Crystal Creek allow bait fishing so we decided to hit North Catamount which is flies and lures only.

We didn't really know anything going in so we knew it would be a discovery trip. What we discovered is that this is an unbelievable beautiful place that you can be at in no time at all. It does cost $4 a person to drive up to the res but that is nothing for what you get. I had to stop and take the picture above. It didn't really matter if I caught anything after getting to stand in crystal clear water and see the Peak like that.

Ben figured out pretty quickly that very bright streamers were getting grabs. He had luck on small chartreuse and fluorescent pink slump busters. I had luck on small gray scuds although after speaking with a guy up there he stated that there aren't a lot of scuds in the res??? I think there are at least a few :-)

From talking to the same guy though we learned that there are in fact huge lake trout in the res and that it's best to hit it early (first two weeks after ice off). He has had really good luck on RS2s (I didn't see any Mayflys hatching). He said, "the smaller the better" as far as fly selection goes. Ben and I were probably using a little too big of flies since we didn't do very good.

We did manage to land a few though before the crazy weather blew in. It didn't take long at all for the fog to completely overtake the reservoir. It was very thick. If you were out in a float tube it would be hard to know which direction the shore was. Ben decided that we should probably start heading for the truck and it turned out to be a very good call. The Park Rangers started driving around the res with megaphones telling everyone about a severe thunderstorm warning. Turns out there were actual tornadoes that touched down that afternoon around Lake George.  We've had pretty crazy weather this spring but I'll take that any day over fires and floods.

30 Fish Day at Rainbow Falls

Had the pleasure of fishing with Brad and Ed on Friday up at Rainbow Falls. Neither had been to Rainbow Falls before. We had planned the trip a few months back and we were all looking forward to it. I hadn't fished with either of these guys before. I met Brad a few years back at work. His buddy Ed has the sickness and passed it to Brad. We got to talking one day at work and the conversation naturally led to fishing. I had to break out some fish pics and after that it was a done deal. We were going to Rainbow Falls.

We met up at Safeway and I piled all my gear into Brad's Denali. This thing can hold some gear. Good thing too since it looked like we were packing up for a road trip to Canada. We stopped at Safeway and stocked up for lunch. We split up, Ed got the bread, I got the drinks and wax doughnuts, and Brad stopped at the Deli and got some turkey and 5 pounds of cheese (Deli counter was a little "off"). We packed up the cooler, made a few pit stops in Woodland Park, and were on the water by 9.

Creek section had filled in a bit so we headed down below Cougar lake. It didn't take long to get some grabs. Nothing huge though. Just warming up. We hit Cougar Lake for a few but didn't have much luck so we decided to see if the Creek opened up. It had and we fished it from Cougar all the way to the tubes. This was a fun stretch. We all caught good fish and each of us at one point or another got on a tear and hooked up one right after the other. Brad even netted his first fish! Have I mentioned that RF is a great place to learn? Just as the sun started beating down we got a nice rain

shower to cool things off and that seemed to make the fishing even better.

After a quick break for a cheese sandwich with turkey we headed up to the Pumpkin Patch. We got a little crazy here and forded the "river" in the Denali. Bold Country! The Denali has now been baptized and Brad is a bonafide mountain man.

By this time the caddis were hatching like crazy. Fish were rising enough to get me to switch to a dry. I saw a 22-24" trout rising in the top run and he put his nose on my caddis on the first cast. I
called Ed over because I knew he was either going to eat my dry or my pupa 12" below it on the next cast. I said, "watch this" and made a cast. My dry disappeared about 12" below the trout and I set the hook. Ed was as surprised as I was! This fish was hell bent on getting to the far side bushes and that's just what he did. Only had him on for a few seconds but it sure was fun while it lasted.

We fished the Pumpkin Patch for another hour or so with pretty consistent action. By this time we had been fishing for 8 or 9 hours. No one was going to call it! We decided to head up and check out the culverts on the way out. I think you have a better chance of hookup up on a pig in this section than any other section on the property. Especially the inlet of Palmer. I've seen a lot of big fish caught there this year. So we had to hit it. Brad and I were done but Ed was still going strong. He hooked up right away and wound up catching a few of the nicest fish of the day in this section.

We finally called it at 10 hours or so of fishing. Helluva fun day on great water with two really cool Dudes. I think Brad turned a corner on this trip. He might be beyond help at this point. Don't fight it Brad!