Stones by Day, Drakes by Night~Taylor River

 Personally, I enjoy being challenged as an angler.  Challenging situations drive me to think outside of the box, and try new tactics on tough fish.  Until recently, I had only heard stories of the grotesque fish that live in the Taylor River Tailwater, also known as the "hog trough".  Big fish, and I mean BIG fish being pulled on a day-to-day basis, tons of mysis shrimp, and solid hatches of a plethora of different insects.  What else could one ask for in a trout stream?  Long story short, I had been chomping at the bit to get to this amazing fishery, and have my shot at some monster trout.


Well, my opportunity came a few weeks ago when a friend of mine invited me to tag along with him, his mom, and another one of his friends on a camping trip to the Taylor River.  I did not hesitate to say yes, and before I knew it, we were on the road, headed down to Gunnison in search of trophies.  I had never fished the Taylor C&R before, so I had no idea what to expect; how tough the fish would be, if we would catch any monsters, etc. 


Well, we arrived at our campground at around six o'clock that night, and headed to a few beaver ponds in search of dinner. We spent about 45 minutes searching for brookies, and ended up with 9 trout for the three of us. As much as I hate keeping fish, it had to be done.  We cooked our fish over the fire, gobbled them down, threw our gear on, and headed to the River at about 10:30 that night.  It was bitter cold, and the river was rushing at around 500 cfs. Being sight fishermen, we both stuffed a flashlight into each side of our buffs, and set out looking for trout. 


We found trout, and sat with our lights focused on them as we drifted our rigs past them.  When we saw the mouth open, a calm lift of the rod produced severe headshakes that made you look as if you were hammering nails, and intense runs that made the hair on your neck stand up straight. We fished all through the night and all through the day, slept for a few hours in the car, and repeated the process again.

21.5 Inch Rainbow that moved out of his spot to slam my fly

My buddy Joe with a sweet brownie that didn't hesitate to move over 3 feet to slam the nymph as it swung through his viewing lane.  My mysis/scud/midge rig was the best producer, so we alternated with that rod

We spotted this fish midstream, and he took on the second drift

A trophy is what you make of it; the colors of this bow made it the fish of the day

This brown was spotted right on the edge of a fast seam, slamming drakes.  We made a presentation, and on about the twentieth drift, he inhaled our green drake nymph.

We also fished the lower Taylor in the Town of Almont, and did quite well with an assortment or fish landed on big dries.

Matt and I spotted this fish from a cliff rising constantly to what appeared to be green drakes.  Using binoculars, we were able to determine that the fish was feeding on small yellow sallies rather than the green drakes that were everywhere.  Joe went down to cast to him, and on about the ninth cast, the fish calmly came up to slurp his dry fly.  We waited until the fish turned to yell "lift!"

 We ended the trip with a stop at duck lake, which is just below squaretop lake.  We were in search of big greenbacks, and boy did we get into them good.  Right off the bat, we all landed cutties, the smallest measuring 16 inches.  we kept having success throughout the day, with the biggest fish being caught by Matt, and measuring 21 inches.

this monster greenback appeared from the depths to try and eat my 17 inch cutty. Luckily, Matt was right there, and was able to coax the fish into eating a beetle pattern off the top.

 Overall it was a sweet trip, and I am looking forward to going back.  My next trip will most definitely be in the winter/early spring when the rainbows are spawning, so that the chances at a monster are even higher.

Panfish on the Fly-Fun or Not?

As the local rivers begin to enter runoff, our fishing options become much narrower.  Should we go fish lakes for the chance at a monster trout? Should we hit the ponds in search of hungry, pre-spawn bass?  While these are both viable options, I enjoy going to fish the little neighborhood ponds for bluegill and crappie.  Though many fly fishermen shun this idea, it is actually a great way to practice casting, and work on tricking a few fish.

Panfish are about as dumb as they come, making it rather easy to have an hour consisting of nonstop hookups. My personal favorite method to use while fishing for these guys is a dry dropper rig consisting of a size 14 rubber leg stimulator, and my own bluegill pattern "The Blue Magic" off the bend of the stimi.

My "Blue Magic" Pattern Fooled This Decent Panfish

The best times to target these guys is in the evenings or early morning, seeing as they feel comfortable under lower light conditions, and rise to just about anything that lands on the surface of the water.  This is when they begin to slam the stimulator (or dry fly of choice), making for an exceptionally fun night of fishing.

This little guy took a size 12 stimulator

Of course, there is the occasional chance at a nice sized bass that happens to swim by.  For those of you who don't know, these pre-spawn bass give your reel a run for its money as soon as they realize that they are hooked.  With heart stopping runs, breathtaking leaps, and last minute bolts from the net, these fish truly  do offer an exhilarating fight, right down to last few seconds.

Big Pink Streamers can sometimes be the Key to these Fish

Overall, fly fishing for panfish is a great way to not only practice your casting, but also to enjoy the great outdoors.  When you have nothing to do this saturday, head out to the local pond with your 1 weight fly rod, it could end up being a great saturday.