Saving the Best For...

...Last? How about first... In retrospect, going to the Taylor River first might not be a good idea. Seeing hundreds of huge trout and even catching a few definitely increases expectations for the rest of the trip. However tradition has been set and dictates that our first stop on these crazy road trips is the Taylor River near Gunnison Colorado. On this trip, we drove straight through as usual with just a brief stop to sleep in the car a couple of hours. Upon arrival, we found a campground and set up our tents and then drove to the river. The rumor was that the big rainbows were coming off the spawn and theoretically should be feeding heavily.

When we got there, we immediately found more big rainbows out than we have seen in the past. There were lots of big fish just waiting for a choice morsel like a mysis shrimp to drift past. My buddy Trevor and I rigged up and started flogging the water. These fish are pounded literally every day of the year and the key to success is matching the natural foods accurately, getting a drag free drift (much easier said than done), and a fair amount of luck. These fish will spook just from split shot drifting in the vicinity. I cannot begin to count the times that I saw a fish carefully drift a foot out of the path of my flies and after they passed, move back to its spot.

Despite all the challenges, these fish are not impossible to hook. Landing them is another story however. Before landing my first fish, I lost 3 fish from 18-22 inches. This type of fishing is definitely not for everyone. Every time I go there I see visiting anglers shake their heads in frustration and finally leave without hooking a single fish. It takes dedication and creativity to be successful here.

After fishing for awhile and losing some nice fish, I finally started working a particularly large fish. This turned out to be the big rainbow I posted on already. The fish ate and when I set the hook, it bolted downstream. I had to follow it down the river a couple of hundred feet, stumbling along the bank and splashing through the shallows. Upon netting the fish, I discovered several other flies in the jaws of the big rainbow. Apparently others had hooked this nice fish as well but lost the fight. Flies it had consumed already included a big red copper john and small midge patterns. This big rainbow taped out at 24 inches and I was glad to have my large Coho Ghost net to corral it with. This fish was the largest landed during the trip, and while I won't complain, catching the biggest fish first is probably not the best way to have a good trip.

In the waning light, we finally called it a day and wandered back to camp completely exhausted from the last two days on the road. We headed straight for bed as the cold night made sitting up a not so inviting proposition. While we were fishing the Taylor River, I was hoping to target pike up in Taylor Reservoir and I fell asleep entertaining thoughts of large toothy fish inhaling big nasty flies...