Landing The Big Ones
Gunnison
By Rob Cesario
Fishing the Gunnison drainage can offer the angler a variety of opportunity that is hard to beat. Rods from 2 weight to 7 weight, rivers from 5 ft. wide to 90 ft. wide, 4 different species of trout, Kokanee salmon, great nymph fishing times of the year & classic dry fly hatches.
Three major rivers drain the Basin. The East River with its headwaters near Gothic drains the East River valley. The Taylor river beginning high in the Collegiate Peaks wilderness area drains Taylor Park. The East and the Taylor meet in the town of Almont forming the famous Gunnison River. From Almont to the Blue Mesa reservoir, some 20 miles, you have what is known as the Upper-Gunnison.
The prime fishing season usually begins as snowmelt subsides in mid to late June. Historical peak of run-off during an average snow year is around June 10th. Water levels are up yet clearing and fish are anxious to feed on increasingly active insect activity.
Golden stoneflies begin to get active on the Gunnison in mid June and usually hang around all summer with periods of intensity throughout August. Caddis will make their presence known in early June and more or less be around all summer and into the fall.
One of the most prevalent hatches in the drainage, the Green Drake Mayfly, begins just above the Blue Mesa reservoir on the Gunnison in mid-June and migrates upstream to Almont where it then continues heading north up the East and Taylor rivers. This hatch occurs during the mid-day hours and can be fished well into August high on the Taylor.
Early August will see the appearance of the Kokanee Salmon in the Gunnison river. Millions of these fish will head upstream to the Roaring Judy fish Hatchery where they were introduced to the East river 3-4 years prior. Each year by early September the Gunnison and East river will have tremendous numbers of Salmon monopolizing certain deep runs in their plight to return to their origination. A well-drifted nymph with the proper amount of weight can give an angler hook up after hook up with a fish that fights unlike any other in the valley. Salmon fishing with a fly can last into late-October until the fish starts losing its battle with nature. Beginning on August 1st all Salmon caught must be released immediately.
September trout fishing on the three major rivers can be considered one of the best months of the year. Most of the busiest tourist time has passed and water temperatures that may have been a bit warmer than ideal in August, come back to being just right. Pressure is down a bit from fewer fishermen on the water and a classic fall dry fly hatch of blue-winged olives is beginning. Weather becomes very settled as the summer monsoons have ended. Small caddis as well as Pale Morning duns will also attract many nice fish to the surface. Water levels are such that wading is much easier on these three major rivers.
October finds shorter days and shorter windows of activity, yet fishing during those windows of activity can be phenomenal. Noon hatches of Blue-winged olives lasting for 2-3 hours can have you casting to long runs where 50-60 fish may be sipping small dry flies. It can turn on and off like a light switch throughout October, so be patient and enjoy the crisp cool days & crowd-less rivers.
Mother Nature has its own way of closing the season on the Gunnison, East and lower sections of the Taylor. November brings on cold weather and the ice starts to form on the edges of the water usually meeting in the middle locking up the open river by late November-early December.
The Catch & Release section of the Taylor River will remain open and fishable 365 days of the year. December and January temperatures can be as cold as you will ever see while fishing. The past few years have seen incredibly low water flows coming out of the Taylor reservoir during the winter months. The fish are very spooky and there is usually no margin of error in achieving success. Long leaders and small flies drifted just right as well as battling icy guides on the rod are just a few of the techniques needed for hooking up.
As we approach late February to early March, we start to see the water opening on the Gunnison and East Rivers. Water temperatures are warming for the first time of the year and certain fish will begin to feed. Spring activity has consistently been dominated by the bigger fish in the river. As they go on the feed first, they will place themselves in the ideal holding patterns in each deep run. This being the case, the average size fish caught during the spring months is larger than at any other time of the fishing season.
Fishing early season finds that we will concentrate on the deepest runs in the river where most of the fish will congregate. Up to 90 % of the shallow riffles and runs should be ignored. Also consistent in the spring fishing season is the appetite the fish have for the egg pattern. Possibly due to the last memory of following the Salmon up the river in the fall, most fish caught in March and April is on the egg pattern. Rainbows between 23 and 29 inches have been caught and released in sections of the Gunnison just above Blue Mesa reservoir.
Fishing access to the Gunnison, East and Taylor Rivers can best be described as many broken sections of public and private water. The Gunnison is the only one of the three that can be consistently floated. There are public put-ins at Almont, North Bridge, Twin Bridges & McCabes Lane. Floating the river can become very technical when water flow drops to low levels. Floating the river allows fishing on private water sections as long as you do not touch the riverbed. Walk-wading the Gunnison is best at Almont Campground (almost 2 miles), Van Tuyl Easement and the stretch of water from Neversink campground to the Blue Mesa Reservoir which is about 5 miles west of the Town of Gunnison.
The East River has public water near its headwaters close to Gothic, CO. At this point, it would be considered a backcountry stream with small browns, brook trout and a few rainbows. Another section behind Mt. Crested Butte is public also offering a backcountry setting. Between Crested Butte and Almont, the East River is dominated by private water. The Wild Trout water next to the Roaring Judy Hatchery is public and can offer very good fishing for wild Browns and Rainbows. The lower section of this water closes to all fishing on August 1 to aid in the recovery of Kokanee Salmon. This section is a ÒFly Fishing OnlyÓ section.
The Taylor River begins high in Taylor park flowing south to the Taylor reservoir. The section above Taylor reservoir is dominated by public water and would best be described as a wide open valley, with a meandering stream, undercut banks and rainbows, browns and cutthroats. Below the reservoir is the world renowned trophy tail-water section. A short section of only .4 miles long, all fishing is catch & release with the chance to hook some very large Rainbow, Brown or Cutthroat/Rainbow Hybrids. The average size fish is between 4-6 pounds with some fish landed that have weighed as much as 20 + lbs.
Below the trophy section you will find long stretches of private water with public stretches strewn in. In contrast to the wide open water above Taylor reservoir, the section below is a true canyon setting with big boulders and plentiful pocket water fishing. There is about 14-17 miles from Taylor reservoir to Almont where the Taylor River meets the East River. Floating and fishing the Taylor is possible in the lower sections yet highly technical. Good summer flows on the Taylor would consist of a cubic feet per second of 250-375.
The insect life that inhabits the three big rivers consists of the three major classifications. Stoneflies, Mayflies and Caddis flies. Imitating these hatches are very basic and hook sizes that work well are eye pleasingly large. Unlike a common trend to fish with very small flies, the Gunnison drainage is large fly kind of place.
Common dry flies throughout the summer include Parachute Madam XÕs in size 6 & 8, Royal and Yellow Stimulators in 6,8,10 & 12, Elk Hair Caddis in 12,14 & 16, Green Drake patterns in 10 & 12, Grasshopper Imitations in 10 & 12, Yellow Humpies and Yellow Sallies in 12, 14 & 16, Royal Wulffs in 10 & 12. Fall flies will get a little bit smaller in general, Blue-winged olives in 16 & 18, Pale Morning Duns in 16 & 18, Yellow Humpies in 16, 18 & 20, Elk Hair Caddis in 16 & 18.
Nymphs for the area include the ever popular Bead Heads and Tungsten bead heads. Flashback pheasant tails in size 12, 14 & 16, Prince nymphs in 12, 14 & 16, Copper Johns in copper, red, green 12, 14 & 16. North Fork Stonflies Blk & Gold in 6,8,10 & 12.
Zebra Midge in 16, 18 & 20, Caddis larva 12 & 14. DonÕt forget the wooly bugger in black and olive in 6, 8, 10 & 12, the egg pattern and the San Juan worm.
As far as equipment goes, you can use an entire arsenal of rod weights in the valley, yet fishing the main rivers is best done with a 9 foot 5 weight rod. During the early season with usual spring winds, a 6 weight is also very nice. Late-summer and into the fall when the blue-winged olive hatch calls for smaller dries, a 9 foot 4 weight is a great weapon.
A very productive technique that has widely become the most common method of rigging your rod is the dry fly/dropper strategy. Varying water level conditions will dictate what size dry fly to use and how far the dropper fly, usually a bead head, is from the dry.
Classic dry fly hatches such as the Green Drake hatch, the caddis hatches or the Blue-winged olive hatch will best be fished with a solo dry fly.
The Gunnison drainage mainly defined by the three big rivers and enhanced by all the streams that feed these three is a tremendous drainage for fishing opportunity. World class habitat, world class insect hatches and world class fish combine to create a fly-fishing experience that rival any drainage in the western U.S.
Unchampadre
By Bill Breuggeman
On the third cast the #4 Sofa Pillow disappeared. Les Brown and I were fishing the tail water of the Uncompahgre River at Ridgway State Park. The fish that took that fly never came to the surface. We finally lost it after it ran down stream through three pools and shook the hook. The whole ordeal lasted a few minutes and seemed like an hour and a half.
I am sure it was one of the big Browns that we hooked. They get up to 24Ó or more. I have released several over the years in that range. It could have been one of the Snake River Cutthroat. They too are in the 20Ó+ range. Colorado River Cutthroat are generally less than 20Ó. There are some Rainbows that rival the Browns, but most of the time they are dancing on top of the water when they get hooked. So, it must have been a brown (or it could have been a Rainbow).
A few weeks later I was fishing with Jennifer Lowshaw, and of course we expected to hook that same big one. This time we were going to find out what it was. She had never fly fished before but was a good student and could place the fly where it needed to be. I suggested a #6 Mickey Finn (we were after big fish). I saw one swing and miss it on the first cast. On the next cast she mended the line to slow it down and it stopped dead in the current. Fish on! - a 15Ó Colorado River Cutthroat. During the next hour Jennifer caught and released 5 more. All in that same size range. What was really satisfying besides her grin - two other fishermen stopped to ask what she was using. One of them fished that hole after we left. This scene is played out week after week on this river, with the only exception being extreme flow changes called for by the water users down valley.
The water is always clear and cold. In mid-winter the flows are very low and the only company you will have are the deer and elk. Mid summer flows are in the 300cfs range and on a busy weekend there are other fishermen. This river is not like the South Platte or the Gunnison with shoulder to shoulder fishing. Even on a busy summer weekend I will see only a few other fishermen on the water. I often use large streamers and attractors (they are just more fun). Other guides (wanting to catch more fish) use the #18-20 Copper Johns and Bobs. I have to admit they do pretty well with the small stuff. In late spring there are numerous caddis hatches that call for a #16 elk hair pattern. In mid-summer hopper patterns work very well. My favorite time is late fall when I drag out the big wooly buggers in black, yellow and olive for marauding Browns. They are aggressive, hungry, wary and sometimes really big.
This amazing one and a quarter mile of water was developed by the Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with Colorado State Parks, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management and the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association. It is a specifically engineered river with section after section of pools, riffles and structure. There is handicapped access along a good portion of the river consisting of hardpacked trails, pullouts and even concrete sidewalks.
Uncompahgre is a Ute name, roughly meaning red water. The headwaters are in the Red Mountain District of the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado. The water at that altitude has a distinctive red tint from the naturally occurring iron deposits. For as long as I can remember there have been Brown Trout in this river as far south as the town of Ridgway. The side streams have native Cutthroat Trout in them. After the dam was built the Division of Wildlife put Rainbow and Snake River Cutthroat Trout in the tailwater. With the existing Browns and natives this became a pretty incredible place to fish. The reservoir above has Browns, Rainbow, Cuttbows and a fair population of Kokanee Salmon. Unlike the tailwater it is not catch and release. The Division of Wildlife makes sure there is a strong population of Rainbows to catch and keep. The tailwater is flies and lures only. The reservoir is generally unrestricted but check the regulations before fishing.
If You Go
The Pa-Co-Chu-Puk tailwater within Ridgway State Park is located 20 miles south of Montrose CO on hwy 550. Three miles further south is the Park Headquarters at Dutch Charlie campground on the Ridgway Reservoir.
Camping/ Lodging/ Dining/ Shopping
Camping is available at several locations within the Park. There are RV Parks in the area as well as camping in the National Forest 14 miles to the east (county road #8) at Owl Creek Pass and Silver Jack Reservoir. There are many lodging possibilities and as far as dining goes there is everything from hamburgers to elegant cuisine all within 20 miles. Besides shopping for flies and fishing gear, RIGS Fly Shop offers fly fishing classes at a modest charge and free clinics at the State Park (June through September). Please contact the Ouray Area chamber of commerce for information - (970) 325-4746.
What to Expect
I have had 60 fish days and I have had 0 fish days. The truth is somewhere in between and this has a lot to do with water flow. Your best bet is to contact RIGS Fly Shop in Ridgway for current information about the river. Rainbow and Colorado River Cutthroat Trout are caught most often. Browns and Snake River Cutthroat are caught less often, but do make up more than a third of the overall population. On an average outing a good fisherman should hook a half dozen fish. They will run from 12Ó up to 19Ó with an occasional fish larger than 20Ó. Private access to the Uncompahgre River provides a much more consistent catch with a greater mix of Browns. On one of RIGS private access points, Centennial Ranch, last fall an honest 30Ó+ Brown Trout was caught.
In addition to fishing, there is the famous Ouray Hot Springs Pool for swimming or relaxing. There are numerous trails to hike (many leading to good fishing). Four-wheel drive Jeeps are available for rent. There are shops and galleries to browse through and later you can dine in one of the many restaurants. The towering San Juan Mountains and the historic gold mines, alone make this trip worth taking.
Access
There are 3 sections of public access to the riverÉRidgway State Park, Billy Creek State Wildlife Area and the town of Ridgway. In addition to this, RIGS Fly Shop has 3 private access points to the river.
Contact
¥ Ouray Chamber of Commerce, 1-970-325-4746, 1-800-228-1876
¥ Ridgway State Park, 1-970-626-5822, 1-800-678-CAMP (2267)
¥ RIGS Fly Shop, 1-866-626-4460, www.fishrigs.com
About The Author
Bill Brueggeman (retired from State Parks) is the senior guide at RIGS Fly Shop. Brueggeman has been a fly fisherman for more than 45 years. A Colorado native Brueggeman graduated from Western State College in Gunnison Colorado where he fished the Gunnison, Taylor and Uncompahgre Rivers. His home is in Montrose but most days you can find him tying flies at RIGS or on the river with a client. He is a passionate environmentalist and motorcycle rider.
