Western River Fishing Trip

Nice 21" Gunnison Bow

I had the chance to spend a few days last week out on the river with some friends from back home.  We left Wednesday morning to head out to the Gunnison Gorge to try and hit the salmon fly hatch.  We hiked down into the Gorge Wednesday afternoon at the Ute Trail access point in time to get an hour or so of fishing before dark.  Between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. the fishing was great!  Between the group we got two fish over 20″ within the first hour on the river.  The hot patterns were Pats Rubber Legs in a #6 with brown or black bodies and Orange Crystal Stimulators in a #12.

We hit the river the next day hoping to get some action on Salmon Fly dries.  There were bugs flying around, clumped up in the bushes, everywhere but on the water where we needed them.  Try as we might, those fish wanted nothing to do with the patterns we were throwing.  We were still able to pick up fish on Pat’s Rubber Legs, Yellow Sallies in #16’s and #18’s, Mecury PMD’s in #16’s and #18’s and Elk Hair Caddis in #16 with dark bodies.

As for the salmon flies they should begin laying eggs any day now.  The weather down in the gorge has been nice and warm which should start the bugs moving back to the water which in-turn should start the fish slamming size 4 dry flies!  The flows on the river should be holding pretty steady over the next few weeks around 2,200 CFS which should also help the fishing.

For the last day of the trip we drove up to the Frying Pan River to get a little change of scenery.  The fishing on the Pan was great!  Fish were keying in on mysis shrimp and red pure midge larva and blood midges close to the dam and caddis and small parachute adams down river.  With the flows being a little high this time of year, the fish were keying in on bigger shrimp and nymphs. If you have some time, I would definitely recommend spending some time on the rivers out west.

Dave Dickensheets

Salmon Flies and Pike Fishing

I had the chance this week to get out this week and do a couple days of fishing with fellow Blue Quill employee Cody Scott.  The mission behind the trip was to get up to the Colorado to fish the Salmon Fly hatch.  This was the first time that either Cody or I had fished the hatch and we are now both hooked.  Cody went up Tuesday during the day and hooked a number of fish on big dries.  The Colorado is really ripping this time of year but there were still fish to be found along the banks and behind rocks in the slow moving water.  I met Cody up there Tuesday night and fished all day on Wednesday.  Since it was our first time fishing the hatch we were stubborn and only fished dry flies for most of the day.  The morning started out pretty slow for all of us.  We saw a lot of bugs on the bushes and shucks on the rock and the trees, but not a lot of activity on the water.  I picked up a fish on a Pat’s Rubber Legs in the late morning.  Around 2:00 pm things picked up for us on the dry flies a little bit.  I landed a nice brown on a Parachute Giant Stone shortly there after.  After that Cody and I continued to hook fish for the next hour or so on big dries like Fuzzy Wuzzys or B-1 Bombers.  Overall the fishing was slow but we were still hooking fish.  The key was to really work water and work the banks and the slow water behind rocks.  If you are patient and are willing to work at it, it can be a fun day.

Originally we were planning on spending a second day at the Colorado, but the weather had other plans.  After running from the thunderstorms we made our way up to Williams Fork Reservoir Wednesday night to chase some pike.  We fished up there Wednesday night and Thursday until about noon before getting chased out by weather once again.  We spotted a few fish in the shallows but overall they are still out pretty deep.  Give it another week or so and the fishing should pick up.

BQA Employee Dave Dickensheets

SALMON FLY MADNESS

The other day I had the opportunity to take fellow guide Sarah Barclay and her friend Jay, both who I might add are great anglers. We went down in search of the elusive Salmon Fly hatch and proceeded to find hundreds of flies on bushes, rocks etc. but not a lot on the water.  Sarah caught a lot of fish using a dry dropperrig fishing in close to the bank, while Jay caught fish using the same plus a indicator rig. While both of them fished, I rowed trying to keep the three of us alive in what I considered rough water.  As we went through the eye of the needle, Sarah kept fishing. I don’t think she realized that I was paddling for dear life, just goes to show you what a hard fisherperson she is! Good job Sarah! I enjoyed taking you both down the Colorado. The Salmon fly hatch is a hard one to get a handle on, but with persistence you can find yourself with a bent rod.   Blue Quill guide Bob Dye