Taylor River – 8/20/2011

Time: 1:00PM – 4:00PM

Location: .25 mile below mile marker 16 between Lottis Creek and Cold Spring

Fish Landed: 10

Taylor River 08/20/2011 Photo Album

Friday evening Jane arrived after work and we had subs and chips for dinner. We played a game of cards and went to bed so Jane could test out her new down sleeping bag. On Saturday morning after breakfast, we drove down the road four miles and parked at the Summerville trailhead and did a 1.5 hour hike. We returned to the campground for lunch and then I headed to the river to fish while Jane drove to Crested Butte.

Jane by Beaver Ponds

I drove back up the road to a point slightly further downstream from where I’d begun on Friday. Unlike Friday Saturday was sunny and warm with very little cloud cover as I began. Similar to Friday I began working the likely spots within ten feet of the bank with the yellow Letort hopper and BHHE. I caught several small browns in the 7-11 inch range. Between 2 and 3PM some gray clouds moved overhead and I saw a couple BWO’s but never any rises. I added an RS2 to the BHHE and managed to land one fish on the RS2. During this time I covered water that was rushing wildly through a narrow passage with large rocks. This created some fairly deep pockets along the bank, and I experienced a couple hookups that I wasn’t able to land. These fish felt larger than the typical fish or I had foul hooked smaller fish. I’ll never know. I suspect I was covering water that most fishermen skipped around. One of the fish broke off both flies below the hopper.

Typical Taylor River Scene

Toward the latter part of the afternoon I came upon a small deep side pool in an indentation in the bank. I approached slowly and spotted a fish within a foot of a large boulder. I carefully slid down off the bank and positioned myself behind the boulder and fish and off to the side and flicked a short cast above the boulder. As the hopper drifted along the rock, the fish rose and put its nose against the hopper but didn’t take. I made a second cast, but too far out, then gently lifted and flicked it above but very close to the boulder. As the flies were above the fish, I gently lifted my rod and the fish grabbed the BHHE, and I landed a pretty 12 inch rainbow.

Wild Red Raspberries Along the Stream

I moved on and began to cover the same water I’d fished the previous day. Once again in a nice shallow run that angled toward the bank, a nice brown sipped in the BHHE, and I played a nice chunky brown to the net and photographed it. This would be my last fish of the day, as I planned to return to camp to see if Jane wanted to take a bike ride. The sky was clouding up and there was some thunder and lightning as I returned to the car.

Length of the Net Brown Was Last Catch on Saturday

Jane Next to River Saturday Evening