Time: 1:00PM – 3:00PM, 4:30PM – 5:45PM

Location: Between Lodgepole CG and Lottis Creek CG

Taylor River 08/13/2024 Photo Album

I removed my raincoat for the two mile trek from Lottis Creek to Lodgepole, but I still perspired. By the time I sat on a rock to eat lunch, the sun appeared, and the temperature was delightful and in the upper sixties. I planned to cross the river near my lunch spot, as historically the north bank fished better than the roadside with more and bigger fish. I chose a line that I deemed doable, but after three steps, I thought better of the attempt. The current was swift, and the distance to the opposite shore was intimidating, and I am seventy-three years old. For once, I exercised my better judgement.

I decided to focus my fishing on the south bank upstream from my abandoned crossing point under the theory that the water near the campground gets pounded by the campers. After two hours of frustrating fishing, I discovered that the less pressured section along the south bank remains that way for a reason. There are very few attractive fish holding spots. I skipped around many fast riffles, where the current ran tight up against the bank. I managed to land three brown trout. The first was a respectable chunky twelve inch fish that snatched a pheasant tail nymph. I began my quest for Taylor River fish with an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, a 20 incher and a beadhead pheasant tail. The 20 incher was there for depth, and the pheasant tail was a response to a pale morning dun sighting.

Afternoon Best

The dry/dropper stopped producing, and a few sporadic rises appeared among a brief flurry of PMD emergences, so I switched to a double dry featuring the reliable peacock hippie stomper trailing a light gray size 16 comparadun. Frustration reigned. Both flies provoked refusals or in a few cases foul hooked fish, as the trailing fly penetrated the fish after a snub of the first fly. Clearly the fish were eating something. Could body color be the difference? I exchanged the light gray for the same size in cinnamon. Finally two small browns ate my flies. One gulped the stomper, and the other sipped the PMD.

Very Attractive Pool

It was approaching 3PM, and the western sky darkened, so I paused my day and hiked back to the campground. I gave some thought to driving to Spring Creek to salvage the day, but those thoughts were drowned by a deluge of showers. Jane was in the car staying dry, so I jumped in the drivers’ seat, and we watched waves of water cascade down the windshield.

Evening Action

Shelf Pool Bonanza

Finally we decided to drive the five miles to the Taylor Reservoir Overlook, where cell phone service was available. Eventually the sky brightened, and I completed Connections and the Mini, so we retreated to the campground. I remained in my waders, so I geared up and crossed the highway to to the south shoreline section near the campground. I swapped the comparadun for a size 16 light gray deer hair caddis, and I methodically forged a path up the river while prospecting likely spots. In 1.25 hours I landed six additional trout including a pair of decent twelve inch battlers. I also momentarily hooked what felt like a bigger fish, but it broke off the caddis. This late afternoon session salvaged my day, and I returned to the campground in better spirits.

Fish Landed: 9

Rain Yields Mushrooms