Time: 3:30PM – 6:30PM
Location: Upstream from Lodgepole Campground where fisherman path ends and river widens.
Fish Landed: 15
Taylor River 08/01/2013 Photo Album
It had been a week since I last fished with Dan on South Boulder Creek, and that outing was cut short by steady rain. My friend, Don Batchelor, drove to Colorado from State College, Pa. so I dedicated Monday through Wednesday to spend time with him. Don is not a fishermen, so we had a blast undertaking hikes to Devil’s Backbone near Loveland, Red Rocks near Morrison, and Walker Ranch near South Boulder Creek. In addition we spent Tuesday afternoon using B-Cycle stations to bike among various locations in downtown Denver.
Don arose quite early on Thursday morning and departed before Jane and I awoke. Jane and I made plans to camp along the Taylor River for the upcoming weekend, so I occupied myself with completing a few chores and gathering all the essentials for a weekend of camping. I planned to drive to the Taylor River valley on Thursday and set up camp, and then Jane would make the trip on Friday after work and join me for the weekend.
By 10:30PM my fishing gear was stashed as well as all the necessary camping gear and bicycling essentials, and I’d topped off the tank with gasoline and bought a fresh bag of ice for the cooler, and I was on my way. As I made my way up Cottonwood Pass west of Buena Vista I encountered some dark skies and it began to rain fairly heavily. In fact the intensity picked up at the top of the pass and created a fairly slippery road surface as I descended on the western side of the pass. I arrived at Lottis Creek Campground by 2:30 and the rain had subsided to a steady drizzle, but the sky remained dark and threatening.
I didn’t relish putting up my tent in the rain, so I unloaded the bikes and bike rack and placed my water container on the picnic table to announce my claim to site number 8 in the Union Park Loop of Lottis Creek Campground. I decided the best activity for the light rain was fishing, so I continued on down the highway to a wide pullout just above the paved parking lot across from Lodgepole Campground. I quickly put on my waders and rigged my rod and began fishing along the right bank with a size 12 parachute green drake as I’d read in the Willowfly Angler fishing report that a few green drakes were observed. Trout seem to have a long memory for large western green drakes.
It didn’t take long before I landed a 12 inch brown on the green drake and I photographed my initial fish to document the effectiveness of my new fly. Quite early in my late afternoon fishing experience, the rain ended, but the skies remained overcast with only occasional glimpses of blue sky and a few rays of the sun. I continued upstream with the green drake and after a few refusals, I landed a small rainbow, but after this success the refusals resumed. As I observed and considered switching away from the green drake, I noticed a few fairly large PMD’s in the air, so I tied on a size 14 light gray comparadun.
Early Brown Landed on Green Drake on Thursday
This translated into a fine move as I fished the comparadun for the remainder of the afternoon until 6:30PM when I quit, and it produced 13 additional fish. By 6PM it rained again briefly, but I continued fishing for another half hour and landed two nice rainbows in a shallow riffle close to the road. In fact the last rainbow and last fish of the day was a 14 inch rainbow that rose and confidently sipped the scruffy comparadun.
14″ Rainbow Was the Largest Fish on Thursday
In three hours of fishing after the rainstorm under overcast skies I landed fifteen trout, four rainbows and eleven brown trout. One rainbow was 14 inches and a couple browns were in the twelve inch range. Overall the size of the fish was somewhat lacking, but it was quite enjoyable to fish to a steady hatch of pale morning duns, and quite a few of my landed fish resulted from spotting a sporadic rise and then tossing the comparadun to the spot of the rise. In most instances, the trout that revealed itself would cooperate and sip in my imitation.
With this steady action under my belt, I returned to the campsite and put up my tent now that the rain stopped. In fact I began to see blue sky to the west and the weather cleared nicely as I prepared my light dinner. I looked forward to a fun full day on the Taylor River on Friday before Jane was due to arrive in the late afternoon.