Category: Riffle and Rise Blog

My sister Judy caught some really nice fish yesterday on the Taylor River. She had not fly fished in several years but she quickly got back in the groove.

Had a fun day with Peter on the Taylor River at our Taylor River Lodge today. He caught browns, rainbows, and cutthroat, including this really nice chunky cut here.

Doug Dillingham’s new book, Fly Fishing the Gunnison Country, is a must-read if you’re planning to fish in the Gunnison Valley. It’s great to have a new fly fishing guide for our area written by a local with extensive knowledge of our rivers, streams, and high mountain lakes. Anyone who has ever fished here or plans to fish here should have this book. You can find Doug’s new book in local fly shops, or contact Doug at DriftingDrake@q.com.

During the early season when the big rivers are in run-off, the small creeks can offer some great fly fishing opportunities. Moose and I scouted the AEI Guide and Outfitter stretch of Illinois Creek yesterday afternoon and found the creek in great shape. It’s still early, but the fish were pretty active. We caught some browns and rainbows, and plenty of brookies. AEI is located up in Taylor Park at about 10,000 feet, and their 1,500 acres include a very nice private stretch of Illinois Creek and several trout ponds, as well as plenty of beaver ponds along the creek. It’s a beautiful area and a really fun place to fish. We’re looking forward to getting some of our clients up there this season.

Tyler didn’t fish very long today, but he still managed to catch this really nice rainbow trout on the Taylor River at our Taylor River Lodge. He did an excellent job fighting the fish out of the current and into the net.

Had a fun couple of days on the Taylor River at Taylor River Lodge with John and his friends from Oklahoma. Everyone did well, and lots of nice fish were landed.

We got a nice break from recent winter storms and had a beautiful day up in the Taylor Canyon yesterday. Mac and his son Matt spent the day at Taylor River Lodge catching rainbows, cutbows, cutthroat, and brown trout. The fish made us work, but the guys did really well.

Josh and Marc did great today on the Taylor River at our Eleven property, the Taylor River Lodge. They both got into a lot of good trout, like these nice rainbows here. It was a fun day!

Peri caught some nice fish this afternoon on the Taylor River. The weather wasn’t nearly as nice as it has been, and a storm was coming in, but fishing was very good. Fishing season is looking good as we spring forward!

We have had some warm weather recently, and a lot of ice has come off the rivers. Fishing is very good right now and should continue to improve until runoff. This photo below was taken today on the Taylor River, at the new Eleven property where I work, the Taylor River Lodge. It’s a beautiful stretch of river full of very big fish. The trout looked nice and healthy today.