Images

Our Eleven Angling booth in Denver this past weekend. We’ll have a larger 20′ booth at the rest of the fly fishing shows around the country during the next two months. Come visit us!

We’ve had some decent snow recently and cold temps, and the fishing season is winding down. With the warm afternoons lately, we’ve actually had snow-melt fill the rivers some and get the fish moving. This trend won’t last long though.

I have been busy wrapping up the season and just got back from a nice vacation in Scotland. So no fishing photos but this is a classic photo of Eilean Donan Castle in the Highlands. It was an awesome trip!

Steve caught a nice brown this afternoon at the C&R on a small mayfly emerger. Cold, rain, hail, and wind created some challenges, but the hatch came off and the fish were actively feeding.

The PMDs continue to hatch on the Taylor, especially up at the C&R on cloudy/rainy days. The last week or so has been cold and wet up there, with very good dry fly fishing.

We are moving into late summer and the dog days of August, and fishing during this drought will become even more challenging. The rivers are low and will continue to drop, and we will likely see hot and dry days ahead. In addition, there are plans to drop the flow out of Taylor Reservoir on about 8/15 and then again on 9/1. The current release schedule for the Taylor is as follows:

• Aug 1-15:  230 cfs
• Aug 16-31:  200 cfs
• Sept 1-15:  150 cfs
• Sept 16-30:  150 cfs

The low flows on the Taylor River and the East River, as the East continues to drop, could result in flows on the Gunnison River of well under 300 cfs. Anglers should monitor water temperatures closely and take care of the fish. The rivers should cool by early September, if not sooner, and though the water will be very low, conditions should improve as a result.

Ben guided Larry at the Taylor River Lodge last week and he landed this beast of a fish on his last day of fishing. Nicely done!

The summer hatches have really kicked in and trout are looking up. This is a great time to fish dry flies in shallow riffles and places where the river drops off a shelf into deeper water.

Early season is an excellent time to fish small creeks. The small streams are loaded with beautiful wild trout, and they are on the feed. It’s a beautiful time of year to get up in the mountains and enjoy the scenery and wildlife.

Peri and I spent a couple of days out at Redstone, and we fished the Crystal River there. The weather was beautiful and we had fun catching these pretty rainbows, along with some browns and cutbows.