Updated August 26, 2010

General Conditions:
8/25/10: What a week! The East river behind and below the maintenance shed yielded a 17" and 15" Brown along with quite a few of their relatives. Only one calm stretch. They ate a # 20 Mercer's Micro Mayfly in the morning, dropped off a hopper and a parachute Adams and a parachute PMD in the afternoon.

The Brush Creek lease is the finest fishery in Gunnison County. We caught 16-20" Rainbows with regularity. 2 Grand slams were had this week and 3 anglers came close. Come fish with us

8/14/10: There aren't enough words to describe the fishing on Brush Creek at our private lease, so I thought I would include a few pictures.



8/12/10: The hail and rain almost had the clients cancel the trip. Talked into it by their brave guide, the clients were hailed on driving to the leased waters and twice more while fishing before noon. Also before noon they had a dozen 16" rainbows on the end of their line. Lesson to be learned: The fish are already wet; why should you worry?

8/11/10: The hoppers are back. I fished the East River on the RMAC/Veltri property with great success. Hoppers on the top and a #18 Mercer's Micro Mayfly as a dropper just slayed them. Over a dozen 14"+ trout in just a few hours. Browns exclusively took the dropper and the bows favored the hopper(Schroeders). Good day!

8/10/10: The monsoons are taking a break. Only a few clouds and little wind problems today fishing the East River near Jack's Cabin. The river temperature began @ 53 degrees at 10:00 AM and ended @ 60 Degrees @ 3:00 PM without any significant hatch. The trout were taking droppers, lots of them. Anything on the top trailing a #18 green or gold copper John or micro mayfly rarely passed a trout without being taken.  

8/5/10: Floated the Gunnison today. The recent rains have had a significant effect on the flows, levels and color of the Gunnison. The low level today was the high level 3 days ago. The flows have gone from a maximum of 800 CFS on the 2nd to a max of 1200 CFS on the 4th and a max of 1,000 CFS on the 5th. Fish deep with heavy weights, dark colored flies and you can still have some success. River color has been a problem. The Taylor muddied on Tues and Ohio Creek muddied the river on Thursday.

8/4/10: The action on the Catch and Release on the Taylor River below the Taylor Reservoir dam is worth fighting the crowds. A fellow guide and I went up to the stretch on Weds. We started fishing @c 11:30, broke for lunch at 1:00, and could only fish until 3:00. We netted 20 fish,. all on drys. Fantastic day considering I counted 27 other fishermen in the 3/4 mile stretch, we had to look hard for a spot to fish and they had been working our spots for hours before we arrived. GO. Read below for what to use.

8/2/10: The scientific aspect of fly fishing amazes me. First you try to match your fly to what you think may be happening, was happening or will be happening, in size shape and color. You experiment with the variables, nymphing deep, light weights, emergers, techniques. When all of that fails to produce the expected catch, you put on a rubber legged purple thing and a silver body shiney thing and nail'em. Science at it's best.

 8/1/10: It is time to pay homage to Mr. Adams, the creator of the parachute Adams, Jon Barr, creator of the Copper John and Barrs Emerger and to Merne Judson, creator of the Gunnilator. These four flies have been all I needed last week to produce several grand slams, double Grand Slams ,18 and 20" Rainbows and a Western Greenback Cutthroat. What a week.

Cutthroat From Brush Creek is below:


 Too many places to fish. Too little time. The season is finally here.

 
East River:
     The public stretches of the East are fishing very well. The Kokanee Salmon are in the Roaring Judy. An Egg sucking leach trailing a micro egg will work very well. The usual dry/dropper action is working well. Use Judson"s Gunnilator with a copper John or micro mayfly underneath. On the RMAC/Veltri property a #10 Schroeders Hopper with a # 18 Micro Mayfly as a dropper was very successful. On the Spann Ranch, the fly on the top was just an indicator as all trout were taken on a #18 green or gold Copper John. A parachute Adams or PMD in the afternoon will catch a lot of trout

 
 
Taylor River:  
  The flows are low. Blue Wings are coming off with irregularity. Caddis are on the Taylor. The dam is only releasing 300 CFS, making the whole river wadable. The Catch and Release is fishing with great success rates and worth fighting the crowds. Stay small. 18 and 20 inch browns, bows and cuts on a dry is a hoot.  A #16 Stimulator or Judson Fly company's Gunnilator with a Copper John or Pheasant Tail dropper will work well for the rest of the river. Elk Hair caddis are bring a few up in the cold water.

Gunnison River:
The Gunnison is floatable  and wadable. It is hopper/copper/dropper time again. The last few floats were slow in periods but each float produced quite a few large trout. The most successful combination has been a #14 Copper john trailing a #16 American pheasant tail. With the current river levels, weight the rig heavily to get it down to the huddled up trout. A hopper on the top with the same rig below produced a few big Browns. A pair of caddis or Gunnilators also got some attention from a few rising trout. Several 14" Bows were taken on the top last week. A large development on the Gunnison stocked 1 3/4 miles of the river a few weeks ago with trophy bows. Go get'm. Be nice. They have hired a former member of the Sheriff's Dept to shoot poachers with video cameras. Ouch! Those cameras can hurt more than a varmit rifle.
 
Brush Creek:
Brush Creek is clear, the right level and 52 degrees @ noon.  I caught a lot of browns, bows, cuttbows and a brookie or two in holes in the lower stretch on our private lease on Tuesday( an ultra Grand Slam). A #16 parachute Adams and a #16 Gunnilator are bringing trout to the surface, but a dropper is the most effective method.  A slam on the top is more than possible. 28 fish in 4 hours. Bows, Browns, Cuts and Cutbows all on a #16 parachute Adams (2 flies used actually all afternoon). A 4 wheel drive trip to the upper meadows and beaver ponds is highly recommended. A slam was had there in the first 4 fish last week.

 
Cochetopa Creek:
    The Cochetopa is open and clear. The upper reaches  will be a good place to catch a bunch of 8-12" trout on 1-2 weights.
 
Spring Creek
Spring Creek is very clear and is presenting many good fishing holes with quite a few browns on the upper stretches for your taking. Lots of trout if you can get the fly down to the creek in the current wind situation. The upper meadows and ponds had very few fishermen to compete with. Dry/dropper is the way to go.