July 22, 2009Last week my Uncle Al gave me a call and persuaded me to skip work and come fishing for the day with him, my Aunt Pat, and my new friend Joe. They were staying in Telluride so we figured hitting the Gunnison Gorge would be sweet since it's about half way between the two of us.
So, Wednesday morning my wife and I packed up and headed out that way. We arrived at the river around 9:30 and headed upstream from Pleasure Park.
I must admit, I don't get to Pleasure Park much in the summer (I usually save it for winter fishing since the temps are a lot nicer than Gunnison) and I was pretty shocked at the green riverbed. It made the river look like it was a giant spring creek, and if you've read any of my other posts you know that always makes me happy, but upon further inspection, I'm pretty sure it was just a huge algae bloom. If you know anything about it, feel free to clue me in in the comments section, because I am quite curious.
Nevertheless, the fish acted a lot like spring creek fish, feeding in the pockets and wells the algae created so it was a really fun day.
We started out with a nymph rig, but switched to a dark tan caddis within 15 minutes and never really looked back. I wouldn't say the top action was epic, but solid enough to not need nymphs. Most of the fish were in the 10" class, but we raised the heads of at least 4 fish that were much larger, including this sweet brown Michelle hooked feeding tight to the bank.
A little later in the day I spotted some big fish in the 18" class that were feeding on nymphs pretty heavily. I switched back to a single gammarus scud and proceeded to botch two really solid takes. I hang my head in shame.
About the only drawback to this wonderfully sunny, fish filled day, was the temperature was about 97 degrees.
Tight lines,
-Jeff
That is a nice looking fish - and the river looks awesome. There sure is a lot of water I still need to fish in this state before I hang up my gear and head south for eternity - that river looks awesome, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteAny Uncle that tells you to bug out of work to hit the river is one you want to keep around. Uncle Al rocks.