On the River: Taylor River C and R, Gunnison, Colorado

October 24 and 31, 2009

And again, I will say that I love Fall fishing! Michelle was itching to hook up with some big fish, and I was itching to get onto the river with some decent weather overhead. There's nothing quite like fishing for 6 days in some of the worst weather (Wyoming trip) that will leave you wanting a calm, sunny blue day.

Two weekends in a row Michelle and I found such days ... and we capitalized! I think for this blog, I'll just let the photos do the talking. If you've read my previous posts on the Taylor C & R there's not much more I can say. Tough, big fish, small tippet and a lot of loss. But every once-in-a-while you strike it rich and the winds are calm(er)(they never really stop), the sun is overhead, the fish are in spotting lies and moving pretty well for nymphs.

Day one produced a solid 10 fish, one of which was a 24" brown that Michelle lipped, had on for 3 seconds, and then pulled right out. She later redeemed herself with this rainbow that had some pretty serious "chunk" to it.

I caught a good number of fish, and near the end of the day spotted a "long as your leg" rainbow. I fished to him for a solid 45 minutes, changing out patterns constantly, and I think I hooked him one time, but it was so short I can't even be sure.

The next weekend brought the same fortune, but with even BETTER weather! We ended up getting out a little late in the day, but things were so good that even Michelle wanted to stay past sundown, so we fished until the light was so low that we could barely see the indicator.

It was near the end of the day when I hooked THE PLANET. Yes, that's right, THE PLANET. I've never dubbed a fish such a term before, but then again, I've never hooked a fish that size.

The light was fairly low, but we were up in some flats where the water was only 18" deep. I had a slight section of water that there was no glare on, and that's when I saw him turn a little bit. It was all I needed to see to know that I would need to spend some time fishing to that fish. It was such a large fish and in such a perfect lie. I was able to fish to him with my favorite rig (baetis, micro split shot and a micro indicator).

After 20 or so well placed drifts my indicator slowed ... my heart stopped ... and he took off. His first action was to surface (?#@? I'm not sure how to describe it, but he was too large to jump, so it was more like a submarine surfacing where the bow of the ship comes out of the water, but the tail of the craft is too weighty to allow it to come completely out of the water). It was at that moment that we realized he was not only 32" but as round as they come. I'm confident he was at least 20 lbs+

After surviving two quick runs he was just hanging out, no doubt regaining his strength, when ... nothing. No fast run, no jump, nothing. My line just went slack. I thought for sure the flies had pulled out because there was no reason for me to not have the fish on anymore, but he was gone and so were my flies. Must have had a knick in the line that finally gave way. It wasn't even that a knot had pulled out.

This is it folks ... The only evidence I have that the "planet" even exists.

Another day ...

-Jeff

On the River: Gunnison River, Gunnison, CO

October 17, 2009

Michelle and I got out Saturday afternoon for a little memorable Fall fishing. If you are one of those people who start winding down your fishing season after high summer I cannot express to you how much good fishing can be had in the fall and late fall (not to mention winter).

It is such a great time to be on the river. Typically, the crowds are almost completely gone and the weather is superb. It's the only season where you can be cool, wearing a sweater, but still feel like a sunny, warm, summer day (if that makes any sense).

It was a typical fall day for us too. The sky was a crisp blue, the water was low and clear, and the fish were in slow, shallow water. In Colorado, where baetis can pop off any day of the year, I personally think the fish respond better to the surface in the fall because of the low, clear, slower moving water.

And so, we found ourselves fishing blacktail baetis with a micro split-shot and micro indicator; and fishing poly-wing baetis to slow sippers (a lot of times we like to rig two rods, but we still just share one, then if you're fishing the nymph rod and see a riser ... switch out rods and you're ready to roll).

The day was quite pleasant but it wasn't until the later half that we came up on a long pool with about 10 fish steadily rising as baetis passed over them. The photo of the nice brown was the first fish we took on dries and Michelle hooked him in water that was about 6" in depth. It was a beautiful thing! We ended up landing a solid 8 fish on the poly-wing baetis anywhere from 6" to 14".

These are the days I live for!

-Jeff

Sincerest Apologies

November 13, 2009

Ah, the craziness of life. Posting has been slow as of late, not due to a lack of fishing, but mostly due to a lack of time. Currently, I am behind posting multiple days of the Wyoming trip, a Gunnison River day, a Taylor River day, and a South Platte "Dream Stream" day. I apologize.

But ... I take this opportunity to justify myself and let you all know that part of the craziness is a huge Allen Brothers push in marketing. If you are out there, across the country, and you go to fly fishing shows, you should try and meet up with us at one.

We've been working like crazy to get into shows this year, and a few magazines. We're planning on running ads in Fly Fisherman and Fly Rod and Reel in their January through April issues and if you can make it to one of the shows you should stop in and check us out (hopefully Jay and I will both be at all the shows)!

We are planning on stops at Denver, CO, Pleasanton, CA and Detroit, MI. If things go well enough, we may even add a few shows!

Hope to see you out there! Until then, I'll keep posting when I get a free moment.