Recently, I returned from a trip to Colorado where I got to spend some time fishing among other things. While I have fished in some numerous parts of Wyoming, I had only fished the Big Thompson in Estes Park and a lake in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. My experience was minimal but not anymore.
I won't bore you with all of the details of our trip, and instead just focus on the fishing. The first leg of our trip was spent in Gunnison, Colorado. My father in law and I drove out on Thursday, July 16 and we stayed at a VRBO that was right on the Gunnison River. My wife and mother in law flew in on Saturday, July 18, so for a couple of days my father in law, Mark, to do whatever we wanted. So after a nice breakfast at the W Cafe on Friday, July 19, we started exploring.
He had heard about a place called The Hog Trough which was a catch and release section of the Taylor River and the name certainly got my attention. After picking up some flies at Willowfly Anglers which is a part of Three Rivers Resort. The folks I spoke to were really helpful but also cautiously optimistic. They said that while the section I was headed to was full of big, beautiful fish, they were also hard to fool.
When I arrived, I found out how right they were. There were brown trout everywhere you looked with a few rainbows sprinkled in as well. It was a little crowded but not like a Missouri Trout Park so that didn't bother me. After fishing for almost an hour and only getting a few fish to sniff my flies, things changed. Clouds rolled in, the temperature dropped, and sprinkles started to fall. I noticed the fish were becoming much more active which gave me hope and optimism.
What I'm going to tell you next might seem like blasphemy to some, but I stand by my decision. I put all of the size 22 nymphs away that I had recently bought and tied on what I would call, "A Missouri Trout Park Special". The reason is two fold. One, I actually had success on the Big Thompson with flies that work on trout at Missouri Trout Parks. Second, I had confidence in this fly. I find that confidence in a fly or fishing lure is extremely important and I had faith in my fly. In case you are wondering, the fly I am referring to is just a 1/80 ounce jig with a thread body.
What happened next was beyond my wildest dreams. I was hoping to just land one fish and I didn't care about the species or size. I ended up missing two fish, losing one, and landing two absolutely beautiful brown trout. After the rain stopped and clouds moved off, things went back to being slow and we headed to the next spot.
Our next destination was a place called Pine Creek Trail. A very nice gentleman that I met on the water told me about it. He said that at the bottom of the 232 step trail was a section of the Gunnison that was fed by a dam that held back a reservoir. This sounded like my kind of spot and I was willing to put in the steps for smaller crowds and better fishing.
To make a long story short, the hike was nice and the scenery was beautiful but the water was not conducive to fishing. It was fast, deep, and wide. I actually ran into a guy that suggested I go talk to a fishing guide that was down the path. That got my attention because I was hoping to get some good fishing advice. Oddly enough, the guy I that told me about the guide, I later found out was the wide receivers coach for the Denver Broncos. I thought that was interesting but was more focused on the guide.
The fella I met was a really nice guy named Kyle. He is a part time fishing guide and had all kinds of information to share with me. As I started to look over his rig though, I could tell that I was grossly outgunned for this section of the river his 24 foot (I'm guessing but it was big) pontoon that was equipped with heavy spinning tackle and down riggers communicated to me that fly fishing from the bank was going to be a lesson in futility. I still fished a jig with a scud dropper and did the best I could but ended up getting skunked.
