Taylor River @ C&R Frustrations 06Sep18

Thursday was my day for the Taylor hog trough, the C&R section just below the Taylor Rez effluent where the big boys roam. I did hook up with two very large cutbows but lost both in the span of 15 minutes - grrr. They nailed my Awesome Midge late-morning but took my last two bugs of that ilk. I just could not yield the same results with a similarly sized grey KF Flasher midge. I soldiered on but only caught a number of smaller browns and rainbows like these for the rest of the day - though I did leave pretty early in frustration. Seeing those big slabs of cutbow leaping for something is humbling - on this epic bug water I tried to match further but to no avail really.

Afternoon On The Gunny @ Neversink 05Sep18

After a Kokanee morning in the drizzle I waited out the rain at High Alpine before heading to Neversink for some Gunnison wading. Despite a pretty long walk in, and on, the Gunny, it  was a decent afternoon of browns - unfortunately my big 'bow on an early cast took me downstream to fast water and broke off. I did catch stocker variants of the 'bow and even a smallish salmon but the browns were more prevalent and bigger. I got little top water action but some turn-overs so switched to pure nymphing and fared fine on decent fish like these on quasimodo and various smaller mayflies. The Gunny is very cool IMO... fish are healthy and strong... too, I recorded another triple with brown, 'bow, and salmon.

Kokanee Salmon On The Gunny 05Sep18

Wilks climbed to some obscure wilderness area and I left for the bridge hole near Garlic Mikes on the Gunny for salmon. I should consult an ichthyologist on why the Kokanee are not yet 10 miles upstream to the East River or closer to their birthplace at Roaring Judy hatchery but... I won't - last year they were up there - this year they are still in the Gunny not close to Almont yet. I did find a small pod and caught a number of fish, including a nice 20" Kokanee and even a brown who hit the rainbow warrior during one of my many futile attempts to change flies in order to entice the salmon... it sure seems a lot harder to attract the salmon when the pods are less dense, as they are right now on the Gunny. I enjoyed a nice Hazy IPA called Slash Turn at High Alpine for lunch while the rains came down early PM (and before I hit the Gunny wade-ins at Neversink and Cooper Ranch). Bloggin' from the road via LTE.

Fewer, Bigger Fish With Wilks On The Lake Fork @ Seay & Big Blue @ CG Trailhead 04Sep18

Tom and I opted for trout despite our mates fishing Kokanee @ Garlic Mikes. I know they did well, as did we. Tom & I almost got to Hinsdale (the least populated county in the country BTW) and fished the Seay access of Lk Fk (after a bit of searching). Tom caught fish, some nice ones, the objective. I snagged a few decent ones too - an 18" brown and his lesser bros as well as a 19" rainbow, on whom I failed to pic, so the Lk Fk today yielded bigger fish but fewer fish; I still a caught lot of smaller rainbows. Best flies were the top fly for the small 'bows but the DCEZWD40 on the big fish.

After lunch TAW & I drove to remote reaches to fish Big Blue Ck. I tied a simple Royal Wulff for the brookies and stunned 'em in the rain. Too, I encountered a huge young bull moose @ 20 ft around a corner - whoa. Willks got cold so we hit High Alpine for a hot dinner.

Campground Browns @ Rosy Lane 03Sep18

Pulling in to Rosy Lane is always a great feeling. The cliffs of Taylor Canyon loom and the knowledge that Gunnison Co fishing awaits. So... that night Wilks arrived and DD visited but prior I went out for some of the campground browns on the lower Taylor. Cheers.

Crusher Alternative 01Sep18

I found a keen alternative to the Crusher. A custom built 2013 Porsche 981 Boxter S. Bronze with matching 911 wheels and custom leather interior and performance stuff like the sport chronometer. Wow. Can I get a ride to Pennsylvania?

One CoWW On The Ark @ Headwaters Stops 01Sep18

I headed out for the fall '18 CoWW outing and fished the Arkansas solo along the way to glamping at Greg's for the night. Variable conditions depending on section. Fishing was meh. Pinnacle Rock looked pretty clear but I didn't stop; fished Lone Pine which was tainted - caught a couple using silver stuff; @ Coaldale, due to Big Cottonwood Ck, it was chocolate milk, I moved on; fished Rincon which was pretty clear - caught a couple; fished Salida East (new name for what we used to call the Chaffe Co line) - caught a couple. Best flies were the #20 Rainbow Warrior and other silver droppers, including a new cobalt bead Silver Surfer I tied, and the electric red Amy's Ant #14 up top. Stopped at Amica's for dinner and SoulCraft for a Space Truckin' IPA nitecap before settling in at Greg's Poncha Palace with WiFi! I hope the generator doesn't bother Trish and Bailey - at least I didn't jack into their electric; I just stole the broadband bandwidth.