I was able to start my fishing season yesterday on a very popular river here in Western Colorado. Normally I like to have my first trout caught in the first week of January. Brutal cold temps and work scheduled made that impossible and I had to settle for a few days later.
I did extremely well. The stars were aligned correctly, the fish had their feed bag on, and I had the proper fly and presentation.
I caught a mixed bag of Browns and Rainbows. If I had to guess I would have to say 50/50 proprtions. Thirty years ago on this same river the proportion of Browns to Bows would have been 90/10 with the Bows being the dominant species . At that time this river was a no stocking fisheries, with all trout being wild spawn. This was pryor to Whirling Disease.
With the advent of WD, and the decimation of the Rainbow populations in the mid to late 1980’s the species proportion predictably swung to the Browns favor. I have no case studies, and I am by no means a fisheries bioligist, but for me, I would venture a guess that the proprtion of Browns to Bows caught was close to 95/5 Browns.
In 2004-2005 a strain of Rainbows from Germany were reintroduced to the Gunnison River. The strain was called the “Hofer” strain, and after spending nearly 100 years in WD infested waters of Germany, has developed a resistance to the WD parasite. There have been a few more stockings of this strain in the Gunnison since 2004-2005. Each time the fingerlings were stalked I would catch a bunch of “Cookie Cutter” Bows later in the year. After all, they are stockers and being hatchery fed/raised, they are a little dumb.
The last three trips for me to the Gunnison has produced large, fat, healthy Rainbows. I am assuming that they are wild spawn as none of their fins have been clipped.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife is claiming that the Rainbow population is reproducing in the Gunnison Gorge at a selfsustaining rate. I believe them.
Heres a look at the trout of the Gunnison River and what will hopefully be the way it stays in the future. Fat Rainbows, and mean Browns!
Thanks for the information and great photos!! I, not being as hardy as you, will continue to pass the days in S. Central Tx. until May when I can return to my favorite place on earth to fish–SW CO.
The caption below the picture on FAOL’s homepage reads "The white stuff acts as crowd control". Boy, thats the truth. Except for a couple distant duck hunters, I had the entire river to myself.
i doubt i’d be as adventurous but with rewards like that how could one resist. here’s to ya dub and thanks for bringing us back to life, great resuscitation!
Dub,
Very nice! Good news about your fishery too. Thanks for taking the time to share. The colors on that last bow…WoW! By the way I couldn’t help but notice your reel. I also have a Red.Fly but cannot find an extra spool for it. Kind of tough to get since Redington discontinued that model.
I bought the reel just for Winter fishing conditions. It was on clearance at the shop where I bought it. I am trying to remember (hurts sometimes), but I think this is the 5th or 6th year for that reel. Not bad for a sub 100.00 reel.
The last time I kept track, I was still running about 9 to 1 in favor of browns, along that part of the river, although that one particular spot has a resident school of bows. Now if we could just get rid of these pesky exotic trout and have a decent cutthroat fishery…
Look closer DG,two different spots, and yes we have fished both. Three trips in a row and I am still catching 50/50 Browns and Bows all the way up to the Power Line. I was suppose to be there today but had to watch my Grand Daughter. I will be at the obvious spot at sunup tomorrow for a few hours fishing before the football games. Hint hint DG, you are invited! The hot patterns for me have been Trout emergers size 14, and PT’s size 18. Hope I see you there. Oh, dont yell as I plan on nursing a hangover!
No, I meant familiar, like I have caught that fish at some point. Actually, I haven’t fished there much since November, and almost none last summer. And I only get up at sumup to hunt ducks in the middle of winter, but if I can drag myself out this morning, I may stop by and say hello, depending on how many people are there. One Sunday there were 8 rigs in the lot, with temps barely above freezing. Was I ever that crazy?
DG, I started at 7:00AM. I do pretty good this time of year if I can fish before the sun hits the water. I dont know why, but for me, it’s always been that way. Guess thats why I like snow days on that stretch. I finished about 10:00 AM
I still caught 50/50 Bows to Browns today, except I didnt catch any Bows over 15 inches
I did manage a few nice Browns along with the normal 12inchers.
Trout Emergers and PT’s again.
Fished today down there, did pretty good. Ratio was 70/30 browns to bows, and some of those bows were pretty obvious hatchery slugs (gnawed off fins), albeit fat and healthy. Nothing big, no hatch.
I would love to get down there, but I tweeked my back at work. I am on Ibuprofin, and icepacks for a few days.
Just curious DG, what were the hot patterns?
That massage place down by the USFWS is how I threw my back out!
My PM box hasn’t worked in over a year, but you are right, I know what you were using.
