My first report here because I don’t get to fish many “nice” places, but here goes…
We drove up to CB from the Dallas area and for any parents out there that haven?t invested in a portable DVD system you might want to think about it. 15 hours on the road with a 2 and 3 1/2 yr old and hardly a peep from them?though if I hear the theme from Toy Story one more time I don’t know what I’ll do.
The place we stayed at was actually my in-laws place and was located in Crested Butte South and was within walking distance of the East River and Cement Creek. I fished a couple of times on Cement Creek were it opens up into a nice meandering stream through a meadow. I also fished Cement Creek through some faster, smaller water but I preferred the slower water upstream. This creek is simply littered with brookies and browns. I would say the average size trout I caught there was probably 6-8 inches. Nothing special, but very fun nonetheless (except with the winds kicking up in those close quarters). This was the first place I fished the morning after we got there and when I got out of my truck the temp was 28 and I was breaking ice off my ferules until the poked its head above the surrounding Elk Mt peaks.
Pic from 28 Degree morning (caught first brookie of the trip in this stretch)
Cement Creek Brown (cool markings)
Cement Creek in meadow
Smaller, faster water of Cement Creek
I fished Slate River and was happy with the results. Same size fish as Cement Creek but your fishing in a gravel bed river in a much more wide open valley. The river seemed a bit low this year despite the amount of snowfall this winter. Again, I caught only brookies here with a smattering of browns.
Slate River with Ruby Mts in the background
I had the opportunity to fish with a friend of the in-laws one day. Nice old man, will be turning 83 soon. He was also from the Dallas area and had been up there for about a month or so with no visitors. The in-laws thought it would be nice to check in on him and make sure he was doing ok and also take him fishing. I had never met the guy but he was a really nice guy. He’s got a couple acres right on the Gunnison just north of Gunnison, however, we didn’t fish there. He took me down to the Lake Fork of the Gunnison, where I had never been, but was really impressed with the water. We fished in a little canyon with some great looking water. This was the only place I actually caught any rainbows the whole trip. The catch (about 20 fish) was primarily rainbows with a few browns mixed in on both dries (Wulff Adams) and droppers (BHPT and Copper Johns). The guy I was fishing with did well fishing heavily weighted salmonfly nymphs. I also got to fish in his backyard when we got back and landed a couple of nice browns but missed about a dozen…some very big fish.
Lake Fork of the Gunnison Canyon
Picked off about 8-10 Bows behind and the left of the the large rock along the seam
For those of you keeping track, that is brookie, bow, and brown in the bag. I was told that the Lake Fork contained cutthroats but didn’t get any. I’ve never caught a cutthroat in my life and figured it wasn’t going to happen this time around either. So the second to last day, after my boys went down for their afternoon nap, I walked down to the East River for some “end of the trip” fishing. As I waded downstream to get to my starting point I could hear thunder in the distant mountains and so I kept a lookout for lightning, luckily I didn’t see any. I was throwing a foam stimulator with a copper john dropper and began working the riffles. Up the run a bit I saw something small rising at the head of the pool. I made my way up there and began my pursuit. About the 4th or 5th cast this little guy grabbed the copper john. I was freaking out when I saw what he was. I didnt quite recognize the markings at first until I saw the red/orange slit under its gills. I had finally landed a cutthroat, giving me the grand slam (not in the same day but I don’t care). I continued working my way up the river it began to rain enough for me to get wet and caught a ton browns.
First and only cutthroat
Brown from East River
I wasn’t able to get up to the recommended Spring Creek or Taylor River area this time around, though we did drive along the Taylor on our way to Leadville for a train ride for the boys. Really nice looking water.
All in all, it was a great trip. Temp in the low 30s (and one in the upper 20s) with highs in the mid to low 70s (was around 80-85 in the Lake Fork canyon though). One day of rain and the rest of the time it was sunny or partly cloudy. Can’t wait to go back next year. And the best thing of all, my oldest son caught his first trout at the Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery ponds, not on a fly, but a trout nonetheless.
Oldest sharing his catch with his younger brother
