Amazing vacation day

[DUBBN]

Now this is the way to enjoy a vacation!

I started off fishing the Gunnison at 6:45 AM. Light enough to fish, but the sun was 45 minutes from being up. I started at a run where the Gunnison and North Fork of the Gunnison converge. Unofficially to me and my friends it is known as the “Rock”. I started off with a Yellow egg as an attractor, a size 12 Partridge and Peacock dropped off that, and an Redheaded Stepchild SH, size 18 dropped off that.

In 45 minutes of fishing the I caught maybe 20 fish. Most were 12 to 14 inch Browns with a couple 14 to 16 inch Bows. The Bows took the Partridge, and all the Browns took the Redhead.. Here’s the largest Bow out of that section.



The sun was making its way over the rim of the canyon. I had fished the Rock pretty hard so I moved about a quarter mile upstream to the Sucker Hole. This is the spot Hank and I fished. I pulled a dozen Bows out of it. The smallest was 18 inches. The largest was 21 inches. I also pulled one Brown out of this section. He was 19.5 inches long…I could not quite stretch him out to 20 inches. The two brown pictures are the same fish. I did not take pictures of every Bow. Only the ones I had to land near the bank. All the Bows took the Partridge and Peacock, and the Brown took the Redhead .










About half way between the Rock, and the Sucker hole is a riffle. The riffle is maybe 75 yards long. Maybe 25 feet off the bank is a trough that runs the entire length of the riffle. Kind of a secret spot for me. It is hidden in plain sight. The riffle is too shallow to support fish. Or so it appears. That trough is 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and the trout like to lay in it. I can usually pull a few fish out of it. On a good day I can get maybe 6 to 8 trout hooked. Today was the exception. I think I caught close to 20. One fish was 16 inches and he was the smallest by far. In this stretch I am guessing the average length was 20+ inches. I landed one that was 23 and lost one that was 24 atleast. They were all Browns, and they all took the Peacock and Partridge. After the first 5 fish the fly was a shambles. I cut it and the redhead off, and replaced them with two peacock and partridge. WOW, did I slam them….Heres the pics that did turn out.









probabIy one in four or five fish were photographed, and that’s ok. I had a very good morning.

The patterns..

[Mataura mayfly]

Guessing you got that third toilet cleaned?

Fantastic pictorial report and essay. Looks like the new net is holding out for you. 20 fish in 45 minutes, most days I am lucky to sight two in that time let alone land 20! Sounds like a great day out with little competition for space on the water.
There is just something about peacock herl flies eh?

[DUBBN]

Guessing you got that third toilet cleaned?

Fantastic pictorial report and essay. Looks like the new net is holding out for you. 20 fish in 45 minutes, most days I am lucky to sight two in that time let alone land 20! Sounds like a great day out with little competition for space on the water.
There is just something about peacock herl flies eh?

Normally I dont give exact numbers..The "Rock" almost always has little fish stacked up in it this time of year. Not often is the action that fast (20 in 45 minutes), but not really a feat of great fishing either. That being said, I could have come home happy with the first 20 fish. I am very glad I stayed longer.

[JohnP]

Great report, Wayne! Thanks for sharing!

[Boris]

Nice post and thanks for showing the photos.

[William Anderson]

Sweet report, Wayne. Good lord that looks like fun. Are you wading or fishing from the boat? Are you able to access the trough in ways others do not, or is it just a better understanding of that particular section. Nice work and great patterns. It's always good to when the patterns that are supposed to work do.

w

[DUBBN]

Thanks for the comments folks.

William, I wade this water. It is about 50 minutes from my house. As I have stated before, this is the water where I learned that Soft Hackles can be deadly. Even on water that get hammered by nymph, streamer, and dry fly fishermen. I have been fishing this sectyion for close to 30 years.

Depending on snow melt in the Spring this section can get hammered with run-off waters. The year before last it flooded so hard it scouered the river bottom. I think it was a great thing as it removed the silt from the river.

There are certain runs that no matter how high the flows get, there is always a trough left after the flows subside. The trough may not be in the same spot as the previous year, but there will be a trough. The flows are low enough now that I can pinpoint where they are. That info will serve me well all winter long

It seems that when ever the trout put on their feed bag, they move into those little indentations. When they do that, the fish become congregated, and much easier to catch.

I have witnessed others fish the runs, and even catch a fish out of the trough. I have yet seen anyone purposely fish the length of the trough. They just cross it. I have giggled a few times when someone drops off in a trough. If they are fishing with a partner I hear them say, "theres a hole there, dont fall in". Then they just continue on.

I am not an expert, I just fish that river alot.




From the left of the picture is the North Fork of the Gunnison moving to the right (heading West). It is joining the Gunnison River coming down from the top of the picture (heading North). This is where the Gunnison exits the Black Canyon. The “Rock” is where the two rivers immediately meet and goes up the Gunnison for about 50 yards. All fish caught today where caught from the Rock to about a quarter mile into the canyon…Hope this helps

[DUBBN]

Oh yeah, the last bathroom is cleaned, plus other unpleasant chores....Vacuum the hole house tomorrow....My goodness I am domestic!

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Now THAT was a vacation day!! Excellent pictures and a wonderful read. Made me feel that I was right there with you. Well....except for the part about wading....and catching fish....and tying flies on the tippet. Those parts just made me jealous.

[tie2fish]

I am in total awe of your day on the water, Wayne. Thank you for letting us share your vacation day.