Colorado River

Mayflies and Cervical Disarticulation

April 26, 2017 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

Some big mayflies running amok on the Colorado these past few weeks, large in size and plentiful in numbers.

Large Mayflies

Streamers

Mayflies

More Streamer

Even had someone try out the bait-caster off the raft for fun. Much to my surprise it was incredibly effective when it wasn’t free spooling line into the bottom of the boat.

Plastic Baits & Such

More Plastic

Aside from the fish we found this putrid animal sample in the river. Based upon forensic data we determined it fell victim to the railroad sometime around November of 2016.

Cervical Disarticulation

Fishing has been good, best hatches I’ve seen in years for April. Get some while you can.

One Last Time…

November 16, 2016 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

I believe this will mark the end of my 2016 campaign. The weather up until this point has been surreal, highs routinely into the 60’s even in the mountains. All reports say this weather will not hold, and this was perhaps the last few days of it.

Despite the unseasonably warm weather it is still cold in the morning. As in 23 degrees cold.

Cold at Rancho

Rigging up Some Eggs

We slowly made our way down the river, eagerly watching the sunlight creep down the canyon wall. It took until about 10am for that light to reach us, and when it did we cracked a beer and took off our jackets.

Warmth at Last

We did do some fishing, mainly under an indicator when we found a riffle, and big streamers when we were on the run. Neither technique was “lights out” but few days have been that way for me lately. Every angler knows that come this time of year you can always find a few rainbows that will take an egg, and today was no exception.

Eggs for Him

Eggs Again

As much fun as you can have dredging eggs for 14” trout well…we had it. We came upon some areas with fish rising to small baetis duns in some softer water. After an extensive investigation we determined that many of those fish didn’t top 8”…because we caught most of them. We enjoyed a day in the mid 60’s in November and as we rounded the last bend we picked up one last fish on an olive Circus Peanut.

Last Fish of 2016?

For now the boat is being put away for the winter, and probably won’t come back out until April again. The snow will come, and when it does I will be ready with a new machine for what I hope will be an amazing winter. I can’t wait to ride my new Boondocker turbo…

VOHK Sidekick Turbo

Solitude on the Colorado

September 7, 2016 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

Boating traffic diminishes significantly after Two Bridges and I had rarely been below there myself. Packed for an overnight I saw a huge portion of the middle river that I had never seen before.

From Two Bridges to Spencers Cabin the river is docile and meanders through geography similar to the 8 miles above Two Bridges. A handful of storm clouds rolled through bringing periods of brief rain showers throughout the day, and the fish were receptive to streamers thrown from both ends of the boat.

First Fish of the Trip

Second Fish, Second Rainbow

Early afternoon saw some storms roll in and we saw the last boat we would see for the remainder of the trip.

Afternoon Brown

More Streamers

We pulled into Spencers Cabin around 730 with a wind storm directly behind us. Food was prepared hurriedly as night feel not long after we arrived. We slept on yoga mats and next to uninsulated walls as the storm raged on outside. It was the best sleep I might have ever had.

Breakfast was started early, coffee was warmed with a blow torch, and food prepared over an open fire.