Category: Riffle and Rise Blog

I floated the Gunnison Gorge for three days at the end of April with the RIGS crew. It was our trial run before taking clients down this season. It was my first time and I absolutely loved it. It’s a spectacular place. It was cold and snowed on us, but we caught some nice fish and had a great time. I highly recommend our three day deluxe trip through this beautiful wilderness area. Check out the Gunnison Gorge trip with RIGS and book early! These trips book up a year in advance.

Malachi and Chris (below) are our new guides this year and they will work toward guiding in the Gorge over the next couple of seasons.

Jacob did really well his first time at Paco on a fishing trip with us at RIGS. He hooked quite a few fish and landed some nice cutthroat.

Had an opportunity to fish Pa-Co-Chu-Puk yesterday near Ridgway. This is the tailwater stretch of the Uncompahgre River at the state park. There are a lot of big fish in Paco, and it’s a fun section to fly fish. I landed this 28-inch rainbow from one of the deep holes, and caught some other nice fish as well. I’m looking forward to fishing there once I get settled in Ridgway. It was 60 degrees there yesterday, and I fished without a jacket. Dorothy, you’re not in Gunnison anymore!

It’s been a big snow year so far, with lots of storms rolling in off the west coast and slamming the Sierras and the Rockies. I have never seen so much snow in Gunnison. Needless to say, I have not fished in a long time, since Thanksgiving actually. The photo below is from an avalanche at the Taylor River C&R section. The county had to clear it out and this photo got passed around shortly after, which was around mid January or so. The Taylor Canyon road was actually closed several miles below the C&R for quite a while. I don’t know what this means for runoff yet, but I would plan on big water this season.

Conway Bowman and his film crew paid us a visit at Taylor River Lodge this season and filmed several days of fishing in our area. You can view video clips and photos from the episode on The Outfitters website here. Eleven guides Ian Havlick and Colleen Farrell are featured throughout.

Had a very nice afternoon on the Gunnison River today. Great way to spend part of Thanksgiving Day!

Enjoying the nice fall weather while it lasts!

Peri had a great day on the Taylor River yesterday. She landed a lot of nice fish, including this big rainbow here.

Good fall fishing continues with the warm weather we’re having. It’s still in the 50s and 60s here, which is way above normal.

Had another nice day on the river with temps in the 50s and 60s. Got some nice rainbows during the middle part of the day. Great photo Matt!