Category: Riffle and Rise Blog

People are still out fishing in the Gunnison Valley, but it’s getting late in the season with very cold nights and snow in the mountains. I have packed all my fishing gear away until next spring. We’re taking off at the end of October in our RV full time for the winter months and will return to Colorado in April. Let’s hope for a good snowpack and good water for 2024.

I’ve been out fishing more up near the headwaters of the Arkansas River, and I continue to have success fishing small streamers with a 4-weight rod. The aspens have turned gold and there is snow in the mountains, and the fish are moving.

September and October are great months to strip streamers on the rivers and small creeks. The wild browns are on the move for food and to chase predators away. I had a lot of fun up near the headwaters of the Arkansas River the past couple of days, just south of Leadville, fishing a small black streamer all day. The browns were plentiful and beautiful. (Click on each image for the full size and to see the beautiful colors of these wild fish.)

August means hoppers in the Gunnison Valley. Hopper-dropper rigs are the ticket during late summer, and some of the nicer fish are looking for a big meal, like this nice brown from the East River recently.

We’ve had lots of family and friends in town this past week, and everyone is getting out and catching fish here at the house. Tami hooked and landed this chunky 21-inch rainbow yesterday all on her own!

I’ve been getting some very big rainbows to come up and gulp a size 8 adult stonefly on the surface. Big swirls and takes, and then the battle!

The big rivers are running clear but will be pretty high for a while. It’s a great time to get up in the mountains and fish smaller creeks. The wild flowers are popping and the fish are looking up.

Had some really nice rainbows looking up at size 8 adult stoneflies today. Nothing like a big gulp on the surface! (Click on the image to enlarge.)

I made this video with Todd Moen of Catch Magazine a few years ago while working for Eleven Angling. I figured it was a good time to post this again. It’s going to be a very good season for fishing our small streams. (YouTube video may take a while to load.)

Midges and small BWOs were hatching up at the C&R today, and some nice fish like this pretty rainbow here were taking small dry flies.