taylor

[kipper]

My wife & I made a quick trip from Arkansas to Taylor Park Colorado for 8 days of fishing. I spent the time on the head water streams in the area. 6/27 thru 7/4. Surprisingly the creeks all had plenty of water and were in great shape for fishing. There was a ban on camp fires, but otherwise other than the grass being dry and the roads dusty everything was fine.

Day 1. Arrived before noon, set up camp and walked ¼ mile behind camp to the closest creek. The stream is 6-10’ wide with a mix of pocket water and riffles. I tied on a royal wulff—the old stand by and went to work. I fished about ½ mile of creek had caught several dozen fish. The majority of fish were brown trout with just a few brookies and rainbows mixed in.



Day 2. Got on my antique trail bike (1975 Suzuki RV90) and putted 8 miles up to the end of the 4 wheel driver road and fished a different creek. This creek was wider—15”, but was very shallow with few corners and pockets of holding water. I pulled out the royal wulff for most of the day, but I did use a tan foam caddis part of the time. Today the brookies ruled with some browns mixed in. The browns were holding in shallow tails of the riffles and I had to be careful not to spook them as I fished up the creek.



Day 3—Had a slight mechanic issue on the antique== I lost a master link and thru the chain, so I fished Day 1 creek along the road. I was not planning on very good luck, but I got a big surprise. Every pocket, corner, and undercut bank held a brown trout. I used the foam caddis since it floats a little better and the best spots to fish had some serious current. Had a great day when I least expected it.



Day 4—Drove up the park and fished another creek along a 4 wheel drive road. This creek was mostly pocket water with a few riffles and beaver ponds. There were tracks along the stream so the resident brown trout were spooky. But with patience they would come up to sample the royal wulff. Had another good day.



Day 5—headed down stream from camp then found a tributary and then another side creek to it and fished it for an hour. The little tributary was 6’ wide and brushy. This is my favorite type creek--steep gradient pocket water with a wall of willow on each side. Very few people will wrestle with this type creek. The browns were on alert and looking for something to eat. I put the royal wulff on again and let the fish bite. I had a good hour of fun on this side creek. I went back to the truck and drove to the end of the road and fished the main stream. It was 6-10’ wide and had a mix of browns and cutthroat trout. I had fished this creek a couple of years ago and the cutts are losing out to the browns. I caught more browns this year in proportion to the cutts. I fished the royal wulff and yellow foam caddis. Both seemed to work.



Day 6—Drove up over a low divide and fished a different Taylor River tributary. There were tracks along the creek in spots so fishing was a little harder today. The browns were a little reluctant, but the royal wulff coaked enough of them out to made the day fun. Today was a mix of fishing in a wide open park, riffles and pocket water. There was a lot of variety in a short stretch of steam.



Dayl 7—I went back to Day 4 Creek and fished further up the rough road. I had the RV90 back up and running. I putted up the rough road and fished 2 meadow areas. There was a mix of browns and brookies today. The Royal Wulff and Yellow Foam Caddis seemed to bring out the best of them. I had a good day fishing pocket water, beaver ponds and riffles between a wall of willows. I spent plenty of time getting my fly out of the brush.


Day 8—the last day of the trip and then back to Arkansas. Drove out and fished a side tributary to the East River. There was a lot of traffic—mostly trail bikes up and down the road. I found a short meadow stretch and fished for a couple of hours. The Brookies and browns were ready to bite and I had a good time in a short period of time. This was a great way to wrap up the trip.
I’m back in Arkansas and already miss the 40 degree nights and 80 degree days. 100 degrees is hot!!! Had a few more pics but could not get them to load