Taylor River

The Taylor River has always been a special place.   It is located in a beautiful canyon, and holds some very nice trout.   It's not an easy river to wade, and you have to learn its hidden secrets, but once you do the Taylor rewards you with a diversity of water that keeps you on the water until it is too dark to see the fly. 

The fish were looking up this year...mostly feasting on big PMD's and some smaller BWO's.   It was a dry fly paradise for each day we fished.   We also spent a little time in the famous C&R section near the dam.   It is generally crowded, and we haven't spent a lot of time there in the past.   The C&R is a very technical stretch, and tiny nymphs, mysis shrimp and small tippets are the rule.  This year we decided to spend a few hours there, and we landed quite a few nice fish on size 12 dry flies...imagine that!

The trip...

Recently, I had the pleasure of fishing seven rivers in a week here in Colorado, and catching trout on each one.   It's an annual trip that I have gone on for quite a few years with a group of friends, and it is always a great experience.  A couple of the guys and I extended the trip by a few days this year, and fished several gold medal rivers on the way home.   As a dry fly fly fisherman at heart, I greatly appreciated the fact that every trout I caught was caught on a nice, juicy dry fly (except for one on a dropper hanging under a size 10 simulator, which almost counts as catching one on a dry!).  It was a reminder to be thankful for the scenic beauty of the land and water that we are surrounded by in this state...

  

Shark on a fly...

My friend Cameron went flyfishing the other day and landed something very interesting on a fly rod.  Nice job!!!!

Check it out on TFM.



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Gear Review-Fishpond Cimarron Wader/Duffel Bag

There is one piece of gear that goes with me on every flyfishing journey, whether it is a half day trip to local waters, or a week in Montana.   I've owned a fishpond Cimarron wader bag for approximately 10 years (likely longer, but I can't recall for sure).   The bag has a zippered and ventilated compartment in the bottom for storage of waders and boots, and the main compartment holds a ton of gear, to include raincoat, reel cases, extra fly boxes, spare tools, water filters, sweatshirts, and your fly vest.   The main compartment has numerous pockets along the inner walls of the bag so that you can organize smaller items if needed.   There is a sling strap, and hidden backpack straps if you wish to use it as a backpack to haul your gear into the back country (I've used it that way).

There are exterior straps to secure a rod tube, and the bag is tough.   When I fly to a fishing destination, it is a bag I stuff full of gear, and check with the airline.    It has taken any abuse that the luggage handlers dish out, and my gear inside always arrives intact.   After years of tough use, one of the interior metal supports broke.   I sent it to fishpond for a repair, and they sent me a new bag at no cost.    I was planning to pay for the repair, but I was impressed by the great customer service of this Colorado based company.   I highly recommend this bag, you won't regret buying one.


BDF uses a three tiered gear rating system for gear reviews.

Dry Fly =       Great Product
Emerger=       Good product with potential
Nymph=         Could use improvement   

The fishpond Cimarron wader bag earns Dry Fly status.

For more information on the bag, check out http://www.fishpondusa.com/product/detail/cimarron-wader-duffel-bag/1944