Telluride Outside Blog

Friday, June 17 Great creek fishing + private water

May 11, 2011 -- Great fishing on the Uncompahgre

Brooke and I enjoyed a beautiful, crisp Monday morning in Telluride Town Park.  The water is so clear you can not only see the fish but easily discern their species.  We had several inches of fresh snow overnight, so water temperatures were quite cold.  The rainbows and browns were locked to the bottom, but the brookies were quite active.  Here, Brooke is tied into her first brook trout of the seaon, which pleased her greatly.  She caught it on a #12 Hare's Ear, which she helped her daddy tie.  - John Duncan

Photography guide Ryan Bonneau took the following photos this morning in Telluride.  These are typical subject matters for spring photography tours.  He'll have you shooting like a pro in just a few hours.  Ryan is available Thursday - Sunday for photography tours.

February 18

The Uncompahgre is fishing surprisingly well.  In most years, it tails off just as the San Miguel picks up in the spring.  We had two trips at Pa-Co this week and both caught quite a few fish.  On one day, the morning fished much better than the afternoon.  On the other, it was the other way around.  On both days, mayfly nymphs and emergers were really strong.  Guide Mike Weist reports that his clients caught fish consistently on four patterns: #16 Hare's Ear, #18 Mayhem, #18 Barr's Emerger and #18 Copper John. 

My friend Carl and I pounded up a bunch of fish at Pa-Co and Billy Creek on the Uncompahgre this week.  We headed out on a cold morning just to get out of the valley and were pleasantly surprised to catch quite a few nice rainbows and one brown (on a big streamer).  Most of our fish were caught on Zebra Midges and other tiny midge imitations, but one decent brown ate a double bunny streamer.  It would have been a decent day in July, let alone January.  -- Wyatt Listrom, T.O. guide

January 25 
Morning photography on the San Miguel River: mist, sun and a lone angler.
 – Ryan Bonneau, T.O. photography guide

Winter photography in Telluride

Pancho Winter
December 9, 2010
Steelhead Adventure: Deschutes 2010

I rolled out of Telluride on September 30 to start another October in the beautiful steelhead state of Oregon.  This year, Pancho Winter accompanied me for the first two weeks.  We left town around 3 in the afternoon after stopping by the fly shop to say a quick goodbye.  25 hours later, we were launching on the upper Deschutes.  About 25.5 hours after that, Pancho landed his first steelhead: beautiful 28" wild buck on the swing.  All true.  Shortly afterwards, I landed my first fish.  It was going to be a good trip.