Gunnison River Expeditions

Gunnison Gorge August 3rd fishing report

gre — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:04:38 +0000

The Gunnison Gorge has stabilized at 1380 cfs and running clear. Hoppers, streamers, and small bead heads are working well. The afternoon showers have not effected any clarity. The lower Gunnison is fishing excellent with hoppers, streamers, and trinobles. The north fork is running 205 cfs and fishing good as well. For more information please call 970-874-8184 or visit our website at www.gunnisonriverexpeditions.com

Gunnison Gorge July 18th

gre — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:42:13 +0000

Whitewater trips are hot right now. The river is running at around 3400 cfs. The fishing is still pretty steady, even with the high water, we recommend using streamers. For more information contact us at 970-874-8184 or visit our website … Continue reading →

Gunnison river expeditions July 11

gre — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:33:13 +0000

Over the next few days releases from Crystal Dam will be increased by a total of 800 cfs. Flows in the Gunnison River through the Black Canyon are expected to increase from a gage reading of 1750 cfs to around 2550 cfs by Wednesday, July 13th. Release changes will be done in 200 cfs increments, well below the recommended maximum ramp-up rate of 500 cfs per day, in order to preserve the safety of any potential visitors to the canyon and to provide a smooth flow increase that all fish can enjoy. Fishing through the gorge is excellent right now, the fish are hitting streamers, adult golden stones, yellow sallies, hopper patterns, and are deep nymphing on prince snips. For more information visit our website at www.gunnisonriverexpeditions.com

Gunnison Gorge July 7, 2011

gre — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:37:39 +0000

This years runoff has been very difficult to predict. Currently the river is running around 1070 cfs and is expected, in the next few weeks, to rise to around 1800 cfs. The fishing is rated 10 out of 10 right now, with the fishing hitting golden yellow sallies hard. About a mile above the confluence there has been an old mine shaft blow out which has made the river a little muddy from that mile down. We are expecting afternoon showers for the rest of the week, so bring your rain gear!

Salmon Fly hatch June 30

gre — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:31:23 +0000

Trips are coming off the river fishing adult stone flies throughout the whole canyon. It seems like each day the fishing is getting better and better. In the upcoming weeks, the reclamation will start a flow reduction of the Gunnison River of approximately 200 cfs bringing flows in the Canyon and Gorge to around 1,100 cfs as measured at the gage below the Gunnison Tunnel. We know this is inconsistent with information previously provided, but hydrologic conditions are constantly changing and we must react to current circumstances and forecasts. For more information please call us at 970-874-8184.

Salmon fly hatch is on

gre — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:05:46 +0000

We have adult flies from the confluence to chukar trail. Fishing has been great throughout the whole canyon, there are hot spots and fishing best from Ute Park up and Red Canyon down. All of the adult salmon fly patterns are working as well as pmd’s, yellow sally’s and golden stones. The flows are at 1310 cfs and are supposed to be dropping to 1200. We believe the hatch will go through the first week of July. We have some open dates on the 4th, 5th and 9th. For more information check out our website at Gunnisonriverexpeditions.com.

June 22nd Gunnison River Expeditions fishing report

gre — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:04:20 +0000

At this time, the fishing is slow. Still deep nymphing as well as some caddis coming off in Ute Park. It looks like the fish might be keying in, in the next three or four days. The current elevation of Blue Mesa Reservoir is 7498.2 feet, leaving about 20 feet or 183,000 ac-ft of storage left to fill. Hydrologic conditions have continued to change, causing inflows to Blue Mesa Reservoir to lag behind predictions. Observed inflow rates have been dropping over the last few days and the forecast shows this trend to continue. The result will be an actual June runoff volume short of the forecasted inflow. Consequently, to improve the likelihood of a complete fill of Blue Mesa Reservoir this runoff season, Reclamation will again decrease releases from the Aspinall Unit. Over the next several days, releases will be slowly decreased by 100 to 200 cfs per day until flows in the Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge reach about 1,200 cfs. For further questions please contact Gunnison River Expeditions at 970-874-8184 or visit our website gunnisonriverexpeditions.com

June 21st Gunnison River Expeditions fishing report

gre — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:05:43 +0000

As of today, the river has stabilized at 2140 cfs. We have been seeing adult flies throughout the whole canyon. The first emergence. The fish have not started to key in on the adult flies but it is on the fence where it could pop any day. The flies of choice have been girdle bugs, stone fly nymphs, prince nymphs, and San Juan worms. In the next few days we hope to see the fish looking up to feed on the adult flies. There are many bugs crawling out at this time so they should start to show interest in the next week or so. For more information please check out our blog on gunnisonriverexpeditions.com.

June 17th Change in Gorge Flows

gre — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:41:25 +0000

Gunnison River Expeditions has been running trips through the Gunnison Gorge this last week. The fishing has become better each day, stone fly nymphs have moved to the edges of the water. Fish have been feeding on stone fly nymphs as well as the golden stone nymphs. We have seen a few adult flies in the Ute Park area. We are expecting everything to turn this next week after the next drop of water. Blue Mesa Reservoir has filled to about elevation 7491 ft leaving 28 ft or 242,000 ac-ft to fill. At the current rate of inflow and outflow, it would take over a month to fill the reservoir. As a result, after assessing the latest April through July forecast and the current runoff rates into the Aspinall Unit, Reclamation has decided to further reduce releases from the Aspinall Unit in order to slightly accelerate the fill of Blue Mesa Reservoir. This release reduction will begin on Friday, June 17th, continue through the weekend, and result in a Gunnison River flow of about 2,100 cfs through the Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge. As always, this operation may change as hydrologic conditions dictate. For any other questions call or email Gunnison River Expeditions at 970-874-8184/gre@sopris.net

June 13 Salmon fly hatch

gre — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:02:29 +0000

June 6th, the Bureau of Reclamation peeked the river at 7330 cfs. On June 7th and 8th they started bringing the river down to June 13th where it will stabilize at 3100 cfs. Reports coming off the river at the Gunnison River Pleasure Park are that they fishing has been good even though we have two feet of visibility with brown/green water at Chukar Trail. Gunnison River Expeditions launched trips on the 13th and 14th, and will be coming off in a few days with a new report. The fish will be moving back into grass and willows and into feeding lanes within a day or so. The stone fly patterns have been working well along with some Gunnison omelet, stone fly patterns, streamers, caddis, and may fly midges. For any other questions please call Gunnison River Expeditions at 970-874-8184.