My wife Julie, our 1.5 yr. old daughter Raina & I left our house in Sunland early Aug. 25th for the in-laws house in Cedar City, Utah, with our final destination being my wife's Granpa's in Colorado Springs. My wife's parents joined us from there. We stayed the next night in Grand Junction, CO where I was hoping to get in on an evening bite on the Colorado river that runs right through the town. It quickly became painfully obvious from the muddy color of the river it had been blown out by recent rains in the mountains.

After visiting a couple local shops to gather some intel along with a CO fishing license I decided to hit the Gunnison river outside of Delta about an hr. away from our hotel. This limited my fishing time as we were supposed to be on the road by around 9:30 am. I gave myself plenty of time since the directions were vague & I would be driving unfamiliar territory in the dark. Much to my surprise things went smoothly & I found myself at the end of a small dirt road with the sweet sound of fast water nearby. It was still pitch black so I took my time gearing up but was quickly startled by what sounded like a boulder falling in the water? Now I had my waders on, a favorite little Loomis spinning outfit loaded with 5 lb. P-line armed with my favorite Pinz Minnow. As I approached the water I heard that splash again, a little to close? After hearing it again I figured it must be suckerfish jumping around.

It was only a few casts before I was hooked up to a fish heading upstream way faster than I could believe. He peeled off 40 yds or so before stopping to sulk in the fast water, just long enough for me to think it wrapped me on a rock or something. I was trying to put pressure on the fish from different angles to get a better feel for what was happening when he took off on another blazing run, popping off x( I landed a fat 18" brown before the above process repeated itself but the result this time was a straightened rear hook on the minnow. I caught a couple more nice browns and a gorgeous rainbow, 14"-17" before a small hatch began as the sun came up & I couldn't buy a bite on the spin tackle. It was then that I noticed the noisemaker, a beaver on the opposite bank cleaning himself. That sight along with the size/beauty of these golden fish inspired me to walk back to the truck to grab the camera. I almost brought back the fly rod but only had less than an hr. to fish & figured it would take my lame a$$ that long to put it together.

The beaver was back in the water by the time I got back & the fish went back on the chew right before I had to leave landing 3 more losing as many including another that never slowed down. It was tough but I had to peel myself away from the water to go pick up the family & get back on the road.

The next time we stopped was over the pass near Vail CO, at a rest area in a town called Edwards. I had been watching the Eagle River that runs along the road so after wolfing down a sandwich I grabbed the rod with the Pinz still tied on. 15 minutes of working a couple hundred yard stretch produced 4 awesome browns @ 13"-16". From there we finished the trek to Colorado Springs.

The next opportunity I got to wet a line was on Sun. the 29th on the artificials only section of the Platte River in 11 mi. Canyon. I dedicated these 5 or 6 hrs. to fly fishing only, mostly nymphing but a few fish did fall to the dry fly although the hatch never developed. These were all rainbows although I saw a few browns deny my offerings. Things started very slow with lots of tangles, flies in the trees, lost fish & frustration but things came together. I ended up landing around 15 fish or so including 2 very exciting rainbows in the 20" range.

On the 31st Julie's Grandpa & I left early for their cabin on a private land section of the Platte river, the rest of the family would meet us up there later. Fishing was wfo on mostly 11"-16" rainbows with a few sm. browns mixed in. You were either bit or saw a fish come up behind your lure nearly every cast. I put on a 3" Silverside Trap-Rigged Big Hammer & caught 2 more casting it upstream, swimming it quickly down the fast water. As the sun came up a bit an amazing hatch went off & fish were rising everywhere! They stopped hitting the spinning gear so I rigged up my fly crap but couldn't seem to match whatever they were eating? Pops & I cracked a beer, grabbed a seat & watched the show.

After meeting the family at the cabin for lunch we brought my daughter down to the kids pond for her first attempt at fishing. We had been practicing with her Mickey Mouse pole with the cats so she has the winding in part down. It was only a few minutes before her bobber/worm combo did what it was supposed to. I had a little trouble getting her to keep reeling once she saw the fish on the surface. She wanted to go in the water & get it herself. Once I landed the fish & held it out in front of her for a photo she grabbed ahold of it with the biggest smile, when it started to slip she just put it in a total bear hug. The next fish she reeled in completely by herself, I just had to pump the rod for her. Shortly after I caught a tiny garter snake which she quickly grabbed out of my hand. I thought my wife was going to faint.

Good Times!

I fished by myself most the time & since we were hiking streams the few pictures I did get were on a disposable that isn't finished yet. I will add what was on my wife's camera asap.

We arrived home on thurs. Sept. 2nd around 4:30 pm. I got a call from my brother in Ensenada with word of the big albies. By 8pm I was on the road with Karl/OkieBug for Ensenada:

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=12729&mesg_id=12729&page=

Josh

That sounds like some awesome trout fishing. Pins Minnow is the best brown trout lure!! The faster you twitch it and reel it, the better they hit it :) Too bad those big ones got away. I could see those hooks bending out, they are so thin. I had a fish rip the rear treble hook right off the bait one time when the rear of the lure split open. It wasn't even a big fish, but those baits just don't take abuse very well. Browns sure love them though.

I'm in Grand Junction on business now. How far is that spot on the Gunnison. I've fished the Grand Mesa a couple of times and caught a ton of small rainbows. I've also fished the Green River in Utah below the Flaming Gorge Dam and caught a few browns and rainbows.

Rob,
I hear you about the Pinz Minnow, it's pretty much all I use while stream fishing anymore. Never had any problem besides the finish getting torn up, I was shocked to have a hook straitened out from a trout? It's funny how you throw that thing & catch mostly browns, switch to a spinner or fly & you catch mostly rainbows in the same water.

Fish 24,
I envy you, I'd give my right walnut to get another day or 2 on the Gunnison right now! Unfortunately my exact maps/directions are at home but If you can wait I can give you perfect directions tom. (tues.) morning? Here's what I remember"

I know it was 1 hr. from Grand Junction. Take the 50 south east to the town of Delta. One of the first intersections once you arrive in the town has a brown sign pointing you East towards Black Cnyn. Shortly after the town of Crawford there is another sign mentioning the Gunnison River on the right. It's a sm. paved road that turns to dirt. At the base is a tackle shop/guide operation. I saw a jet boat take a couple of guys way upriver with their pontoon kick boats. I guess they will drop you off so you can drift/fish your way back down. That would have to be a blast.

I just drove down the dirt path beyond the shop & it came to an area people park at the edge of the wash. There are 2 forks of the Gunnison River that meet right there. You could probably give anyone this info at a sports shop in town & get exact directions.

If you get a chance I HIGHLY recommend giving this area a shot.

Josh

dude - it is amazing how that bait will draw out browns like no other trout lure. I've caught a few rainbows on it, usually larger sized ones, but browns just go bonkers on it. I would bet that your hook got bent because browns twist around so much when they fight. I've never caught big browns but I've read a lot about it, and the serious troller guys talk about beefing up on hooks to avoid getting bent out. I don't know what you could do on a pins minnow though since it's so light a bigger hook would kill the action.

Dude I want your life! That trip sounds awesome and not to mention coming home and then Heading to Baja for some Big Albies...It must be nice! Sounds like a good trip though.

Brian #2

And thanks for all the Albie hook ups they were much appercaited!

Rob, Sounds like your experiences mirror what I have noticed also. Even the weight of a tiny swivel slows the lure. I've caught a few browns between 3 & 4 lbs., losing even more. Mostly when they do that surface spining. I'm going to look around for hooks of the same size but better quality.

I really want to do that trip again but with my little alum. boat in tow, without the stiff schedule would also help.

Brian, Some days I would love to give away my life:) (but I can't complain).
Took me all day yest. just to go through e-mails.

No problem on the fish, I want to get you out there to catch your own!
See you this weekend.

Josh

i always replace ALL my pins minnow hooks. started ever since i found out i can bend the hooks with my fingers :(

Josh,

So, I'm going back to GJ. What size and color of that Pins Minnow is best? Where(type of water) and what is the best presentation?

The best results came from a rainbow trout colored Pinz in the sm. size which is about 2.25 inches long. It's mostly chrome with a green back/little bit of pink on the side, I think it also has some sm. black spots.

I use a long soft spinning rod with 5 lb. test, casting upstream or across & up. You'll have to do a quick retrieve so the lure is heading towards you faster than the current. "Twitching" the bait the entire retrieve. A straight grind won't do much for you with this bait, all the action comes from the rod tip.

I like to cast above the waterfall, rock, current seam, etc... to get the bait working before entering the strike zone so I can swim it by the intended target.

Good Luck & let us know how you do!
I've still got trout fever, can't shake it!

Just got this pic. from the in-laws camera:

http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/514/66Raina_s_fish.jpg

My daughter Raina (1.5 yrs) with her first fish.

Josh

Cool, thanks Josh. I'll let you know how it goes. The guys out there might take me on a float trip down the Green River. We'll see. One of them told me they've had 80 fish days floating a six mile stretch below Flaming Gorge. I seen pictures of people with what looked like 5-10 pound browns caught out of that stretch. Flaming Gorge Res. has pumped out the Utah record brown, rainbow, and mackinaw. They have replicas of all three at the lodge.

Take that trip!
I did a drift trip down that exact stretch 4 or 5 years ago for some EPIC trout fishing. 2 of us caught around 100 fish averaging around 18"-20". Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroats & a Kokanee salmon that must have made the trek through the dam. We had a couple of fish completely school us. The Flaming Gorge/Green River is one of the coolest places I've ever been!

In the next year or 2 I'm planning on taking a week or more to drag my little alum. boat up there to work the reservoir. I know what you mean about the Lodge, those are some sick trout.

Josh