The Mighty Gunnison begins at the merging of the East and Taylor Rivers near Almont. This incredible river then flows down thru the city of Gunnison until it dumps into the Blue Mesa Reservoir.
July 24, 2025
The Upper Gunnison River above Blue Mesa has seen some low warm flows resulting in us spending most of our time below the Canyon. If you choose to fish this stretch we recommend hitting the water early. We continue to see Caddis, PMDs, and other small mayflies hatch in the mornings and evenings. We have been mostly fishing a dry dropper rig. Using a Chubby Chernoybl as your dry and dropping small baetis nymphs such as a Spanish Bullet in sizes #18, has been putting fish in the net. Spend most of your time fishing the buckets and shallow riffles!
HOT FLIES: #10 Rubberlegs, #16 Duracell, #16 Spanish Bullet, #18 Walts Worm, #18 RS2, #20 Zebra Midge
The genesis of the famed Gunnison River is in Almont where the East and Taylor Rivers merge. Lazily snaking through cottonwood-lined ranchland for 20 miles, the upper "Gunny" is dammed to form Blue Mesa Reservoir, the Centennial State's largest body of water. After being dammed two more times forming Morrow Point and Crystal Reservoirs, the lower Gunnison River escapes Crystal Dam and carves through one of the most breathtaking and wild chasms on earth, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and its more mellow downstream neighbor the Gunnison Gorge, before slogging toward a rendezvous with the Colorado River in Grand Junction.
The Gunny is a big fish river in the truest sense of the words, as the entire upper Gunnison and the lower Gunnison downstream to the Smith Fork meets Colorado Parks & Wildlife’s criteria for Gold Medal status. Wild brown trout and a mix of wild and stocked rainbow trout, along with a few cutbows (mainly in the upper river), inhabit the Gunnison River. While there are ample opportunities for a walk and wading angler throughout the entire length of the Gunnison, both the upper Gunnison and the Gunnison Gorge are tremendous float-fishing destinations with the Gunny Gorge easily rating as Colorado’s marquee fly float trip. Ample public access, robust aquatic insect hatches, excellent numbers of trout, and big fish potential all make the Gunnison one of the Centennial State’s best fisheries and a must-visit destination for your fly fishing trip to western Colorado.
