One of the GREATEST Trout Streams You Can Wade // Fly Fishing Pleasure Park in the Gunnison Gorge

HOTCHKISS, CO - Fly fishing the Gunnison River. In this episode, we are fishing the lowest leg of the Gunnison Gorge at Pleasure Park. "Someth'n to Eat!" is an homage, all fish were released.

Pleasure Park is the notable end of your float through the Gunnison Gorge or the beginning of another at the confluence of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Either way, the public land access to the Gunnison River in the Gorge is some of the best access you'll ever find in the Lower 48. When the flows are at or below 900 cfs, you can move around the river at your leisure and hit all the features. I grew up fishing this section of water and would call it my home water advantage. The water tailout from the Crystal Reservoir at the East Portal generally provides temperate flows and is typically fishable year round with exception to colder than average years.  

The Gunnison Gorge accessed from Pleasure Park offers some of the best wade fishing I've ever seen. The river offers the perfect average flow and holds several spectacular features including deep pools, riffles, rock structure, and flats. Historically, there used to be healthy population of Rainbow trout, but after whirling disease the bows diminished. There have been numerous efforts to restore the Rainbows in this section of the Gunnison including stringent catch and release of the species and introduction of whirling disease resistant fish. At the lowest leg, there are still some rainbows, but they have been more rare to catch and more common further up the Gorge in my opinion. We are primarily going to be catching some famous Gunnison Brown Trout.  

I love fishing this section in the thick of summer as the crowds from the famed Salmonfly hatch dwindle and are replaced with mayfly, caddis, and yellow sally hatches. Sometimes the dries and the terrestrials can be going, but I've found the nymph rigs to be the most consistent. Nymphing is definitely not as exciting as a surface take, but they are undoubtedly effective. I literally didn't see anyone else fishing this section on a Sunday afternoon. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the crowds return in swarm by October turning the stream into "Pressure" Park.

Loki Shadow Shirt, this is most have fishing gear: https://www.lokiusa.com/

These businesses are not affiliated with Outdoor Gold and their web pages are provided as resources to the viewer.

Western Anglers, Grand Junction's local Fly shop: http://westernanglers.com/

Gunnison River Expeditions: https://gunnisonriverexpeditions.com/

I'm currently fishing a Scott Centric Fly Rod, made in Montrose, CO and probably the best rod I've ever fished: https://www.scottflyrod.com/

The Centric is paired with the newest rendition of the Ross Animas, also made in Montrose, CO: ttps://www.rossreels.com