South Fork fishing report

Well, one week has passed since I arrived back in South Fork and the fishing has not been as good as in Gunnison -- though I have caught and released a number of pretty little Rainbows at Beaver Creek reservoir.  I also managed to catch one keeper Cutthroat in the South Fork of the Rio Grande just above Riverbend RV Resort (where I stayed a couple springs ago).  That stretch had some beautiful and sizeable trout swimming around when I had been here previously -- I could see them then when the water was much clearer (now it is considerably blackened by the runoff from the fires).  It also smells like a campfire that has been doused with water the night before.  It is a beautiful stretch of stream and there are numerous rhubarb plants in one part of the canyon there.

I took one of my fellow campers (Harry) to that stretch yesterday morning to show him where the rhubarb patch is -- he had been begging to know and he is leaving today to head back to Phoenix.  We had a birthday party for him on Friday evening (though today is his birthday).

I am hoping that the rains will come from the northeast and head up the approaches of Wolf Creek Pass and rinse the stream clean of some of the nasty blackened waters and sediment so that the fish can see my lures -- and maybe I can again see them.

I did catch another keeper size Rainbow in that section of the South Fork a couple days after catching the Cutthroat and cooked them both Friday afternoon -- also released a number of small Brown trout.  That was early this past week.

I also have fished Big Meadows and Beaver Creek reservoir during the past week but, haven't kept anything I have caught there since I still have five fish in the freezer from Gunnison.  Most of the Texans seem to ignore the 8 trout possession limit and continue to bag their daily limits and fill their freezers to take the fish back with them -- only wish I could see a FWS person come through the camp and check them and their freezers (would be funny to see that).

May head for Beaver Creek this afternoon and wade the stream to the other side and see if I can catch something big there -- maybe after Harry leaves.