Colorado
Taylor River
Solunar · next 7 days
About Taylor River
The Taylor is the Gunnison basin's marquee tailwater, and it earns the reputation on the strength of a quarter-mile of water. Below Taylor Park Reservoir a bottom-release dam pumps mysis shrimp out of the deep pool behind it, and the trout that stack up in the first 0.4 miles — the catch-and-release stretch anglers call the 'Hog Trough' — grow to sizes that don't make sense for a river you can spit across. Rainbows and browns in the 8-to-15-pound class hold in plain sight in gin-clear water, sipping size-22 midges and mysis patterns while a crowd of anglers stands elbow to elbow trying to fool them. It's technical, humbling, often frustrating, and unlike anything else in Colorado.
Downstream it settles into a more normal — and more pleasant — freestone-style tailwater running roughly 20 miles through Taylor Canyon to Almont, where it meets the East River to form the Gunnison. That whole 20-mile reach from the dam to Almont was designated Gold Medal water in 2023. The canyon is pocket water and pool-and-riffle through granite, mostly waded, with wild and holdover rainbows and browns in the 8-to-17-inch range and the occasional bruiser that dropped down out of the C&R. Access is easy — Forest Service Road 742 parallels the river the whole way with campgrounds and pullouts spread evenly along it — but roughly half the lower canyon is private, so watch the signs. The wading is genuinely tricky in spots: big slick granite boulders, real foot-entrapment hazards, and current that pushes hard at summer flows. Rubber soles with studs and a wading staff aren't overkill here.
Being a tailwater, the Taylor fishes year-round and rarely blows out — the dam holds back the runoff spike that muddies the freestones each June. Summer releases typically run 200-400 CFS; the river gets pushy and hard to wade above roughly 400 CFS, though the C&R stays fishable even high. The signature hatches are the green and gray drakes in July, when even the big tailwater fish will look up, plus reliable caddis and PMDs. Above the reservoir there's a whole other, smaller river — a genuine freestone headwater full of eager brookies, cutthroat, and small browns in beaver ponds and pocket water, a good antidote to the intensity of the Hog Trough. Nearest services are at Almont and Gunnison; Crested Butte is close over the Jack's Cabin cutoff.
Species
- Rainbow Trout
- Brown Trout
- Brook Trout
- Cutthroat Trout
- Mountain Whitefish
| Species | Abundance | Best Season | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow Trout | Primary | Year-round | 8-17"; 20"+ common in the C&R |
| Brown Trout | Common | Sep-Nov | 8-17"; larger in the C&R |
| Brook Trout | Common | Jul-Sep | 6-12" |
| Cutthroat Trout | Limited | Jul-Sep | 8-14" |
| Mountain Whitefish | Limited | Year-round | 8-14" |