Tailwater · Mixed · Colorado, US

Taylor River (below Taylor Park Reservoir)

Taylor Park Reservoir venue image

The Taylor below Taylor Park Reservoir is a Jekyll-and-Hyde tailwater.

Tomorrow · Not the day for it
Pheasant Tail
Forecast · Tomorrow
Not the day for it
Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
45% projected
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail
Pheasant Tail
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Rising
1.01 m
Lifting fast
Water temp11.5°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather12°C
WindN 10 km/h
Pressure1021 hPa
Rain · recent0.8 mm
Rain · ahead0.2 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
12°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 52%
Peak emergence window5 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Western Blue-Winged Olive (Western Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2
TricoHatch
2
3
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Colorado licence
  • Gold Medal (20 miles below the reservoir); special regs on the dam water — verify CPW rules.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 3
Arkansas River — Upper (Granite to Buena Vista)
35 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Gunnison River — Upper (Almont to Blue Mesa)
46 km
33
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Arkansas River — Browns Canyon (Buena Vista to Salida)
50 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Taylor below Taylor Park Reservoir is a Jekyll-and-Hyde tailwater. The quarter-mile right under the dam grows preposterous mysis-fed trout and draws a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd to match — technical, combative, hero-shot water that brings out the worst in people's manners. Drop downstream and it relaxes into a lovely pocket-water tailwater with plenty of willing browns and rainbows and room to breathe. CPW made twenty miles of it Gold Medal in 2023. Treat the dam reach and the river below it as two different places, because they fish that way and they feel that way.

  • Mixed
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 81 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity59 × 12%7.1
Conditions total= 81
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts