Hog Heaven on the Taylor: John Evon on the Destination Angler Podcast

The Destination Angler Podcast released episode 178 on Thursday, and the whole hour is about our stretch of river. Host Steve Haigh sat down with John Evon, our lead fishing guide at Harmels and Taylor River Anglers, the on-site fly shop and guide service. Steve titled it "Hog Heaven on the Taylor River," which will not surprise anyone who has spent a morning below the dam.

What They Get Into

For anglers who have not fished here before, the Taylor is a Gold Medal tailwater with a reputation for being humbling. Steve's write-up for the episode calls it "graduate school for the advanced fly angler." Light tippet, long leaders, and a drift that actually looks right are the price of admission, and he and John spend a good while on why that is.

From there it turns to the fish. Browns, rainbows, cutbows, and Snake River cutthroat all come up, along with the Hog Trough and the 40 and a quarter inch rainbow that still stands as the Colorado state record. John talks through the summer caddis, throwing terrestrials once the hoppers get going, and how much of the good water around here you can reach on foot.

The section on the upper Taylor above the reservoir is worth the listen on its own. That water gets far less attention than the tailwater and fishes nothing like it, all pocket water, undercut banks, and high country freestone. There is also a story in there about a nine year old who put roughly fifty trout in the net in three hours, which John tells better than we could.

Where to Listen

The video is above, and the audio is on the episode page, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Steve also wrote a companion piece to go with it, Hog Wild: Fly Fishing Colorado's Taylor River, which covers the same water in print, from the Hog Trough up to the freestone stretch above the reservoir.

Thanks to Steve for giving the valley an hour of airtime. If the episode moves the Taylor up your list, John and our guides run walk and wade trips on our private mile and on public water throughout the Gunnison Ranger District. Have a look at fly fishing at Harmels, or book a cabin and put yourself a short walk from the water.