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My family and I just returned from a two week trip to Durango, Colorado. We have made the trip every year for the last five or six years. My kids (10, 8, 5 & 2) always have a good time playing outdoors. I always get to break away for a little fly fishing. Here is a condensed report.
I fished the Upper Animas River outside Silverton, Colorado last week. Above Silverton, the river is pretty narrow and looks like a high mountain creek. I walked in near the Old 100 mine and fished up about a mile. Caught a good number of brook trout and several cutthroats. Most of the fish were small but fun on a 3 weight. All caught on a #16 Elk Hair Caddis or a #16 Royal Trude.
On Wednesday last week, a good friend of mine and I fished the Piedra River with a guide from Duranglers. We have fished with this guide once or twice a year for the last five years and count him as much as a friend. We walked the Piedra Trail above First Fork Creek and fished the river up from the first meadow. We hadn't had much rain the week we fished so flows were slightly down and the fish were holdingin deeper runs with good current.
The bite wasn't spectacular but we hooked one fish in all the A+ spots. Fish were caught on a hopper/dropper setup with an attractor fly in a grasshopper pattern (Idylwilde's Chubby Chernobyl) with a beadhead stonefly nymph underneath. We fished large dropper flies with tungston beads to get down in the current and it paid off. We caught some nice browns and rainbows to 15". A couple pictures of our surroundings.
There are some great creeks and rivers to fish in SW Colorado. If you are headed that way, I would be glad to share some of the spots/flies that have worked for me during the summer months. Great way to beat the heat back here at home.
JYC
I fished the Upper Animas River outside Silverton, Colorado last week. Above Silverton, the river is pretty narrow and looks like a high mountain creek. I walked in near the Old 100 mine and fished up about a mile. Caught a good number of brook trout and several cutthroats. Most of the fish were small but fun on a 3 weight. All caught on a #16 Elk Hair Caddis or a #16 Royal Trude.
On Wednesday last week, a good friend of mine and I fished the Piedra River with a guide from Duranglers. We have fished with this guide once or twice a year for the last five years and count him as much as a friend. We walked the Piedra Trail above First Fork Creek and fished the river up from the first meadow. We hadn't had much rain the week we fished so flows were slightly down and the fish were holdingin deeper runs with good current.
The bite wasn't spectacular but we hooked one fish in all the A+ spots. Fish were caught on a hopper/dropper setup with an attractor fly in a grasshopper pattern (Idylwilde's Chubby Chernobyl) with a beadhead stonefly nymph underneath. We fished large dropper flies with tungston beads to get down in the current and it paid off. We caught some nice browns and rainbows to 15". A couple pictures of our surroundings.
There are some great creeks and rivers to fish in SW Colorado. If you are headed that way, I would be glad to share some of the spots/flies that have worked for me during the summer months. Great way to beat the heat back here at home.
JYC
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