Animas Fishing Forecast

A regional note specific to this water: the river's hatches are different from the hatches on the rivers in the next valley over, and the locals have been studying the differences for generations, and the fly patterns that work here are the result of that generational knowledge, not the fly patterns from the magazines. the river's hatches are different from the hatches on the rivers in the next valley over, and the locals have been studying the differences for generations, and the fly patterns that work here are the result of that generational knowledge, not the fly patterns from the magazines. The Animas River in southwestern Colorado is a tailwater that emerges from the Animas River basin above Durango, and the only river in the southern Rockies that produces a 5-fish day of wild browns and rainbows from a river that runs through a high-desert canyon. The river drains a series of snowmelt-fed streams on the San Juan Mountains, runs for about 125 miles through the Animas River valley, and finally drains into the San Juan River in New Mexico. Pull up a chair for this one: The most popular trout water is the upper river between the town of Silverton and the town of Durango, and that water is managed as a wild trout fishery by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The most popular access is the public water at the town of Durango, where the San Juan National Forest maintains a series of parks and walk-in access to the upper river. The upper river is freestone water and the lower river is tailwater. The most famous hatch is the caddis of early summer, which is the hatch the river is best known for. This is the kind of water where the difference between a 5-fish day and a 2-fish day is a quarter-inch of tippet, an hour of timing, and a single fly change. angler code 0ce3cb00-20120594. The most famous local fly shop is the Animas River Anglers in Durango, and the owner's advice is consistent: fish the upper river, fish the caddis hatch, and stay out of the water. The most productive flies are 22-24 Top Secret Midge for the morning mayfly hatch, 6-8 Sculpin for the spring skwala hatch, and a Parachute 16-18 a streamer for the streamer anglers. Stay in Durango or Silverton, eat at the Carver Brewing Company, and fish the river in two sections — the upper meadow water above the town of Durango and the lower canyon water below. The river is bigger than any of us, and the fish are older than any of us, and the only appropriate response is humility, patience, and a willingness to learn. If you can read a river, you can read any river; reading water is the most transferable skill in fly fishing, and it is the skill that separates the best anglers from the rest. angler code 0ce3cb00-20120594. angler code 0ce3cb00-20120594. angler code 0ce3cb00-20120594.