It was a Thursday and I was heading to Durango on business and a little pleasure. It was going to be a quick turn around but I had a little time set aside to fish, of course.
On the social end, I made the call to fish with my close friend James when his schedule permitted. A few weeks earlier we did an excursion to the Rabbits where we fished sun up to sun down... head lamps were required. We had a good time catching up. Heading to DGO gave me a good feeling to see my friend again so soon. Oh, and the work thing gave me some sense of temporary responsibility... ha.
As agreed I made my contact for business when getting into town and now I was free to hit the water. Some of my favorite spots in DGO are mid and north of town. This time I was open to venturing to new spots, probably because I don’t really have “home water” anymore. So on James’ tip, I’d go try a new spot.
Spot number one was pocket water with deceiving little deep spots and nice little runs... and a few large rocks to lean against never hurt my feelings.
I spotted the main pod out in the middle run and caught myself heading straight for them. I thought to myself, hold on, this is the Animas and it’s low water. Cast at my feet because they're probably there. And they were – even a foot off of the bank, and yes I accidentally spooked several.
The fish were sipping midges right below the surface. Zebra Midges and Pheasant Tails seemed to be on the menu. I’m not a Euro-nympher, but I sure know how to high stick in this river and that was the game.
There was mixed bag of browns and bows all on the same diet. I’d forgotten how tough this river can be. Human pressure and gin clear water made it a challenge but with only a few hours of daylight, I made due and netted a few fun fish.
My meeting was canceled for the next day which kind of sucked while being business-minded but my fish brain kicked in. Yes, I went back to the spot. Out of curiosity mostly and plenty of time to burn... and it didn’t disappoint.
Ah, the Animas. Good to be here standing in her current again.
So enjoyed this!