big on the animas

golden hour on the Juan

So yeah, work stuff called me up to Cortez, CO.  No matter how you slice that drive, the route takes you within a 30min drive out to the Quality Waters on the Juan.  So I've been swapping biking and fishing each time I head up that way since the project began back in the Fall.

Fishing felt right this goround, so I packed the fly rod, hit the water noon on Sunday.

Waded right into a schweet midge hatch, slurping pods all over the place, many in just 12" of water.

johnny flash, #24, in black or brown, don't matter which

Worked this one pod over from stem to stern, pricking a few, landing a coupla less.  Managed to wrestle this good ole boy to the net.

grizzled veteran

So Monday after my project meetings I'm chatting with a client who's an avid angler, swapping lies stories and patterns from my day on the Juan.   He relays how the warm weather has the Animas turned on, guys having banner days while the gettin's good, you should get on out there. Man, I'm traveling back that way on the way home, hmmmm, what were they bitin' on again?

in the shadows of highway 160 bridge

Monday afternoon has me pulling into a dirt pullout just down from the Humane Society in Durango proper.  I look over and spot a coupla gents breaking their gear down, having just quit the river.  I mosey over, ask them what's the skinny.  Ryan and ?John? are both locals, friendly (as is everyone in that town!), give me a few pointers.  Turns out Ryan is a guide for Heads Up Fly Fishing (booya!) so he knows the schizzle allright. They both dig into their boxes and offer up a coupla of their favorite patterns- clown's egg and red annelid, nice!  

I offer to trade in kind from my San Juan box, both kindly refuse- what gentlemen! Eying my midge patterns with a wry grin, Ryan leaves me one final piece of advice to not fish too small- we fish them big on the Animas. 

Wow, thanks again guys, youdaman! 

So I step into the same runs that Ryan and his bud just quit, right in the shadow of the highway 160 bridge above.  It's not 10 minutes before I meet this guy-

17" brownie

Another 20 minutes and I'm tight to a big boy, bulldogging it down deep in the current.  For 3-4 minutes, he's towing me around a coupla pools, never once giving thought to nearing the surface.  Just throbbing head shakes, zigs, zags, ohmygawdthisguyishuge!  I can wait him out: drag's set just right, new 5x tippet on the end, now he's getting tired, I'm getting line onto the reel.  I'm already mentally writing the blog post Headline: Victory! when I feel that sickening tick, ping, and minute slippage of the line that says something's not right, just might have this dude now fouled.

Sure enough after 5 minutes, I'm finally getting him up for a looksee.  Freaking huge allright, well past 20", prolly 22-24", big BIG wild brownie.  Holy smokes!  

But yeah, I have him fouled, my #20 clown's egg snagged right in a pectoral fin, %@#$%^$!

Yep, 'twas not to be.  One more roll, my rig's flying back in my face.  

I just stand there, rooted in the river, defeated, heart pounding in my chest, hands still shaking from the adrenaline rush and my lord the disappointment of the moment.

Reeling up while gazing back downriver at what might have been, Ryan's words float back to me- we fish em big on the Animas.  

Truer words never spoken, my friend.

Rio de las Animas Perdidas