Fishing the Animas

June 10, 2013

Jack here. The Animas River is one of my Top 100 Trout Streams in America according to the Trout Unlimited book I’ve been using as a “bucket list.” I started fishing this list in 1999 and made an agreement with myself that I had to catch at least one trout before I could check off a stream. So far I have checked off about 80 streams. I’ve fished ALL the streams on the east coast and California. The streams I have left are in Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Colorado. There are six top 100 streams in Colorado and I already have checked off three streams prior to this trip. So far this trip I have checked off the Dolores River, and have only the Animas and Gunnison rivers left.

The Animas is a beautiful stream and the best section to fish runs for seven miles downstream of Durango’s town center along Highway 160. The town has created beautiful paved bike and walking trails and parks along the river. There are also malls with stores like Home Depot and Walmart along its bank, which distract from the stream’s beauty. The stream is also used by rafters which I know we will encounter during the day. A stream this popular and so accessible is also heavily fished which usually means it’s hard to catch the trout because they are wise. Many have been caught and released before so they know the difference between a real nymph and an immitation.

I get up at 6 am and eat breakfast with Carol. I pack my fishing gear in Julie’s SmartCar and head off for the flyshop in Durango where I will meet with my guide at the “Duranglers Fly Shop”. As I cross the Animas on the way in I notice the stream is still running high from the snow melt. I already fished the stream once for about an hour and didn’t catch anything. I’m hoping the guide has a few tricks up his sleeve. I meet Thomas Chacon and we discuss our strategy and where we will fish. I’m to follow him to one of the city parks where I can park my car for free. We gear up in the park and head off in his pickup to the first spot we will fish. There’s a foot bridge here so we walk out to see if we can spot any trout in the water. Thomas spots one behind a boulder, but I can’t see it. We climb down to the river and Thomas rigs up my flyrod with nymphs and a strike indicator. Thomas is impressed with my drag free drifts and feels sure I will catch a trout. We fish, and fish, and fish. The fishing is great, but the catching isn’t.  It’s a beautiful day and there is no one else on the stream. Down on the stream you don’t see the mall or the occasional biker. Fishing a beautiful mountain stream—not catching—is what trout fishing is really all about and I love the sound of flowing water and the sun glistening on the water.

Down on the stream all you hear is the water running and birds singing. These are places I love.

But, I need to catch at least one trout in order to check off this stream. After about several hundred casts and drifts, I catch a nice Brown Trout. He’s not the biggest trout in the river but he fights hard and jumps high out of the water several times. I don’t like to fight trout very long when I know I will release them, so I edge him quickly to the net Thomas has waiting. Just as Thomas reaches out to net the fish, the trout make a giant leap over the net and gets off.  I’m using barbless hooks for the purpose of easily releasing a trout without harming it anyway, so we are both satisfied that I caught a trout. I can see that Thomas is as relieved as I am that I caught that trout!

I fish only a half day with the guide and he is very likable and friendly. He’s trying to buy a house and they are going to close in the afternoon. He excited. Thomas is 40 years old and this is his first house. Thomas is impressed that I am 76 years old and keeping up with him. It’s a very nice day and we fish several different spots, but I don’t catch any more fish. We run into a lone fisherman and he has caught nothing. We have lunch along the stream and watch the rafters go by. One of the rafters yells out to us, “Where’s the fish?” I think a moment and then point to the water. He laughs.

End of a perfect day.