Headed up to the Animas

[pac8541]

Gonna take the better part of week and do some winter fishing on the Animas. I'm looking at the Ute tribal waters south of Durango. Any of you folks been to that part of the river? Last July I was on the water there immediately south of town, like where the river goes under 550 and down around the Purple Cliffs area but that's as far south as I got. Satellite photos of the area show plenty of bends and runs that look promising but I'm expecting access issues to some of them and not too much of a clue as to where to start. I'm cool with that, to an extent. I like the "make your own adventure" side of all this, but a few landmarks or tips on where to begin might be nice.

As a side note, if anyone has any recommendations on lodging I'm all ears. No need for me to spend $120/night; I don't need valet parking or anything special. But some of the cheaper places make me think I oughta just take the tent trailer.

Thanks.

[herefishy]

I think you can buy a tribal permit for that checkerboard area. Call Duranglers. Don't know if Lightner Creek Campground is open yet, but it's a nice place. Also Haviland Lake, but it's getting pretty far up the other way. There's a guy on the San Juan Board that lives around there - "dutch". www.sanjuanriverforum.com

[pac8541]

Been in regular contact with the folks at Duranglers and they sell the permit. I'll check out that campground, haven't really looked at much of that yet. Figured if I'm gonna go get cold on purpose all day long I'll probably appreciate the warmth of a motel room at the end. On the other hand, campfires are awesome...

I stopped by Haviland Lake last summer and did some fishing with the boys there. Nice place but yes, a little further north than I was hoping for this trip. Thank you, Karen.

[pac8541]

And for some reason, the "Registration page has been closed by the administrator," on the SJ river forum... bummer. Will be doing a lot of reading only.

[Buddy Sanders]

I've fished the Tribal Waters of the Animas in the summer, but haven't been up there in the winter. From what I've been told, access can be hit or miss depending on how much snow/water has been coming in. Not a lot of 'maintenance' at some of the access areas there.

I do know that the portion of the Animas that is within Durango itself fishes very well in the winter. Lots of fish, and some good ones.

The good folks at Duranglers will tell you where to go and what the access is like when you arrive. One of the best thing about their shop is that they REALLY know what's happening on the Animas (and the San Juan too).

Good luck!

Buddy

[pac8541]

Yeah, Andy up at Duranglers and I have hit it off pretty well and he's helped me out with a lot of stuff over the past year. Between them and Rich and John at Telluride Angler I've dumped an entire month's pay on their counters and spent countless hours on the phone and through email with them. Both shops have helped create some of the best days of my life on the water.

[pac8541]

Well folks, the trip has come and gone and I got home late Sat night. To cut to the chase, I didn't land a single fish. Caught one but lost him literally within seconds when the tippet broke off the tippet ring I had on that particular leader. To say that disappointed me would be the understatement of the century. I spent 3 of the 4 days on the Ute water south of town, and one day in the Purple Cliffs area. Lots of great looking water but nothing I tried worked other than that one time. The first 3 days I had temps in the mid-50's with the last day getting considerably colder with the current storm rolling in. The midge hatch that began about 11am everyday was impressive and lasted into mid-afternoon. Despite the thought of running south to the Juan for a day or 2, I stuck it out on the Animas the whole trip, determined to give it everything I had. I tried everything but dries and followed the advice of Andy and Kyle at Duranglers. I even met up with Dutch off the SJ River forum and his Animas River blog; he gave me a lot of good tips for where and what to fish. It just wasn't my time there. Still, it was a very successful trip: I spent some time to myself out on a beautiful river, enjoyed seeing some distant people I consider friends, and enjoyed the CO atmosphere completely. I never tire of being in that part of the state and its always an emotional experience.

Gear notes: Scott Radian 6, Hatch 5+, SA sharkwave GPX. Break-in trip for Patagonia zip front waders, foot tractors, and river salt jacket. All performed flawlessly and that jacket is my favorite piece of fishing gear, ever. I used nothing finer than 5X flouro and it was very strong; I determined this by the multiple snags on submerged rocks that survived me changing angles and tugging a bit to free the line. I went from a sling bag to a waist pack and that's the ticket for me. Although I like the front pockets on the Pat sling vest, it causes me some crampy discomfort in the left side of my back after just a couple hours. I bought Simms Exstream socks for this trip, expecting colder temps but found them to be too thick to comfortably fit inside my boots in conjunction with the neoprene booties on my waders. They prevented me from wiggling my toes at all and I was afraid that the tight fit might reduce circulation and make my feet colder. I used thick "trekking" socks from Smartwool and they seemed to be the right thickness. And a bigger boot size would have made them unusable with anything but those super thick socks so, no-go for the summer. I found #6 split shot to be horrible at staying on my leader after anything more than a few casts. I bought AirFlo Di-Do putty last fall and this proved to be the right choice. It stuck well on the line and stayed put.

Here's a few pics:

[herefishy]

What beautiful water - too bad you didn't get any action. just means you have to go back another time.Those midges look huge.