Fly Fishing for TROUT on the Animas River in Durango, CO - McFly Angler Episode 5
Channel: McFly Angler
Date: 09/02/2017

One of the last free-flowing rivers in the state of Colorado, the Animas River is a unique and rare treasure. With the newest and one of the best Gold Medal Water fly-fishing sections in Colorado, the Animas is a river that should be on your list of places to fish.

When Juan Rivera passed through this corner of Colorado in 1765, he named the river El Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio, “The River of the Lost Souls in Hell.” To Rivera and his Spanish compatriots, the valley was remote, bleak, and had little to offer them in the way of riches.

The Animas River is the major stream draining the high alpine terrain of the Needle Mountains. It heads in small meadows on the flanks of Cinnamon Mountain north of Silverton, then plunges through wild canyons as it carves a route between the Needle and West Needle Mountains. By the time it reaches Durango, the Animas has grown to a large river. Out of the mountains the Animas meanders through a shallow depression across broad plains. South of the New Mexico border at Farmington the Animas joins the San Juan River.

Fortunately, public access to the Animas River within the city of Durango is plentiful with almost 7 miles of river from 32nd Street Bridge to the Rivera Bridge south of town. Two parcels of private land are found in this stretch, but they are well marked. Foot and bike trails parallel the river through much of town, providing abundant easy access.

The Animas is big water. In Durango the river is almost 100 feet wide, filled with huge rocks and deep holes. The river offers extensive riffles, freestone conditions, and stretches of pocket water. The bottom consists of gravel and cobbles. The rocks are as slick as those in any river in the West, and anglers must always be very cautious when wading. Wet wading is popular in summer, but waders are called for in the early season and in the fall.

On this trip to the Animas I only got to fish a few hours.  I had a late start on this impromptu fishing trip.  I also forgot my SD drive for my go pro so I could not film everything.  However It still was a fun trip even though I didnt land any fish.  I did hook a very large fish though, but could not bring in this big brown.  He threw the hook within a few seconds of hooking him.  

I was fishing nymphs all day, and the fly rig I hooked the big one on was a small (18 size) red copper john, and a 20 size two bit hooker. Im guessing the one he hit was the two bit...   The rod was my custom rod (a bit stiff of a rod) and the reel was my sage 2250.  I was using the basic Rio line, "mainstream WF5F".  

Music: www.bensound.com
Songs: "dance, moose"

Some of the above info about the animas was gotten from the Duranglers website.  You can see more info about the Animas on their website www.duranglers.com