Animas Lunch Report – 1/27/17 – Hello Snow
Snowpack percentages are hitting on the high side right now. High as in 150 to 200 percent of average in much of Colorado. That is double a normal year. We are rich in future trout habitat. Digging out our drift boat is top of the ‘to-do’ list this week, but we are still not being discouraged from the water. As we have said before…fishing remains pretty good.
In the dead of winter, there are really only two local fly fishing options in SW Colorado; the Animas and San Juan rivers. If you are headed to the Animas, the fish are stacked up in deep holes and require a deep nymph rig. Due to the recent cold snap, you will have to work your drift between floating chunks of ice. DON’T BE DISCOURAGED. This is one of the best years we have seen on the Animas in the past 8-10 and fish are still eating. Take care to keep them in the water as much as possible and only take them out for only a few seconds. The cold air can have a detrimental on wet fish gills if they are out of the water too long. Midge pupa, mayfly nymphs, and caddis pupa are the staple trout fare this time of year, but don’t discount small streamers and buggers fished on the dead drift or deep swing with slight twitches.
As always, the San Juan is the consistent year-round producer of trout. We have seen the lake turn over in the past few weeks, but fish are still feeding. Black Flash midge pupa, Annelids, San Juan Worms, and Leeches have been producing the most fish. Flows have also been bumped up to 500 cfs today and should remain for the foreseeable future…we have a lot of water coming down this spring and there isn’t much space left in our reservoirs to keep it. Float fishing will be solid at 500 and there will be more areas open to wade fishing with the higher flows.
Perhaps, you are one who really dislikes the idea of heading out in two feet of snow to fish a river that is flowing just above freezing. Well, you may want to consider booking yourself on one of our newly added hosted trips. We have a few coming up in the coming year. Don’t get caught feeling stuck in the snow when there are tropical fish to be found. Check out Duranglers hosted trips.
(Trout photo by Benjamin Kraushaar.)
