Animas Lunch Report – 8/5/15 – Monsoonal
Baked neck, dark and dry hands, and drinking “enough” an unattainable feat; our summer guide season had been grinding on through the heat of late July. It had been dry for nearly a month and 90+ degree days mixed with no cloud cover and low water had made for tough midday fishing. In fact, dawn and after dark had been the best times to be on the Animas. With dry grasses and threats of fire looming, we anticipated the monsoonal seasons.
It has arrived.
The past few days have seen a steady increase in rain in the afternoons until today: a forecast of 100% chance of rain has been 100% fulfilled. In fact, it will probably rain all day. These August rains bring cooler temps to our rivers with a slight increase in flows and dirty water. While it can be tough to motivate oneself to get out and fish through this time of year, just believe that this is a very good thing. You will also have lots of water to yourself.
As I write this, the Animas has jumped to 465 CFS. Not high flows by any stretch, but certainly off-color. If you going to get out on the water, pack some big nymphs like 20 Inchers, Pat’s Rubberlegs, Princes, and Hot Wire Stones. Keep a few dark streamers in the box too, overcast days can bring the big boys out to play.
These heavy rains have also dirtied up the San Juan River Quality Waters this morning, but we expect them to clear this afternoon or evening (weather pending of course…the rain may just keep coming all day). Standard midge fair is on menu, but make sure you have your annelids too. Lots of these worms will be flushed into the system. Have a few terrestrials too, heavy rains can wash bigger dries into the system and fish may key in on these bugs.
Our fishing has been really good recently, and we expect these monsoonal rains to change things up a bit. However, we expect the fishing to continue to be great. Here are a few shots from a few of our recent guide trips. It has been a good few weeks.
