Andy manages Duranglers Flies and Supplies online store and web content. When he is not plugging away in the basement of Duranglers, he can be found in the shop talking weird flies, throwing spey casts for few fish, eating pizza, drinking coffee, painting, and raising a family in Southwest Colorado.
His fly fishing writings have been published on blogs such as the Daily Drake and Simms Wading Room.
Animas Lunch Report – 7/19/16 – The Spruce Moth-man Prophecies The spruce moth: the sleeper hatch of southwest Colorado. Spruce moths are a strange terrestrial that you don’t often hear about. Much publicity is given to the glory hatches of stones, caddis, and mayflies. Terrestrials such as ants and hoppers are even given their due.…
Animas Lunch Report – 7/15/16 – Sage X Gon’ Give It To Ya [call_to_action text=”Shop Sage X Fly Rods” btn_title=”SHOP NOW” btn_link=”/product/sage-x-fly-rod/” class=””] So unbeknownst to us at the shop, John has been fishing the soon-to-drop Sage X fly rod for the past 3 weeks over on the Rio Grande River. Sneaky, sneaky. Well now…
The Pinnacle of Summer – Duranglers July Fishing Report July: the pinnacle of summer. When waders are traded for sandals, nymph rigs are swapped for dry flies, and the stresses of life melt away every time we take a step into a river. This time of year always seems to slip away far to fast…
Pre-Order your Sage X Today [call_to_action text=”Shop Sage X Fly Rods” btn_title=”SHOP NOW” btn_link=”/product/sage-x-fly-rod/” class=””] The new Sage X fly rod is now available on our website for pre-order. These rods are estimated to be available to customers at the beginning of August. Reserve yours today as the initial release will go fast! The Sage…
Animas Lunch Report – 7/8/16 – Throes of Summer Fly Fishing We are in it now, the throes of summer fly fishing. The Animas has dropped to just over 1000 cfs and is fishing fantastic with dry flies. We are seeing hatches of caddis and yellow sallies. It would also be worth your effort to…
Sage ONE On Sale (CIRCA and Rise too!) So you read that title right, all our Sage ONE and CIRCA rods are now 20% off in-store and online. It’s bittersweet for me. In my view, the ONE and CIRCA rod families encompass some of the best fly rods ever crafted. The ONE quite literally changed the…
Animas Lunch Report – 6/28/16 – Southwest Lowdown What is the lowdown of Southwest Colorado? Well, awesome. Summer is here, fishing is fantastic all over, and Durango is just an all around great place to be right now. The Animas has dropped to floatable flows and is very clear. Flowing at about 1,500 cfs; we…
Exploring New Water: The Best Part of Fly Fishing This past weekend, my wife hit me with the “GTFO and go fishing” card for Father’s Day. She is my good woman. Piece of advice for the unmarried: when the wife says go fishing, you go fishing. I was fortunate enough to join two good friends, Matt…
Animas Lunch Report – 6/20/16 – Oarsman Are you an Oarsman? If you are, then this is a good time to be in southwest Colorado. The Animas, San Juan, Rio Grande, and Dolores are all going off for float fishing right now. We are seeing good hatches of caddis, stoneflies, and drakes on all our…
Redington Hydrogen Fly Rod Review Last Summer, Redington announced the release of their new series of fly rods: the Hydrogen. These rods were designed specifically for the trout angler, and our initial test of the Hydrogen was very positive. Since that time, the Hydrogen has been one of those rods we like to mention when anglers…
Animas Lunch Report – 6/14/16 – Float Season Training To get ready for our southwest Colorado float season, we have been training our oar skills on our local lakes and reservoirs. Not a bad place to be fishing either. The Animas has dropped to just over 3000 cfs today, guides are gearing up for the…
The Boys of Summer – Duranglers June Fly Fishing Report It’s official: the busiest time of year has arrived at Duranglers. It’s Summertime! Long days, dry flies, hot temps, wet wading, road trips, river floats, caddis and stonefly hatches, cutthroat trout, and mountain exploration await us for the next 3 months. This is the best time to…
Animas Lunch Report – 6/8/16 – Salmonflies All over Southwest CO we are hearing reports of Salmonflies coming off: the Gunnison, Piedra, and now the Animas! Perfect timing for a mass emergence of big bugs, right through peak flows… Oh well, we have not actually seen too many on the Animas yet, and even though…
Animas Lunch Report – 6/2/16 – Upsides and Downsides The temps and flows this week are setting up a nice little weekend for the Animas River Days celebration. We are betting flows will hit 5,000 cfs by Saturday…but that remains to be seen. Durango is sitting on the upslope of runoff, and we are just waiting…
Tim Kapustka’s “Feathers and Fur” Fly Art We love fly fishing art. We also love supporting anything local. So it is exciting when local artist (and friend of Duranglers), Tim Kapustka drops a new series for Studio & gallery in Durango. It’s an awesome series that will premiere this Thursday featuring some very well known…
Smith Integrated Sunglass Leash Did you know that select models of Smith Optics are now coming with an integrated leash? Instead of purchasing an aftermarket croakie retainer, these sunglasses come with their own! Right now, only the Smith Guides Choice are sold with a leash. However, the Colson and Challis are built to accept the…
Animas Lunch Report – 5/25/16 – San Juan Dreaming Now I know this is the “Animas Lunch Report”, but the Animas is blown and muddy…whereas the San Juan River is absolutely righteous right now. As we stated in our post from yesterday, the the San Juan River is at 5000 CFS. Don’t let the…
The San Juan River at 5000 cfs It’s time to get out the junk flies…you know, eggs, worms, and leeches. The San Juan has hit 5000 cfs. It’s been a few years since this much water has been let out of Navajo dam. This photo was taken yesterday. Recognize that stretch? Yep, it’s Texas Hole.…
Animas Lunch Report – 5/23/16 – Sunbathing Pike They say that if you can find a laid up pike who is warming in the spring sun, a good cast often illicits a the best visual eat of the year. You can often get these fish to eat topwater on poppers, sliders, and divers. At least…
Smith Polarized Sunglasses Memorial Day Sale Have you been needing an upgrade to your fly fishing optics? You know, your sunglasses? Arguably the most important piece of gear you will take to the water. “Most important?” Yep! Most. Important. Piece. Of. Gear. You cannot catch fish you cannot see them first. Those 9 dollar truck stop…
Ross Reels New Colorado LT Now in Stock SHOP ROSS COLORADO LT The new Ross Reels Colorado LT is a throwback to simple times of fly fishing. When all one needed was a click reel, fiberglass rod, and a few flies for a day on the water. The Colorado LT is a click and pawl…
Animas Lunch Report – 5/10/16 – Find Another Fishing Hole Well it has begun, runoff. Spring temps have rolled into town (finally) and the melting of the snow has begun. The Animas is at about 1500 cfs and climbing. It’s time to find another fishing hole for a few weeks. So what might these fishing…
A Rainy Day Lunch Break Living and working in Durango affords us a lot of very close fishing opportunities. As you should know by now from our Animas Lunch Report blog series; we like to get out and fish on our lunch break. Last year (on a rainy day in May, much like today) I…
Not Just Boy’s Fun – Fly Fishing Gear For Women Used to be (back in the day as they say), that fly fishing was largely a “man’s sport”. Unless your name was Joan Wulff, women were largely unrepresented in the world of fly angling; and thereby fly fishing gear. Fly fishing was also seen as…
The Cusp of Summer – Duranglers May Fly Fishing Report It is almost here, we can feel it in the air: summer. Warm days, late nights, dry flies, and trout galore. We are pretty excited to say the least. We have seen a lot of great weather the past month (snow) so we are looking at…