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 be in Durango (in our opinion). We finally hit peak flows a few days ago and are now looking at the downslope of runoff. With so many options, why don’t we break these boys of summer down for those who are planning a to fish the Durango area this June.
San Juan – The San Juan will be our constant producer this month. Though flows are currently being fluctuated between 4,000 and 5,000 cfs, fishing has been fantastic. Look for flows to be dropped later this month. You will also want to keep an eye out for monsoonal rains that can bring the ant fall, possibly by the end of the month.
Animas – With peak flows hitting almost 6000 cfs, the Animas had a lot of water coming down the mountains. Throughout peak flows we saw a small but notable hatch of salmonflies on our local waterway. While not ideal for fishing, salmonflies do speak to the health of a river system. Look for flows to drop and the river to become very fishable from a boat in the next week or so. Caddis will soon be coming off and fish will be looking up. For those worried about the effects of the Gold King Mine spill…pH levels have been very normal and we are expecting a fantastic summer of fishing.
Rio Grande – If there is one thing we get really excited about every June, it is our Rio Grande float season. Mid June through Mid July, you can find us floating clients on the Rio casting big dries to very hungry fish. Look for hatches of Salmonflies, yellow and brown stones, green drakes, brown drakes, grey drakes, PMDs, and Caddis this month.
Piedra – The Piedra is ripping right now, but flows will come down soon. This is another favorite for those who want to find the big bugs. Look for stones to be popping of right now and in the days to come.
Upper San Juan – Much like the Piedra, this is good stonefly water. You can also float the Upper San Juan when flows are right…and they are just about right!
Dolores – The upper Dolores is pretty high and raging these days…but it will come down. If you know how, it will be floatable and fishable with lots of bugs showing up this month…but let’s talk about the lower Dolores right now. The lower D has seen a “resurgence” if you will this June, a “revitalization”. For the first time in 6 years, there was an actual big water release on the lower Dolores. This release immediately caused a stir among the river community, and everyone who could floated it for the 3.5 days it was at 1000 cfs. It was a glorious time to be on the river (although there was a lot of traffic and very few fish were caught). So what does this mean for the lower Dolores fishery? Well we are not sure. Hopefully much of the 6 years of sediment was flushed and there is new structure for trout. Only time will tell what effect this flush will have, but we are very hopeful. I guess we will have to head over there and check it out.
Pine – As with everything, the Pine is high, but coming down. Summer flows will be here soon and with it, good fishing. Below the dam fishing will be fantastic but farther down through the Ute water, the river may flow off color due to irrigation. The end of June is a good time to think about hiking the upper Pine and hitting numerous stonefly, PMD, and caddis hatches.
Creeks and the High Country – Our full on, dry fly, hike and wade, beautiful views creek season is almost upon us. Heck, it is already here if you want to brave higher flows and colder water. However, you may want to fish a dry dropper. If not, the high country should start coming fully alive about the third week of this month. We are pretty excited. Make sure you check out our guide to fly fishing the high country.
Local Lakes – With warm waters, we are seeing our pike fishing slow down a little bit. These warmer waters are bringing about good bass and carp fishing though. Many of our local lakes in the high country are also picking up with good trout fishing. Look for these lakes to only get better throughout the month.
Make sure you check out our Area Rivers Reports Page for up to date flows, hatches, and fly info!
