Return to the Four Corners 2011 - Part 2

Part 2 - The fishing part

On our last trip to Durango, we took a float trip with Animas Valley Anglers on the upper San Juan above Navajo Dam. Amy and I both had a blast on that trip, and we caught a good number of quality fish and saw some amazing scenery. So, prior to this trip I called up Will Blanchard, owner of AVA, and he said that he thinks we may as well complete the San Juan float by doing the quality water below the dam. I agreed, and we made arrangements to go on a Monday in order to avoid the typical weekend masses that flock to this world famous tailwater for large trout.

Weather the first two days of our trip was not very favorable for a float, thankfully the conditions changed by the morning of the float. Will picked us up at the hotel, and we made the one hour drive to the tailwater. After getting my one day license for $17, we drove on over to the launch point. While sitting there gearing up the shuttle guys came by and told us that there were at least ten boats currently fishing in the quality water section. The quality water is four miles long, and basically the boats just follow a rotation routine so that everybody has a chance to fish all the good runs. Upon hearing about the quantity of people on the water, Will and I just looked at each other. Will, knowing that I am not a fan of crowds, recommended that we try something a little different. You see, he also doesn't like crowds, and we really wanted to avoid them if possible.

Will's proposal was that we shift gears and float the lower tailwater. The only catch was that the lower tailwater was typically a later season float, and he had not done it since sometime back in the fall. Not only that, but the shuttle guys had told us that they had not ran a shuttle down there in months either. So, it was a little bit of a gamble, but Will thought he could put us on some quality fish. Also, this lower float was 14 miles compared to the 4 miles for the quality water.

We all agreed that it was worth the gamble and shortly took off downstream. It wasn't long before we were into some fish using baetis nymphs:

Most in this first run were about this size

We caught a good number out of this first hole before moving on downstream in hopes of finding better quality fish. The next run we came upon was a beauty, and once again it wasn't long before I hooked up:


The quality did get better here, and we found ourselves pulling a lot of fish out of this run. Plus the browns began to start showing up in the net at this point.




We picked this spot to stop for lunch, and the scenery was quite appealing too:




After lunch, we hesitantly left this spot since we still had a lot of water to cover. Just downstream at the next run we hooked into possibly the best fish of the day. Well, that we landed anyway:


After this fish we switched to large streamers in hopes of turning some big browns. We weren't disappointed as we had several over 20" give chase. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a decent hookset on any of them, and therefore no pictures of big browns to show for it.

It was a wonderful day on the water. A little longer than we originally planned, but the fishing, scenery, and guide was spectacular. We definitely made the right choice by going with this lower section float.

Amy and I are anxiously awaiting our next trip to Durango, and highly recommend Animas Valley Anglers to anyone who is looking for a guide in the area.

I would like to thank my lovely wife for taking the majority of these photos, and the video also in a separate post on the blog.

Return to the Four Corners 2011 - Part 1

Part 1 - The Non-Fishing Part

Four years ago, Amy and I were desperately needing a vacation. Unfortunately, we were running short on time, and our timeshare options on short notice were pretty limited. So, we took a chance and elected to go to a sleepy little town named Durango in Colorado. Little did we know that we would fall in love with the area. Not only is it saturated in beautiful scenery, but the people, fishing, food, and atmosphere are phenomenal. I have been trying hard to get back out there since our last trip, and this year we were supposed to go out in September for some high elevation small stream fishing. However, with baby Taryn growing inside mommy, that altered our plans; and we elected to go out in April again.

When we arrived, we were greeted with high winds, rain, and snow. Not much different than the first time. Thankfully, the weather forecast was showing a significant improvement in the coming days. We tried to drive up the mountain on the second day only to find that the roads were impassable thanks to the previous days snowstorms. So, we just walked around town enjoy the sights and sounds. People in Durango are very health and physically conscious, plus a lot walk to the beat of a different drum (like the fellow below riding a mountain unicycle):

No matter how strange some may appear, they are all very friendly. As I said previously, not only are the people and sights appealing, but the food is fantastic. Day 2 had us hitting up our favorite BBQ joint from the previous trip.

Walking along the river in town enjoying the warming weather provided us with some beautiful backdrops and photo opportunities:



While walking through town, we stumbled upon this little pond. We almost walked on by without giving it a second look.

Thankfully we didn't, and when we looked down into the clear waters we saw a pond chock full of rainbow and cutthroat trout feeding on midges. More on the fishing later.

Later we went to dinner, and I figured I would enjoy some trout prior to the next days float trip. Some may consider this to be bad fishing karma, I just thought it was tasty. Our meal was once again fantastic.



The day before we were supposed to fly back to Knoxville the weather warmed to 74 degrees, the roads in the mountains cleared up, and we elected to take a little trip. The scenery was breathtaking:

Trey's First Camping Trip

Last weekend as we were returning from a conference in Nashville, Trey asked to go camping. What was unusual was that it was completely out of the blue, and we hadn't even been discussing camping. So, my mind immediately went to work thinking about how we could do it. Considering we were still driving home on I-40 with about another two hours left ahead of us, I started calling my parents. I figured that if we got home and threw the camping gear in the truck we could at least go out to the farm and put the tent up for the night. This way if Trey didn't like it or got scared we could drive up to my parents house and let him sleep there for the night. We didn't even bother changing clothes after the conference, we just put the camping gear in the truck and drove to the farm. I was even putting the tent up and starting the campfire in what I had worn to the conference earlier. Thankfully he loved it, and behaved himself well around the campfire.

That night we were all sitting around the campfire talking about how big the moon was. It wasn't until the next night that we were experiencing a super moon, and it would be a long time before the moon was this close to earth again.


The next morning I was awakened by the sound of a turkey gobbling. So, I unzipped my window and nearly fell out of my bed when I saw a flock of turkeys walking past. Four of which were in full strut trying to track down the hens. What a way to wake up.

I let Trey and Amy sleep in some before going to wake them for breakfast. When I checked on them I found Amy had moved up to my cot and Trey was asleep on the air mattress. Unfortunately the air mattress had deflated on them during the night, and has officially seen its last camping trip.

As we were leaving Trey asked to go camping again, so it looks like I now have myself a little camping buddy from now on. YES!

Spending more time in the mountains

I took the Tuesday afternoon off from work and et up with a couple of message board friends for a short fishing outing. Met Buzz at LRO around 1:30 and then Jeremy at the trailhead around 2:15. After a few minutes spent gearing up we headed up the trail. Jeremy and I elected to wear waders while Buzz chose the more manly alternative. Shortly into our hike, we came upon this little jewel. It was the only trillium we would see the whole day.

We walked up the trail for about 45 minutes before hopping into the river at our first spot. It was tight quarters, and I primarily hung out in the back taking pictures.

It wasn't long before Jeremy had one on using a double nymph rig.

We all three worked our way upstream for probably 1/4 mile, all of us catching fish regularly as we went. I would occasionally get out and move farther upstream so as not to put too much pressure on the fish. Many looked like this:

Buzz was fishing a Quill Gordon, I had on a QG with a BHPT dropper, and Jeremy was using his double nymph rig. Buzz and I missed countless fish on the dry, but we still managed to hook our fair share of surface feeders. Most of the fish I caught were significantly larger than those that were caught along WPLR in previous outings, including the one below.

After catching my first couple fish, I took a short break again. Mainly I was just taking in the scenery and snapping a few pictures along the way. It was such a beautiful day, and the river and its fish were so beautiful.

I had to cut my trip shorter than the other guys in order to exchange a cot at BPS, however just before leaving I managed to see Buzz land a very nice rainbow from the last run. It was a very enjoyable trip thanks to these two fine fisherman, and I hope to meet up with them again in the future.

Taking Advantage of Smokies Hatches

I to got out for a little while on Sunday. I had the option of fishing either the high flows of the larger rivers for big browns, or looking for calmer conditions of side streams and a possible hatch. I chose the second.

I expected to have to dredge the bottom with heavy weight to get any hookups. However, I was surprised to see Quill Gordons and blue quills coming off by the dozens in the little area I was fishing. So, I tied on a #12 Quill Gordon and alternated between a #16 BHPT or a #14 Quill Gordon wet fly dropper, and was into fish consistently all afternoon. All of my better fish came on the nymph and wet fly, however had lots of takers on the dry. Surprisingly lots of the small fish were hooked on the outside of the head. When I say small I am talking about 4", so I assume it was because their mouths were too small to take the whole fly. I tried to catch a couple Quill Gordons for a photo, but it was a little difficult to move around very quickly in the higher water.

I actually ran out of Frog's Fanny in the mid-afternoon, and had pretty much fished my area thoroughly. Not to mention I was book ended by a couple other fisherman. So, I chose to try and find another small stream and swing back by LRO to replenish my supply. I then made my way up to Jake's Creek in hope of finding some decent pocket water to fish, but was surprised to see it still flowing extremely heavy. I guess maybe the snow runoff kept it a little higher than the stream I was fishing previously. However, there were still lots of bugs fluttering around above the surface. On my way to Jake's Creek I saw one brave angler standing in the middle of a very high and swift Little River. About 100 yards upstream from him was a kayaker coming downstream very quickly. Didn't see how that turned out for either of them, but I hope both came out okay.

Looking back, I probably should have never left the original spot I was in as the hatch probably just continued to get better as the day progressed. Regardless, it was a beautiful day, and my best day fishing in the Smokies in a long time. Just in time for those of you coming into town for spring break. Now, if we can just get the weather to cooperate for a while. Be sure to have a good supply of quill gordons, blue quills, and pheasant tails with you.

Here are a couple pics: (No pics of fish with dry fly since they were all really small)

Little bow taken on a Quill Gordon emerger

Best bow of the day on a BHPT

P.S. - While I was in LRO checked out some of the new Fishpond gear. Wow, they have really outdone themselves this year. I love the new Piney Creek tech pack. Gonna have to get me one of those.

Here are some shots from the Jake's Creek area. These old houses really intrigue me, and anyone interested in the history around Townsend and Elkmont should read the book Last Train to Elkmont.

Smokies Report: Things are warming up....

WPLR at Laurel Creek Confluence

Made it out today after my fly tying demo at LRO for a few hours of fishing. Chose to focus my efforts on the smaller waters and tributaries of LR, hoping for less spooky fish and less pressure. Things started off a little slow with a heavy stonefly nymph (for weight) and a zebra midge. Then it happened.......

I saw a lone blue quill ascend from the surface of a pool just downstream from a riffle. So, I immediately switched over to a #16 flashback pheasant tail, and it was game on. In nearly every good looking run I would get a take. My landing-to-strike ratio was way too low, and I was probably close to 20% today.

Had one big fella take my nymph as I drifted it just inches from a rock wall, and he immediately rocketed downstream. Never even got a look at him, as he came unbuttoned pretty quickly. Never saw another blue quill or a single rise. Chose to not use a dry since the water I was fishing had quite a bit of current and would have been a nightmare to have kept afloat with the FBPT dropped 18" below it.

However, I hope this report helps to brighten the mood of some of you out there anxiously awaiting Spring. Here are a couple pics from the day:

My First Fish of the Day

Another shot of the first fish

Another - a little larger

And another

Great day to be out, can't wait to do it again.

Until next time, Tight Lines and god bless.

Early Season Skunk

Desperately needing some time on the water, I headed out to the Clinch this afternoon. I wanted to fish lower on the river, but the generation schedule was not very favorable for the early afternoon. So, I elected to start the afternoon up near the dam, and then migrate downstream around 4:00. There were a few midging fish below the dam, but none of the usual suspects were working. After a little while I made my way downstream to my regular fishing spot. Unfortunately the water was still higher than I am comfortable fishing so I just fished near the shore to prevent getting too far out into the swift current. There was quite a dramatic difference in the midge activity between the dam and lower river. Down low I didn't see a single bug floating above the surface, and therefore I saw no rising trout. Needless to say I picked up the skunk today, but hopefully I got it out of the way so I don't have to think about it again this year. Guess I will have to bite the bullet and go out on a Saturday with everybody else when TVA has a more favorable schedule.

One good thing about today is that I got to take the D90 out on the water. It is quite a significant step up from the D40, and am thrilled with the results. Can't wait to try and get some good fish shots this year with the new camera and good prime glass.

Here are two scenery shots from today.