Freestone · Mixed · Colorado, US

Animas River (Durango)

Photo of Animas River (Durango)

The Animas is Durango's river, a snowmelt freestone that runs right through the middle of town and somehow stays a genuinely good brown-and-rainbow fishery while it does.

Tomorrow · Slow going — pick your moments
October Caddis Pupa
Forecast · Tomorrow
Slow going — pick your moments
Slow going — pick your moments and do not force it.
45% projected
Today's fly
October Caddis Pupa
October Caddis Pupa
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.74 m
Lifting fast
Water temp13.3°C
ClarityVery coloured
Weather18°C
WindN 10 km/h
Pressure1018 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
13°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — conditions well-balanced, with water temperature particularly in your favour.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 6pm

12pm(now) — Mahogany Dun

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 41%
Also:Reed Smut35%
Peak emergence window5 food groups active

Peak activity at 6pm — October Caddis (October Caddis, Degree-days at peak)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
SD
Sex Dungeon
2-6 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Colorado licence
  • Gold Medal (Lightner Creek to Rivera Crossing), flies/lures only — verify CPW rules.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 2
San Juan River below Navajo Dam
57 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Dolores River (below McPhee)
59 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Photo of Animas River (Durango)
    Animas River (Durango) — image via Wikipedia (Animas River)
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Animas is Durango's river, a snowmelt freestone that runs right through the middle of town and somehow stays a genuinely good brown-and-rainbow fishery while it does. The Gold Medal water between Lightner Creek and Rivera Crossing is flies-and-lures, urban and accessible and surprisingly productive. Runoff owns it in May and June, and the summer monsoon can turn it off-color in an afternoon; the autumn streamer-and-BWO window is the quiet gem. There's an old mining-and-water-quality story upstream that's worth a careful word and not a scare campaign. This is also the gateway to the San Juan high country, if you've got the legs for alpine cutthroat.

  • Mixed
Conservation note

Cutthroat trout (Colorado River lineage) in San Juan headwaters and tributaries — conservation-sensitive, prose only. Opens the door to a San Juan high-country / alpine-lake pack (Phase 3).

Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Not assessed
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Animas River, mainstem' (COSJAF05a_C), 2024 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Insufficient Information. Listed impairment causes: Metals Other Than Mercury. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · COSJAF05a_C

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 87 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time85 × 13%11.1
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity66 × 12%7.9
Conditions total= 87
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts