The Things We do for Women and Trout
Summer 2000 Dolores River
Updated 3-16-10

The Dolores canyon is home to many snakes. Most of them are friendly cuddly water snakes, but some are not. Rattlesnakes can be found any where and every where in this wild canyon. Road ways, rocks, logs and even in the river. No, for real, rattle snakes have been seen swimming the Dolores-field mice are always fatter on the other side. In one case the snake was heading right towards an angler. Not saying the snake was in attack mode, but with a little help from the mellow current was b-lining toward the fisher. The angler simply moved out of the way and let the buzzworm by.

Many of us that have spent time on the Dolores have had our run-ins with these serpents, and I guess it was a matter of time till one of us was nailed by a rattler. It was a hot summer morning and Todd Field was working into casting position on his first target of the day, a nice trout rising consistently in the "S turns". He stepped slowly toward the fish, the dry grass brushing against his exposed feet, the straps of his river sandals the only protection between him and the natural world (His wading boots sat lonely on the front porch, right were Todd had left them after taking them out of the truck to help accommodate his date the evening before).

His target was just about in casting distance, his thoughts and focus strictly on the trout. With our realizing it, at the time, he placed his exposed foot right into a thick wad grumpy rattlesnake. The three to four footer, nailed him. At first he just felt a pin prick, thinking it was a thorn stood there a few seconds, then a sickly feeling came over him as he realized it was a rattler. Todd sprung like a nervous grass hopper, but it was way too late. The buzzworm landed a direct hit on Todd's ankle; pumping venom through one fang.

Todd, loving the tricky Dolores considered casting to the rising fish, but opted for the Cortez ER. In 12 hours the pain and swelling was excruciating. Todd said it was the worst pain and ordeal he has ever gone through. The scary part of the story is that only one fang punctured the skin and about 20% of the venom had entered Todd's system. We said he would have hated to experience the full deal. Todd continues, each season, to slowly work his way around the Dolores.

The snake Todd stumbled upon was an unusually large snake for the river corridor. One problem with the rattlesnakes on the Dolores is that they seem to not give warning when you approach, making it very easy to step on them. If they have rattles, they should use them.

*Moral of the story: If you take your wading boots out of your truck the night before a fishing trip to the Dolores, just because you have a hot date, do not forget to put them back in the truck the next morning.

Poppers and Trout!
Spring 2001

Floating the Animas just a couple weeks ago, Josh spotted a nice brown rising to baetis duns and emergers on the surface. I made two bad casts, forcing my popper to smack above and behind the fish, I figured he would have spooked. However, on my third cast I slowly chugged the fly over the surface and the big brown exploded the popper, displacing a gallon of water. I hooked him briefly, but farmed him as he dropped deep into the eddy he disrupted. Oh well, what ever. What a take. There have been many encounters like this of late, on both poppers and streamers. What a river.

Bear Cubs Battle
Summer 2001

Just outside of Durango, a couple days ago, I was heading down the river with a couple clients and I spotted what at first looked to be a raccoon, then I realized it was a dark chocolate black bear cub. As he trotted down the high bank, and just as I pointed the little guy out to Bruce and Dave, he was suddenly ambushed by his younger brother, a stunning blond cub. They proceeded to wrestle around, kicking up dust and just having a ball. Mom was no were in sight and after a few minutes the cubs chased one another into a stand of trees and disappeared. What a great animal moment. I have been seeing tracks on the river every day, reminiscent of the tracks we see in Canada on the Steelhead rivers. The grizzly tracks in BC are just a lot bigger.

The one that got away, and the one that did not!
May 26 2005

We just had one of our larger groups in for the weekend and we all had a blast. After we all woke up a bit, and our personal fog's lifted, we all fished the Animas on the second day. Part of the group floated the Animas and two of the guys wade fished it with Rusty. All of the guys quickly found out how hard it is to keep those monster Animas fish on. The fish were off the bite that day, but the guys stuck with it.

Even with the fish being less active than usual, there were still a few incredible moments that day. I had Bob cast to an impressive cutbow that we could see feeding, Bob made a great cast, then hooked and played this very large trout. After a few impressive runs and three explosive full-body leaps the fish bent the hook straight and the fish swam to freedom just off the side of the boat. Later in the day Bob got even and landed a large rainbow that was equally impressive in size and fight. We actually sight fished this fish from the bank had to jump back in the raft and chase him down stream. The fish was fantastic. As all this was going on Bob in Josh's boat hooked up on and played a nice fish.

A few moments later we found a fish to sight fish for Luis. It was a big brown and after being hooked became just as acrobatic as the bows. On the third full-body jump I poked my boat net under the fish and landed him mid air. Another great guide moment. The guys might have had some great fish break off or spit the fly, but they were rewarded for their persistence.

On the third day part of the group headed toward Silverton to fish the head waters of the Animas and a tributary. We found lots of brookies on dries in an incredible mountain setting. After a big lunch of fried chicken and cheap beer we fished for native cutthroat trout. We did not find many through the creek, but Jon Gordon and Bob stumbled, literally, into a couple runs full of fish. Nearly every cast would yield a fish. The cuts were pretty big for creek fish, but these were the prettiest cuts I've ever seen. Blood red bellies and sides that blended up to their necks. Yellow and gold backs with big black spots. Stunning fish.