Starting the Season

After hitting a wedding in Dallas, I hopped on the road back to Lake City to get back in time for the start of the summer fly fishing season (in mid-June as the spring runoff begins to subside).

I couldn't get through Dallas without sitting in traffic with my car in park.  Fortunately, traffic jams in Lake City mean animals are crossing the road or you are behind one other car.

The mountains emerge on the horizon at sunset on my drive up

Lake San Cristobal: my morning view in Lake City

My office for the summer: Dan's Fly Shop in Lake City, Colorado

Early Season Fishing

I was only in Lake City for a few days at the end of May before making it back to Dallas for a wedding, but I made those days count by getting out on the water for all of them.

Mitchell with a really big, really old brown

The Revenge Run crew chasing down a monster

Doubled up!

Amazing colors on this 'bow

I had a couple hogs on this gigantic streamer on around Lake City.  Somehow, all of them got away.  I included a smaller wooly bugger for comparison.

Headed back to Texas with the sun setting behind me

Starting the Summer in Lake City

Toward the end of May, I set out for Lake City from Durango.  The drive, as always, was gorgeous, and I was greeted by one of my favorite views when I got there.

Between Durango and Pagosa Springs

The clouds over Pagosa looked like they were from a painting

Approaching Wolf Creek Pass

Wolf Creek Pass

Wolf Creek still had plenty of snow to ski if you were willing to hike for it

Between South Fork and Creede

Home

First evening of the summer in Lake City

Waiting for Summer in Durango

I spent a good amount of time in Durango waiting for the summer fishing season to start in Lake City.  This meant that most days I drove down to the San Juan to fish there, but I also got out on Navajo Lake and saw family around Durango.

Near Navajo Reservoir

Practicing with a cast net

Doubled up with a couple of crappie on Navajo

Ellie graduated already?!?

Got to meet this little guy

Durango sunset

May on the San Juan

After making the drive to Colorado from Utah, I posted up in Durango for a week or so and fished the San Juan a bunch while all the other rivers were at high runoff levels.

Sunset on the San Juan

Fish On!  Kyle made it out for a few days of fishing

But we couldn't make ourselves leave when the sun set

Delusional from too much time on the water?

Another San Juan Sunset

Rudolph

High kicks

One day there were about a thousand swallows flying around eating the millions of midges that were hatching.  This guy got tangled in some fishing line and let me untangle him

It took him a minute to realize he was free to fly away

Swallow hatch: All those dots above the water are tiny birds

The sunsets here are almost always amazing