Benjamin Rally Blanchard's first trout

Benjamin was born December 15th, 2010 on a chilly snow-blown day in Durango Colorado. He slid out into the world at 11:48 am after a long 14 hours of labor. Amanda wanted a natural birth and that is what she got. No pain meds to speak of, unless you would really count Tylenol PM the night before. Amanda and Will, maybe a little sleep deprived, still found the energy to take young Ben for his first fishing excursion down on the Animas River. They loaded all the new kid gear, fly rods, dogs and the "little one" and headed for a little fishing on Christmas Day. At ten days young Ben was very impressed with the fact that his mom out fished his dad.

KIDS FISH FREE!

That's right August is all about the ankle-biter anglers out there. The 1/2 pints that can not fit into waders, tangle nymph rigs into twisted wrecks and catch fish with reckless abandon are all welcomed to fish for free with Animas Valley Anglers during the month of August 2010. All they have to do is talk their parents, grandparents, kid sitter, older sibling or legal guardian into signing up for any of our great angling adventures.

Just mention you spied this special either on our web site or the AVA blog and you can enroll in the Kids Fish Free program. The trip will bill at our single angler rate. A $50 savings, plus you get to fish the best waters in the West during prime time at a discount. A third angler, adult or child, will be the standard extra $150. Drop us a line today for more info and details on the Kids Fish Free program.

photo 1: David Brake and guide Chris Meyer on the Animas with a sweet bow.

photo 2: Guide Will Blanchard and Carson Dellinger with a pretty Rio brown trout. Carson's first float fishing trout. He caught that frisky trout in the first 20 minutes of the float above the train bridge at Wagon Wheel Gap.

Summer Grips

photos: (1) Carson Dellinger and Will on the Rio with a sweet trout.(2) Bill Mitchell with a stud upper bow. (3)Courtney, Will and Kispa on the upper Juan (4) Jesse and Kevin hangin' with Guide Josh Curtis on the Rio. Nice fish eh?