It looks like my family is making a trip to Durango Colorado this summer in early Aug. Even better then that looks like im going to get to fish the entire time im tere 4-5 days. If anyone ca give me any advice as of where to fish what quipment i should bring ( wt rods, flys, tippet size, waers or not anything ha) i have never been to colorado and am more then excited to get this chance. Also : if you would recomend a guide or not.

I went last year and plan on going there this year or Wyoming. First off talk to the locals at shops and guides to find out where to go and get a good map.
Take everything they say and use a little and forget the rest. Lol
I did the same thing and ended up buying flys that I didn't need. I caught a lot of rainbows, brooks, and cutthroats and they were all on the pistol Pete's I tied up. Yellow body and brown tail. Once I switched to them I started catching a lot of fish.
Look for out of the way places and small streams and mountain ponds on public land.
I fished for five days and had a blast and didn't fish the same place twice and was always on fish.
I used a 4lb leader with 4lb tippet.
I used thin waders because water up there can be chilly to Texas boys.
If u would like to know anything else let me know I will try to help I'm not an expert but this was my experience while I was there.

thank you thats a great start. i hate tying trout flys so ill prob buy a few and ask a buddy of mine to tie the rest up for me. Also glad to hear about small streams i would much rather fish small streams then rivers any day thank you very much

Duranglers is a great fly shop in Durango. Contact them and ask for Steve Meyers or Mark Engler as guides.

Bring your 1 wt. and 4 wt. Finesse that I know you have. For August you'll want lots of hoppers / droppers. Big attractor patterns for cutties on Hermosa Creek or some of the other local places would be good too. Small midges #22-26 are the usuals on the San Juan if you wanted to fish that. Animas in Durango is good as well, and there's some huge browns if you wanted to bring a streamer rod.

Mick is right in recommending Duranglers; it's a really good shop. I usually go with Rob though. Get him to take you to the Dolores, and maybe you won't get skunked like I did last time.

I can show you some specific spots on the map too next time I see you.

We just had a guy from The San Juan Angler outfiffers come to our club Monday night. His name was Nick Ross phone nomber 970-382-9978 web www.thesanjuanangler.com . They are out of Durango and sounded vrey exciting.

Vallecito creek is really nice. If you hike up into the Weiminuche wilderness you can get into a bunch of nice fish.

Theres also a good fly shop in Pagosa Springs if you go that direction. I don't remember the name off hand. There's gold medal waters in most every direction from Durango. Duranglers is a good shop and they'll be able head you in the right direction. It wouldn't be a bad idea to hire a guide on the first day. That way you can get some help to make your whole trip productive.