The Florida river begins as a trickle from Lillie Lake, high in the Weminuche wilderness. Below there, it cascades through meadows and canyons until it reaches Lemon Reservoir. This segment of river is beautiful and supports a healthy population of wild trout, but good luck getting to the water! There is no trail that parallels the river as it passes through steep, hard to access canyons, and it takes miles of hiking to get there. Below the dam, the river flattens out and becomes some of the best fly fishing in the area. Here’s the rub…It’s all private! The other issue with the Florida is that it’s highly utilized for irrigation. Below the diversion for the Florida canal, flows are so low that fish populations are sparse and stressed. This leaves about 10 miles of private water between the dam and the canal. An easy 15 minutes from Durango, Red Creek Ranch represents a half mile of this scenic and productive tailwater. Anglers have the opportunity to fish either the Florida River or a private pond, which is great during the runoff season when rivers are mostly unfishable.