{"id":40578,"date":"2026-11-12T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T16:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/?p=40578"},"modified":"2026-11-11T15:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T23:05:12","slug":"just-enough-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2026\/11\/12\/just-enough-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Enough Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Southwest Colorado, most of the leaves have fallen, the nights are getting colder, and the rivers are starting to feel a little different. Fall is a pretty special time to be on the water around here. The crowds have thinned out, the fishing can be pretty darn good, and every warm day feels like one you probably shouldn’t waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, naturally, with a sunny Saturday on the horizon, we decided to float a river that probably would’ve been easier to wade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I say small water, I mean just enough<\/em> to push a raft downstream. The kind of river where you’re more likely to run into a wade fisherman than another boat. But we’d had some late-summer and early-fall rain that helped keep the flows up, and spending the day together on clear water, with good weather and hungry trout still sounded pretty good to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Plan, or Lack Thereof<\/b><\/h3>\n

Like most good float trips, the plan for this one came together the night before. We were out grabbing dinner, trying to figure out what to do with our Saturday, when the idea was launched: <\/span>“Wanna take the raft out tomorrow?”<\/p>\n

A quick look at the flows, a little back and forth, and that was that. We’d floated this stretch before, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. There was enough water to get a boat down, but not without a little work. A few gravel bars, shallow riffles, and some downed strainers left behind by high winds, hard winters, and bigger spring runoff. Nothing we hadn’t dealt with before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The alarm went off at 6 a.m.\u00a0 At this point, I’ve got a pretty standard checklist that runs through my head before most float trips. There was coffee to make, gear to gather, breakfast to find, and a boat to get on the trailer. Oars, anchor, straps, rods, flies, net, PFDs, first-aid kit, shuttle money, drinks, and lunch to load.\u00a0 After enough days on the water, you get pretty good at remembering what you need.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or at least you think you do.<\/span><\/p>\n