The typically busy chat room on Mike Mora's San Juan River Web site at www.ifly4trout.com is conspicuously silent these days.

Temporarily silenced because of too much talk about the arrest of popular fishing guide Jude Duran and, apparently, too little "positive and constructive" talk about fishing New Mexico's premier trout stream.

Duran's arrest for an alleged bank robbery in Colorado last week dominated the Internet chat room at Mora's site for days and fueled much of the mystery behind the affair.

"It's so totally out of character for him, I don't know what to think," said a friend of Duran's, Jerry Saiz, 39, of Jerry's Guide Service in Bloomfield. "I'm shocked. He's such a helpful and nice guy. For him to do something like that ... something bad must have happened."

Saiz said he knows Duran well and saw no signs of financial duress, family problems or anything else that could have explained why Duran would have done such a thing.

And while business on the San Juan River had slowed considerably for some guides because of extended high-water conditions, Saiz said, Duran had remained busy and his business prospered.

"It's a mystery to me why he'd go and do something like that," Saiz said.

So far, any information on the case has been long of speculation and short on answers.

Duran, age 29, of 95895 Highway 16 in Flora Vista, N.M. is being held in the Montrose County jail in Colorado in lieu of a $250,000 bond, $100,000 of which must be posted with cash, according to Sgt. Dean McNulty of the Montrose County Sheriff's Department.

Duran is charged with aggravated robbery, theft and felony menacing in connection with the May 13 robbery of the Vectra Bank at 1200 S. Townsend Ave. in Montrose, Colo., a city of about 13,000 people about 150 miles north of Flora Vista.

Montrose police say a masked robber armed with a semiautomatic handgun walked into the bank, pointed his weapon at employees and demanded money. The robber then fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

A witness reported seeing the robber driving a white Ridgeline Honda which was later stopped by police. Money and a gun were recovered from the vehicle and, according to the affidavit, Duran admitted to having committed the robbery.

Saiz said Duran has a loyal following of customers, some of whom plan to raise money for Duran's defense.

He added that Duran's success and popularity earned him some detractors in the community especially among guides associated with fly shops. Duran was a hard worker Saiz said, who made good use of Mora's chat room to spread his name and develop a following.

Duran frequently offered information on water releases and fishing conditions and commented on politics as related to the industry, including his spirited opposition to the proposed two-fly rule.

The FBI is investigating the case and no information can released at this time, said Special Agent Jane Quimby of the Grand Junction Office in Colorado. Quimby would not comment on if Duran was a suspect in any other bank-robbery cases.

Robbing a bank with a firearm is a federal offense. If convicted, Duran could find himself facing a maximum of 25 years in prison.