June 23, 2009
From sun up to noon there is a marginal midge hatch. For the next three to four hours we are seeing lots of baetis or blue winged olives, then midges again until dark. There are caddis coming off on the lower river in the float only section, this is best in the last 4 hours of the day. I am also starting to see some PMD’s on the lower river in the afternoon but it won’t really take off for another week.
Many of the fish are moving into the faster water looking for mayfly nymphs. Try fishing these areas early with midges and then move to baetis nymphs around 11:00am. When you change over, start with just changing the upper midge to a mayfly and leaving the lower a midge. You may still pick up a few fish on the midge, when you start catching fish on the baetis change the lower fly to a slightly different mayfly. This will help you maximize the fish you catch during the hatch change.
Morning fishing has been marginal at best. The midge hatch has slowed way down in the morning and fish know the mayflies will be coming. Most of the fish seem to be waiting for the afternoon to get their days worth of food. Sleep in and get fishing around 9 or 10 and fish until dark, this is the most productive time of the day.
One of the hidden jewels of the San Juan is the lower river float and this is the best time of year to fish it. There is great dry fly and streamer fishing to be had. You need a boat and do not drop anchor or get out wading as the land owners own the bottom of the river. This is a great stretch to fish with a guide, at least the first time.
Fishing has not been as good above Texas hole as it has been down river although you can still do well is some places if you know where the fish are holding. Olive and cream midges have been working well for me where the fish are midging but most fish are looking for baetis, even early.
Good luck, Chris
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June 15, 2009
High water has done its work. The river looks great, all kinds of debris has been moved down river. All you see under the boat are rocks, river grass and fish. The water is very clear so it is time to be sneaky and sight fish in the shallow water.
The ants fell this week and the fish are still looking for them. I waded some customers around the back channels for two days and did very well all on ants. Some of our other guides took there customers from Texas hole to catch and release water fishing ants all over the place. Carp fishing on the lake has also been great on the surface. There are also cicadas singing in the trees and hoppers jumping around so dry fly fishing should stay good for a while.
Midge fishing in the morning and evening has been very productive all over the river. I have done best on cream and olive midge patterns sizes 22 to 26. The baetis are hatching in the afternoon all down river from T-hole. I have been catching fish above and below the surface. Both the nymphs and dries are olive and small, size 22 and 24.
We are also fishing the lower river or private water, doing well on streamers and drys. The caddis and PMD’s are hatching!
You just can’t go wrong! Good luck, Chris
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Chris Taylor
Fisheads of the San Juan
www.fisheadsofthesanjuan.com
May 29, 2009
The river is getting a cleaning!! The water was extremely turbid today, it should be the same tomorrow. It will however clean up for the weekend especially closer to the dam. We only have a little over a week to fish the high water so take advantage. Fish were eating the typical pink and yellow eggs, orange San Juan worms, size 16 red hots and orange larvae, we also caught a couple fish on brown bunny leaches and grey scuds. Find the fish and keep showing them different stuff, they are eating everything!
Chris,
May 21, 2009
Fishing has still been very good. Doing well in the mornings with olive and black midges from Texas hole up river. The same flies are working below t-hole, I have also done well with chocolate midges below t-hole. After lunch you can take the midges off and put on your beatis nymphs or drys. The fish are actively looking for BWO’s, dark olive or chocolate have been best but I have found fish that won’t take the dark nymphs and are more than willing to eat a grey one.
This will only last for another week, until the water goes up. We should have a week ramp up to 5000cfs, a week at 5000cfs and a week back down to 500cfs. Most people avoid high water like the plague. I personally think it is one of the best times of the year. Catching fish on earth worm and crane fly larva imitations with 3X and 4X is a rare treat for San Juan fisherman. I have seen fish eating baby carp and water dogs during high water in the back channels. You do however need a boat to safely fish but you can float the back channels, how cool is that? There is some good wading near the dam but you should go only if you know the bottom. Basically it is a great time to be a guide or someone with a boat, you will see almost no waders. If you have never fished the San Juan at high flows, you should, it will give you a whole new outlook about high water.
Good luck, Chris
April 16, 2009
The last two or three weeks of fishing has been the best of the year. Strong fish activity all day long, it has been rare to go more than ten minutes without a fish on. If you can get to the river I highly recommend it!
Black and brown midges size 20 and 22 tied in just about any pattern have been working up and down the river. There is also a strong blue wing olive hatch coming off around 1:00pm. There are fish rising to midge clusters until the wind starts to blow in the afternoon and you can find fish eating BWO adults after that. We have caught fish on brown, olive and grey baetis nymphs every afternoon, sizes 22 to 18 are all working well. I know I am usually more specific about your bugs but it really doesn’t seem to matter right now. The fish just want to eat!
Good luck, Chris
February 23, 2009
Its time to start fishing again!
I have been out 7 of the last 8 days, busy for February. I thought I should post a report since no one has for a while. If you are thinking about coming to the Juan you couldn’t pick a better time. Fishing has been fantastic; the whole river from the dam to the gravel pit is producing. All you need is an egg to a red or orange larva. I have caught fish on all color eggs size 16 to 20. I have been fishing size 16 midges with 4x fluorocarbon to both flies. Most fish are in the deeper holes but I have had some success in the shallow water in the afternoon. The water is cold and the fish are on the bottom so get your flies down. If you are not hitting the bottom once in a while you need to add some weight and increase your length. The fish are not hitting hard so set the hook whenever the indicator moves.
Good luck, Chris
September 3, 2008
It is the last of summer where there are very few bugs for the fish to eat other than midges. The good news is that there are midges coming off all day long. I know they are very small and almost impossible to tie on your line but this is what the fish are eating. It is about the same for the whole length of quality water. I have had some success with size 22 midges but if you go down to size 24 or 26 you will notice an increase in strikes. I have been fishing 6X fluorocarbon with success so stay away from the 7X or 8X which will leave most of your flies in the fish when you break them off. All kinds of colors have been working as long as you keep them small. In the last week we have caught fish on grey, olive, brown, black, cream and red midges tied in all kinds of ways. Don’t make them with lots of material, the actual insect is not any bigger than the hook. Most of the time it is smaller! Keep changing your flies when the fish stop eating them, they seem to be looking for anything a little different than what they have been seeing. Your rig and drift are the most important part of your day. Many fish are in the shallow slow water so use small weights, 8’s or 9’s, and put your indicator about 2 feet above the weight so you are running your bugs in front of there faces. Never ever let the fish see your flies drag! If you do they are much less likely to eat them. Be sneaky and you should have a great day. The fall is coming and we will see more insects in the upcoming weeks
Good luck, Chris
July 10, 2008
Summer fishing conditions are here! Low clear water that allows you access to almost every hole on the river. There is a lot of moss in the river so clean your flies every drift. Fish are looking for midges in the morning. I have been doing well on dark colors, black, brown and dark grey. Keep changing your midges around to get more strikes. They will take on the surface, you can get them on midge dry flys, singles or clusters. They will also take ants. Just keep showing it to them. In the afternoon you will do well in the faster water with beatis. I have found grey, olive and chocolate to all work well. The fish are eating the moss as usual so if things get slow you can always throw a leach or a bugger. Basically everything is catching fish if you fish it well. Have Fun!
Chris
June 23, 2008
The river is finally looking like the San Juan again. We have had some sort of high water conditions since the middle of February. Now we are back to flows that allow you to fish pretty much wherever you want. This is what everyone has been waiting for, I’m sure you will not be disappointed.
The fish are in all the usual places and eating very well. Fish the slow water in the morning with midges. Try light weights that won’t get you to the bottom to quickly and move your indicator around to keep your flies in front of the fish. I have been doing well with grey, black and cream midges, size 20 and 22. You will get more bites if you use fluorocarbon, 5X seems to be fine right now. You won’t need a fluorocarbon leader, mono will be fine. Just use the fluorocarbon after your weight so the fish don’t see any line around your flies. I have been catching fish with this rig all day long from Texas hole through the catch and release area. Just keep changing your midges around so the fish get a fresh look once in a while. If you are fishing from the Texas hole down river there has been a good mayfly hatch in the afternoon. It has been starting around 1:00 and lasting two to three hours depending on the cloud cover. Olive beatis seem to be working best but I have caught some fish on chocolate foam wings. Fish these around the faster waters and you should do well. The water is clear so I am sure the fish will start to look for bugs on the surface. I will let you know. We are having our first thunder storm as I write this so the ants will fall soon.
Good Luck, Chris
June 11, 2008
The last two days we have actually done some sight fishing! The river has close to six feet of visibility and the fish are falling back into there old routines. Midges and baetis are fooling more fish than eggs, worms and larva. I took some folks wade fishing. We fished a dry dropper all day catching many fish on a grasshopper with a cream midge below it. Fish ate the hopper in sand hole and along the bank to upper flats. We also hit fish in the bushes wherever there was a small clearing, very cool fishing.
Float fishing is still the most productive way to fish the river. I am using red or orange larve to a midge before lunch and then switching the midge to a chocolate RS2 in the afternoon. Most fish will not take the colored larve but it is a good attractor. The trout are still finding big meals, one fish had a night-crawler in his mouth. Another fat female regurgitated small frog eggs all over the boat but catching fish on imitations of these is getting difficult. They have seen too many egg and worm imitations lately, now that the river is clearing up they are getting wise to us. Insect imitations look more like the real thing and fish take them more readily. Only another week of 5000cfs, I’ll let you know how it fishes on the way back down.
Some of you may want to know that the bait water is also fishing very well. I floated an 11 year old and his grandfather to the village yesterday. We caught countless small fish on an orange egg to a size 14 red larve. Great fun for any young fly fisher that may want to get out and catch a bunch of fish.