New Mexico Fly Fishing Guides

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

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

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

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.

The water is up to 5000cfs again.  Obviously this makes wade fishing a challenge.  There just aren’t that many places to go.  The best places are up river from the Texas hole.  There are lots of fish holding right on the bank or in any eddie that is along the side.  Don’t try to wade out to far the fish are right in front of you.  I have been catching fish on red and orange larve all day.  Use an egg or a San Juan worm as an attractor with the red or orange larve under it. You will need a number 2 or larger weight to get it down with the indicator set at about 3 feet from the weight.  This rig should work along the bank in most places above Texas hole.  The water is getting clearer every day.  There is about five feet of visibility and very little debris in the water.

     Float fishing has been very good, lots of big healthy fish all over the river.  I have been catching fish that are so full they are puking earth worms and larve all over the place.  Anywhere that the water slows down the fish are stacking up.  It is amazing how many are willing to take a red larve, I can hardly catch them on anything else.  There have been large midge and beatis hatches which the fish have been eating but the colored larve are still superior to more natural looking insects.

     There is hardly anyone on the water, get out there before the summer crowds get here.

The water came down to 1000cfs two days ago!  Most of the moss that was in the river is gone and it cleared up some.  There was about three and a half feet of visibility in the Texas Hole and I’m sure that it was even better upriver.  If you can get to the river to fish it this week I highly recommend it. The flows are supposed to increase again next week.  The fish ate very well yesterday; it was one of the best days since the water went up in February.  The fish have started eating insects instead of all the eggs, worms and larva that we have been fishing.  In the morning I did well with midges, it didn’t seem to mater what color they were.  I caught fish on black, brown and grey midge emergers until lunch.  Around 12:30 the blue winged olives started hatching.  There weren’t many fish eating them on the surface but they were definitely looking for them subsurface. We caught fish for the rest of the afternoon on brown, grey and olive mayfly nymphs.  The whole river fished well from T-hole to death row.  If I get up wade fishing this week I will give you a report on how that is fishing.  I am sure that they are eating midges like crazy.

Good luck, Chris

Well, I was on a wade trip yesterday and I didn’t see another fisherman all day!  This is a first for me,  In ten years of guiding the river I can’t remember one time wading the catch and release water all by myself, all day long.  There wasn’t even anyone in cable hole or upper flats.  It was great!  I was fishing with only one guy who caught fish all day.  You have to work for them but they are there and eating.

The water is clearing; there is about three feet of visibility by the dam.  It gets more turbid the further downriver you get.  There is also plenty of slime floating in the river.  Keep cleaning your flies clean, if the fish can’t see it they won’t eat it.  If you want to fish the river in relative seclusion and catch some fat fish come on out.  We are doing well with woolly buggers in all types of dark colors.  Try dead drifting them instead of stripping.  Fish eggs, worms, and red or orange larve behind them.  It is also useful to change flies often.  When I catch a couple fish in one spot and they stop eating, I change flies and almost always catch a few more.  They are not eating anything specific.  The fish are being opportunistic and eating whatever gets them excited.  Weight and depth of your rig is also very important, the fish are still on the bottom.

Good luck!

Chris, Fisheads of The San Juan

The river is down to 1600cfs which allows us to get to all those fish that have been hiding during the higher flows.  The fish today were still adjusting to the change, I suspect they will settle into there new situation over the next few days.  The fish are all in great shape from the high flows, I haven’t seen such fat fish in years.

Find the places where shelves and holes would hold fish when the water was higher.  These fish have not seen any artificial flies for months and should be more than happy to give yours a try.  The water is still off color so the brighter flies that get there attention are still the way to go.  Eggs and San Juan worms are still good upper flies.  Scuds, red and orange larve and disco midges will all work as your second fly.  You will still need some stout weight to get your flies in front of the fish.  Try different weights and leader lengths until you get it right.

Good luck and enjoy the lower flows while we have them, Chris

Tight Lines, Chris
ORVIS Endorsed San Juan River Guide Service
New Mexico Fly Fishing
www.fisheadsofthesanjuan.com

“What is the fishing like on the San Juan with all this high water?”

I seem to answer this question about a dozen times a day.  I personally like high water.  It offers a totally different river than you see the rest of the year. Yes, you need to change your tactics but if you take the time to figure things out you will be rewarded with some of the healthiest fish you have ever caught.

Insect selection has not been the problem.  Worms and eggs of all types and colors will catch fish all day long.  Keep changing until you find the combination that works best.  Red and orange larva, size 14 to 18, have been a staple.  I have also had success with different colors of disco midges. The river is off color, there is about 2 feet of visibility so you need to fish something they can see.

 Weight and depth of your rig is probably more important than fly selection during high water.  You need to be on the bottom!  If you are not occasionally hanging up on the bottom you will not present your flies to many fish.  Stop by Float and Fish and get some BB’s before you get to the water.  Don’t hesitate to fish two or three of them if that is what it takes to get your flies down.  Fish 3X and 4X tippet to help pull your flies free when you hang up.  The fish are not leader shy right now.

Find places along the bank or behind islands that offer protection from the heavy currents.  The fish are grouped up in these places so when you catch a fish work that area well.  Try different flies and weights if you do not have any more success.  You should be able to find more fish if you keep working.

You will probably not catch as many fish as you will during lower flows simply because there is so much water for the fish to hide in.  You will however learn something and probably fish the Juan with fewer people than you have ever seen.  The fish have been eating very well so expect some great fights.  I have not had a disappointed customer through all of high water.

Good luck and let me know how you do. 

Tight Lines, Chris
ORVIS Endorsed San Juan River Guide Service
New Mexico Fly Fishing
www.fisheadsofthesanjuan.com

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