Water flow: 800cfs
Visibility: 60 inches
Water temperature at mid-day: 42 Degrees F
Water condition: Clear
Best time of day to fish: All day long, best dry fly fishing from 6:00am to 9:00am then again from 6:00 to dark
Best stretch: The whole quality water section is fishing well!
Best access point:
Fly fishing hatches in order of importance:
Midges are hatching all day long. At the moment they are very small, midge pupa and larvae, size 22 to 28,chocolate, dark grey, cream and olive have been my best. The hatch is strongest from 10:00 till 1:00. Try fishing BWO’s from 2:00pm to about 5:00pm. Dark gray, brown and olive have been the best colors in a size 20 and 22. Both dry and wet patterns. Back to midges in the evenings. Black and brown have been killing it! PMD’s in the afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00. They are hatching best on cloudy days from lower flats through the rest of quality waters. We are on the back side of the hatch. It will get a little slower each day. We are all doing well with hoppers and ants!!! Bunny leaches are great attractors! Brown, Black, purple, and white. If all else fails try fishing big foam patterns especially in the morning. We have been doing well with all colors of Cartoon Hoppers!
“Must-have” fly fishing patterns in descending order of importance:
Fly Name: Fly Color: Fly Size(s):
Birchell’s Hatching Midge Brown, black, dark g 22 to 26
Blue Winged Olive Thorax cream and gray 22 to 26
Mercer’s BH Micro Mayfly Chocolate 20 to 24
WD-40 Gray, olive, brown 20 to 22
Flashback Baetis Nymph brown, flash back 20 to 24
Cartoon Hopper gray, olive, brown flash! 22 to 24
Midge Larvae Gray 18 to 22
Midge Pupa Brown, olive 6 and 8’s
Baetis nymphs Gray and brown 18 and 20
Caddis and PMD’s red, orange, yellow 18 to 24
Orvis-Endorsed guides nearby:
Fisheads of the San Juan
Fish species: Rainbow and Brown trout
Fishing season: Year Round
Nearest airport: Albuquerque, NM (2.5 hr) or Durango, La Plata Airport, CO (40 min) or Farmington, NM (40 min)
Recommended fly fishing leader: 9 Foot Leader
Recommended fly fishing tippet: 5X Tippet Pound Test
Best fly fishing rod: 10′ 5 Weight Fly Rod
Best floating fly line: Trout WF
Real-time water flow data from USGS:
The best fishing will be early in the mornings and late in the afternoons to dark. The water is very clear which will make the fishing difficult on sunny days. Cloudy days are still very good so look for the thunder storms in the afternoons. As always a large part of your success will be your in ability to move around to where the hatches are coming off the best. Fish near the dam in the best midging waters to start,most of the midges are very small. I have been doing well with a brown larvae or pupa to a gray or olive larvae. Around 12:30 move down to where the baetis are hatching, anywhere from lower Texas hole down to the end of bait water. It has been best to go back to your midge patterns after 6:00. The whole river is fishing well,. The water is getting very clear, you can see the bottom of the river anywhere you are wading. I am using very natural looking insects, No Flash! You will need to be fishing well to catch a lot of fish as they get smarter with clearer water. Try fishing some of the lower sections of the park in the evenings. There are PMD’s hatching in the afternoons, get it while it lasts!00541 Try fishing foam bugs if you are not having any luck.
San Juan River Description
Located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, 40 miles South of Durango Colorado and 30 miles Northeast of Farmington New Mexico. The San Juan River is world renowned for providing some of the most rewarding trout fishing you will ever experience. The San Juan is a consistent producer of both rainbows and browns averaging 16 to 18 inches, with many reaching much larger proportions. Recent studies have suggested …
Best Fly Fishing Techniques & Tips
Fish fluorocarbon tippets at the end of your mono-filament leader when nymph fishing. 5X to the first fly and 6X to the dropper. This will produce more strikes as the fish can’t see the fluorocarbon. Fishing 22 to 28 midges in the slower waters has been great, I am no longer using any flash, the water is very clear. Sight fishing is very good. Fish light weight ( a number 6 or smaller ) with your strike indicator 2 or 3 feet above the weight. You don’t want to be on the bottom when you are midge fishing. The BWO hatch is going strong. Baetis live in fast water so look for them in the riffles at the top of holes and at the bottom of holes in the tail out. Fish are eating gray, olive and brown nymphs in these places, again it just depends on the day so have them all. You may have the chance to see fish on top during this time. A parachute Adams or comparadun should do the job. The may flies are green and are about size 24. Use dark colored wings as the fish are turning away from white wings. If you can’t see this try a marker fly about 12 inches above the baetis. You should fish mono-filament tippets when fishing on the surface as fluorocarbon sinks. Change back to midges when the fish stop eating your may flies. Try some bunny leaches if all else fails. Dead drift them like the rest of your nymphs. Fish are eating them for moss! They will shake the drifting moss to get the bugs out. Foam flies of all kinds are producing some great fish. You need to cover lots of water hitting all the fishy spots.
7-Day Fly Fishing Forecast
The water is very clear. You will have to have your A game to do well. Fish are eating on the surface all day long if you know where to look. Midges in the early morning and baetis in the afternoons, the fishing is great if there is some cloud cover. I am seeing PMD’s in the afternoons below Simone canyon. The fish are eating them well from 1:00 till almost dark. We are having afternoon thunder storms almost every day, the mosquitoes are thick so have your bug spray and rain jackets. Good luck to all the Fisheads out there, Chris