New Mexico Fly Fishing Guides

The morning fishing is getting much better!  The midges are really getting going up and down the river.  The fish are concentrating in shallow water over weed beds where the bugs are hatching.  The trick is to find the correct color midge.  Some days it has been olive and the next cream the only thing consistent is the size, 24 and 26.  I know and I’m sorry but it is what it is, use 6X fluorocarbon as well. This hatch is going on all day but has been most productive from sun up to about 11:00am and then in the evening when the sun gets off the water.

There is still a good baetis hatch from lunch to about 4:00 or 5:00.  It is coming off from the bottom of upper flats all the way down river. 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 grey, 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 as well. A parachute adams or comparadun should do the job.

This is the best hatch of PMD’s I have seen in over 6 years! From 3 island run to frustration point.  Look for them between 2:00 and 6:00 in the afternoon.  Fish are eating them on top and under the surface.  Fish a size 18 greenish or yellowish comparadun on top and a size 18 or 20 phesant tail under the surface. There are many quality fish looking for these bugs!

ITS HOT!!! The temperatures are between 90 and 95 so stay cool and drink lots of water.

There have been thunder showers almost every afternoon. Have a rain jacket and get off the water if you see lightning, it is the biggest killer on the San Juan.

Don’t forget your bug spray, the mosquitoes and deer flies are awful. Orvis buzz off clothing works great!

Best Fly Fishing Techniques & Tips

If you are fishing quality water, start early and wade the upper flats. The fish are stacked up in the riffles and eating midges. Fish size 22 to 26 olive and grey midges in the shallows to the fish you can see. I have been using light weights, size 8 and 9, with a pinch on indicator about two feet above the weight. 6X fluorocarbon is a must! Work your way down to the riffles between baetis bend and Texas hole for the BWO hatch after lunch. Grey and olive have been my best colors, the mayflies are small, fish size 22 or 24 nymphs. With the water up to 1000cfs you will need more weight to get to these fish, start with a number 4 weight and increase until you get in front of the fish. You can play with the depth to your indicator, 3 to 4 feet seems to work best. The water is very clear so use your summer techniques with light weights, sizes 4,6 and 8, and fluorocarbon tippets, 5x and 6x. You should be moving your strike indicator up and down your line as you move to different depth waters, keeping your flies at the same level as your fish. If you like to throw dry flies, fish the lower river from noon till dark. Have plenty of caddis and PMD’s, watch the banks and under the overhanging trees!

ITS HOT!!! The temperatures are between 90 and 95 so stay cool and drink lots of water. I saw a PMD in 3 island run yesterday. They are moving up river, we will start catching fish on them this week so make sure you have some on you. There have been thunder showers almost every afternoon. Have a rain jacket and get off the water if you see lightning, it is the biggest killer on the San Juan. Don’t forget your bug spray, the mosquitoes and deer flies are awful. Orvis buzz off stuff works great!

Good luck to all the Fisheads out there, Chris

San Juan River Guides

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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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

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,

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

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

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

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