Fall fly fishing on the San Juan River

San Juan River Fishing Report & News

Midges are hatching all day long. At the moment they are small, midge pupa and larvae, size 22 to 24, olive,gray, black, chocolate, cream and of course red have been my best. The hatch is strongest from 11:30 to 2:00. The midges are clustering so try fishing a cluster to a single dry midge. Black has been best. Try fishing BWO’s from 1:00pm to about 5:00pm. The hatch is best on cloudy days. Dark or light gray, brown and olive have been the best colors in a size 20 and 22. Both dry and wet patterns. Bunny leaches are great attractors! Brown, Black, purple, and white.

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)

Best fly fishing rod: 10′ 5 Weight

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 24 midges in the slower waters has been great, 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. We are finding lots of baetis, especially on cloudy afternoons. 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, 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 22. 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.

7-Day Forecast

Fall is here! The weather looks great and the fishing has been very good. It has been cold in the mornings and warming up in the afternoon, bring lots of layers. The upper flats are fishing great! Be there between 6:00am and 1:00pm. Watch out for moss on your line, you need to keep your flies clean. Good luck to all the Fisheads out there, Chris

San Juan River NM Water Flow CFS

Chris Taylor - Head Fly Guide

2 Comments

  1. Herb on December 18, 2013 at 1:28 am

    Interested in fishing this fishery. What is the weather like over the next 2 months?

    • Chris on September 26, 2014 at 8:41 pm

      Hi Herb,

      It will be cool in the mornings and warming up in the afternoons. We usually wear jackets in the morning and take them off in the afternoons.

      Give us a call if you would like to book. 1-505-632-1411

      Chris

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