Weekly Fishing Report June 1, 2026
Planning a Trip to the San Juan?
Our lodge offers guided fishing and comfy rooms right on the river.
Fishing Overview
- Flows: 730 cfs
- Water Temps: 40s (℉)
- Clarity: 1ft visibility
- Nymphing: Great
- Dry Fly: Fair
- Streamer: Good
- Weather: Sunny. AM: 50s/60s. PM: 70s/80s w/ 20mph winds.
- Lower River Guide Trips: Yes, just ask your guide!
Summary: Fishing is good across all sections. The water is still murky, which we love since it keeps the fish from being skittish. Larger, high-visibility flies continue to be our go-tos.
Conditions have stabilized after the flow increase 2 weeks ago and water should remain in the 700 to 800 cfs range this week as well. The same advice from last week holds true for this week: don't let the low water clarity scare you. The fish are eating away below the surface. Think bigger and brighter. Instead of tiny size 22 midges in black, think red larvae in size 18, San Juan Worms, eggs, and leeches. Err on the side of using a bit more weight and distance between your first fly and your indicator to get those flies down to the fish. Streamers in higher-visibility colors are still working well. With so much be stuff being washed into the water, the fish aren't generally looking up for dry flies, but afternoon clouds can still bring some hatches.
How Each Section is Fishing
The Quality Waters
Overview: The fish are eating away at big subsurface patterns, but this also means they haven't been too keen on feeding on the surface. Worm imitations, egg patterns, bright-colored larvae, bunny leeches, and flies with some flash are still productive. Keep an eye out for cloud cover to get the BWOs going. As summer continues we expect hoppers, ants, and beetles to come into play. Streamer fishing is still good in this section.
Tips/Technique: Nymph rigs with fluorocarbon tippet are catching the vast majority of fish. Since the water is off-color and the fish won't see your leader as easily, 4x and 5x tippet are fine. If fishing streamers, use brighter colors and fish them right off the bottom. Despite the temporary lull in hatches, the Baetis are still active subsurface in the afternoons, so look for fish eating gray, olive, and brown mayfly nymphs in riffles, tailouts, and faster water.
The Lower River
Overview: The Lower River has been fishing well with most of the action here also sub-surface. Streamers and nymph rigs are still working well. The dry fly fishing will come back into play as the flowa stabilize. We're starting to see PMDs and caddis activity pick up; we just need the fish to start looking up more. For now they're happily eating all the stuff stirred up by the higher flows.
Tips/Technique: For this week the techniques aren't really different than the Quality Waters section. The recent bump in flows from 350cfs to 870cfs has caused all sections to fish similarly with similar patterns. Across the board lots of bigger, chunky food got loosened and the trout are enjoying it.
The Village
Overview: Fishing here has been solid. No reports of monster trout this week, but the fish in this less technical section remain eager to eat. PMDs and caddis are also coming into play here and we'll start seeing more prolific dry fly action as the water stabilizes. Cloud cover will be key for dry fly action in this section.
Tips/Technique: For this week the techniques aren't really different from the Quality Waters section. The recent bump in flows from 350cfs to 870cfs has caused all sections to fish similarly with similar patterns. Across the board lots of bigger, chunky food got loosened and the trout are enjoying it.
Current Fly Recommendations
You can purchase flies and licenses at our fly shop. Many are hand-tied by our guides themselves.
Sub-Surface Flies
| Name | Colors | Sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Vernille San Juan Worm | Brown, Black, Natural | 10 to 14 |
| Lynch's Double Dot Egg | Orange Blood Dot | 18 |
| Midge Larvae | Red | 16 to 20 |
| Foam Wing RS2 | Brown, Black, Gray | 18 to 20 |
| Bunny Leeches | Black, Olive, Gray, Natural, White | 6 and 8 |
Dry Flies (Just in Case!)
| Name | Colors | Sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Parachute Adams | Standard | 20 to 22 |
| Comparadun | Standard | 20 to 22 |
| Rosenbauer Parachute Beetle | Black | 10 to 24 |
| Cartoon Hopper | Gray, Olive, Brown Flash! | 4 to 8 |
| Ants | Black | 12 to 16 |
Planning a Trip to the San Juan?
Our lodge offers guided fishing and comfy rooms right on the river.