San
Juan river below Navajo dam is fishing
well with dry flies and nymphs. Great
winter fly fishing with little to
no crowds and lots of fish on the
bite. Large trophy trout, as well
as small dinks being caught from
both the drift boat and wade fishing.
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San
Juan River below Navajo Dam -
Guide Reports (1-15-10)
Flows, guide
report and flows
San
Juan flow is 464 cfs. Clear to green
in color.
NEWS: The San Juan, Navajo
Lake State Park will be closed on designated
dates for 2010. Click for dates and
more info...San Juan Alerts
Guides
and fishing activity: Will, Chris,
Marc, Chip, Tim and Rick
Guide Report-Quality
Waters:
Here is a post Will made on the san juan river forum
1-15-10
"Fished late with my guests yesterday and made a point
to fish the lower flats after seeing your post. Still
not a ton of fish in there. Few small fish looking for
a random midge and BWO. Serious gull hatch though. They
were everywhere in there especially at the head and tail-out.
There have been a ton of small rainbows lying dead in
the shallows from T-hole down river into Beatis Bend.
I guess the gulls have been eating them.
Back
to the live trout; I had a lot more fish to the fly
in 3-island and Lunker than the
flats. With a low
sun and thick clouds over the sun there were a lot
of fish on the surface eating
micro midges. Not just dinks
either, plenty of big fish as well. But I would focus
on the areas above and below the lower flats. The
tail-out of T-hole also has a lot
of fish in it as well. Plus
some "real fish", as long as you can get
your fly past the dinks.
As
the day went it was sweet, happy
guide and happy clients. Fish to
the fly all
day and it was nice
and warm out
(46F). Tons of clouds early and late. Helped in
keeping the fish aggressive and active
all day. Takes on
the bobber varied from ultra-light to full grab
and submerge.
White leeches, light pink egg balls, cream larva,
red larva and midge pupas in olive and black were
the ticket
(24-26). Midge adults in black size 26. Leech on
the move or dead-drift worked at times, but not
as consistent
as the midge pupa. Water remains way clear (for
this time of year), so some sight
fishing might be available
too. Hope this helps, giver hell out there!"
__________________
will
gottrout.com
gottrout.blogspot.com
Guide
Report-Mid section (bait water):
Fishing has been "OK" with junk patterns for
mostly small fish.
Guide
Report-Lower River:
Cold and low.
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Hatches
Main
winter hatches for the San Juan:
Midges and some small BWOs.
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Dec/Jan:
Midges, BWOs, leeches, eggs,
annelids and worms
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Feb/March:
Midges, BWOs, leeches and junk
patterns (worms and eggs)
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April:
BWOs and midges, junk patterns
when flows bump
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May:
BWOs, midges, mosquito's, eggs,
worms, annelids and streamers
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June:
BWOs, midges, annelids and caddis
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July:
BWOs, midges, caddis, PMDs, annelids,
ants and hoppers
-
August:
BWOs, midges, PMDs, ants, hoppers
and streamers
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September:
BWOs, midges, hoppers and streamers
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October/November:
BWOs, midges and streamers
Insects
and food in the system: Caddis pupa,
larva, midges, mayfly nymphs, snails,
black fly larva, crane flies, eggs,
worms and fry
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Fly
patterns
Midge
pupa is gray and black, in a #22 to #28.
Adults are black, or black and gray in
a # 24 to #30. There have also been some
larger #18 to #20 midge pupa that are
black/red. The adult is olive/gray. For
the BWOs fish brown wd40s and RS2s have
been good. Foam wing emergers in chocolate
and gray. Typical baetis emergers.
With
the water green to clear fish bright
patterns above natural patterns.
Larva and red annelids in #18 to
#24. San Juan worms in red, orange
and natural. Buggers and leeches
will also take fish. Leeches in white,
gray and black. White has been the
best producer. Fish have also been
on pink and red eggs.
Some scuds as well in #22 gray.
Lower
River: BWOs in 18 to 22 in
brown, chocolate and gray. Caddis
emergers and pupa in #16
Streamers in black, brown and olive.
Vary the size
of streamers and experiment your
stripping speed.
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Predictions
and forecast
Should hold
clear to green with steady fishing for
the next few weeks.
The
San Juan is a fantastic tail-water
fishery that flows near Aztec, Farmington
and Durango. Perfect river for
full
and 1/2 day float or wade trips for
all angler abilities. Looking to
learn a few of the San Juan secrets?
Book
an AvA guide to help you decode this
technical fishery that is flat-out
loaded with trout.
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Guided
fly fishing on the San Juan below
Navajo Dam
The
San Juan River below Navajo Dam offers
both beginner and expert fly anglers
a chance at quality trout and lots
of them. The Juan fishes well year-round.
We
offer float and wade guide trips
on all sections of the San Juan below
Navajo Dam. Steady fishing can be
found
throughout the winter, spring, summer
and fall months. Book a trip today
for this world-famous fishery.
Animas
Valley Anglers is licensed and permitted
by Navajo Lake State Park in northern
New Mexico near Aztec and Farmington
New Mexico.
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The San
Juan River at Navajo
Dam details
The San Juan is located about an hour south of Durango Colorado
and flows cold out from the bottom of Navajo Reservoir. The city
of Albuquerque, Farmington and Pagosa Springs are also a short
drive to the river. Albuquerque is about 3 hours, and Farmington
is 40 minutes and Pagosa Springs is an hour and some change. The
Juan flows through a true desert canyon with high sandstone cliffs
in bench form, each layer exposing millions of years of geology.
On the river floor, the river runs slow over shallow riffles and
deep pools, and is surrounded by willows, Broad-leaf cottonwoods,
Russian Olives and Tamarisk.
Trophy
Trout Quality Waters
The Quality
Water section, located
below Navajo Dam in the Navajo
Lake State Park, is
one of the top
tailwater fisheries here
in the US. In the first few
miles the San Juan is known
for big trout and lots of them.
The Juan is home to thousands
of fish per mile.
Packed full of trout; 10, 25
even 40 hookups per angler,
per day is possible. Fish
size averages between 12 to
20 inches. A 16 inch bow seems
to be the the typical fish
these days.
Lower
River
The
San Juan below the Quality Waters
is know as the Lower
River, and this section
flows over numerous riffles,
and is home to a large number
of fish. Brown trout tend to
out number the bows and they
can be very aggressive to a dry
or streamer. Fish size ranges
between 10 and 15 inches the
average seems to be 13 inch browns.
But hold on, there are some monster
bows and browns lurking about
in the lower river. When the
river is on, an angler can have
a large number of fish to the
fly.
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