San Juan River, New Mexico

Fly Fishing the West
Vol. 1, Issue 1
Friday, July 3, 2009
San Juan River, New Mexico


The San Juan River flows out of the Navajo Reservoir in north-central New Mexico. Its source is mainly snow melt from the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado/northern New Mexico. Navajo Reservoir stores water for summer use and flood control in the Spring. The river is cold and clear coming out of the reservoir. It meanders down through northern New Mexico into Utah and eventually feeds into the Colorado River. The stream is tree-lined and lies in a beautiful setting of red rock cliffs and junipers.

We (Norm, Alan and Ben) left Albuquerque at 5 am in a light rain, arriving at about 8 am. From the "Texas Hole" parking lot Alan and Ben headed upstream and Norm and I waded upstream as well. The stream just below the dam is wide and flat and depth-wise is easily wade-able, although the large, flat sandstone rocks in the bottom of the stream are moss-covered and very slippery. Norm and I fished with nymphs on a strike-indicator (Tyson's setup). We caught nothing and had no strikes for about 2 hours. (There were about 8 other fishermen on the stream near us. We saw one fish caught (about 12-13 inches). We moved back down stream passing a number of other fishermen. About 200 yards above Texas Hole we caught several small rainbows; I with a size 14 red ant on top of the water. We saw Alan and Ben down below us. They bother were fishing dry flies on the top of the water.

About 1:30 pm Norm and I fished Texas Hole. This is a cascade of three separate tributaries coming into a bowl area of very deep water. There were already about 6 fishermen fishing there with another 6 in boats and single-man float rafts. We "got in line" fishing the slower waters off to the side. I caught a 13" rainbow and several others on a size 18 sow bug. Norm caught several more rainbow of similar size on a size 22 black pearl-bead midge. After about 2 hours we worked our way to the fast water of the main tributary. We caught more rainbow of similar size. In the faster water I lost a good sized fish in the current (on 2 lb. test line) then caught a 16 ½" brown trout on a size 18 flash-back midge. Norm had one break his line as well. (There were a number of fishermen around us catching fish at this location.) We tried elk hare caddis, pale morning dun, red-body midge and "San Juan" worms with no strikes.)

About 4 pm Norm and I moved downstream where the water is wide and flat but too deep to wade across. We fished here casting both dry flies and nymphs on floating line to no avail. Alan and Ben joined us here and we fished until about 8:45 pm with no strikes. Earlier in the day Alan caught several rainbow including a 15 incher on a Royal Wolf, and lost another of good size. Ben caught a rainbow as well. We left for home about 9 pm.

Overall the trip was very nice and lived up to the expectations of fishing one of the better trout-fishing streams in the West. There would have been fewer fishermen had the trip not been over a major holiday. The fish are big and seem plentiful. (Many that we saw showed signs of having been caught before.) There were two kinds of rainbows, i.e., 1) the more typical silvery and pink with many dark spots, and 2) a much lighter, almost tan, salmon-colored species with few spots. It is a beautiful fish to behold against the backdrop of the shallow stream bed. We arrived back in Albuquerque just after mid-night.


Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:
1. The stream reminds me of Rocky Ford Creek in Washington state. You can see the fish, large ones. Norm and I had one rainbow about 16 inches sit just below our boots (sometimes only one foot away) in 2 feet of water waiting for us to move and kick up sediment from the rocks. It would then feed on what washed downstream. Hence the term "San Juan shuffle", per our local guide, Norm.
2. In talking to other fishermen, they apparently catch the bigger fish on the San Juan using nymphs that are very small (in the 22-26 size range). I had no flies that small. (They are so tiny: I am still not sure how they can even tie them on the line.)
3. I caught several rainbow on a size 14 red ant, trying it because I was many red ants walking down to the stream. One fisherman said sometimes the stream is full of red "ants" because termites actually lay their eggs in water near the stream edges.
4. The day turned out to be sunny and warm, possibly contributing to less activity by fish during the day, particularly in the slow, flat water.
5. When we left in the evening the mosquitoes were out in force and very bothersome (although repellant we had worked quite well.)
6. A one-day 2009 New Mexico fishing license (both resident and non-resident) was $12, but you had to buy habitat recovery/improvement permits as well for an additional $9.
PICTURE: Norm on San Juan River