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Fishing Reports
San Juan River www.customflys.com
September 25, 2003
Posted by Jude Duran--SJ River Guide
Albuquerque, NM
Email: customflys@msn.com
Current Report
Water Flow------350 cfs
If you've been waiting
to take that trip to the San
Juan, get over here fast!
The river is beginning to
fish VERY well. October and
November are BY FAR my
favorite months to fish the
San Juan. The crowds have
dwindled, the big fish are
starting to move into
shallow water as they get
the spawning urge, and the
long-awaited baetis parvus,
or Blue Wing Olive hatches
are here, and the fish are
feeding hard. I was up there
with some clients on Tuesday
and I was able to sight fish
to at least 8 fish well over
20 inches in only one foot
of water!!
There has been more
moss floating down the river
than usual (this seems to
happen every fall, so don't
be alarmed), but all you
need to do is change your
tactics to be successful.
For instance, it took me
about 40 minutes to find the
right depth, weight, and
flies before I started
catching fish. Basically, I
had to adjust the strike
indicator perfectly so that
the flies were riding just
above the bottom of the
river and out of most of the
moss. I also used more
weight than I usually use to
cut down to the bottom fast
and get to the feeding lanes
of the fish. Don't worry
about the moss, and instead
spend your time
concentrating on fishing
your flies to the pods of
fish consistently with the
right amount of weight and
distance between your flies
and indicator. Also,
remember to clean your flies
often because they pick up a
lot of junk and if the fish
can't see your size 22
midges, they won't bite!
My most effective
technique was to sight fish
leeches to waiting trout.
These fish were slamming my
leeches and it was exciting
to watch them turn 2 feet
and follow the leech on the
swing. The mayflies are
starting to hatch in better
numbers and a small size 22
sparkle dun is a good choice
to fish to the trout that
are rising to adults. Last
year, we landed to biggest
fish of the year in these
two months, so e-mail me
soon to book a trip!!
Top Producing Flies (in
order of importance):
#12 Olive Bunny Leech/ #12
Natural Leech
#22 Red Larva
#22 Trojan Midge
#20 Red hot
#20 pink egg
Guide's Advice:
Change your weight and
indicator placement before
you change your flies. This
is more important than ever
because of all the moss. The
fish are still there and
they are still feeding, so
take the five minutes to
adjust your rig, and you'll
be rewarded with fish.
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