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Fishing Reports
San Juan River -NM
November 07, 2003
Posted by Jude Duran-San Juan Guide www.customflys.com
Email: customflys@msn.com
Current Report
November 06. 2003
Water Flow------244 cfs
The Bureau of
Reclamation has decided to
lower the river to 250cfs
and we'll probably see this
level until spring. There
has been plenty of talk over
the past few weeks on how
this will affect the
fishing, so I have decided
to talk a little about it in
this report. While the lower
flows mean that the fish
will be holding in fewer
areas, and will be more
concentrated, generally, you
won't notice a big
difference from the 350-
600cfs flows we experienced
over the summer. The less
fishable water just means
that we all need to be aware
and considerate of each
other when on the water. If
you're standing closer than
15ft from a person while
fishing, generally you're
too close.
However, the
prolonged lower flows will
have long-term effects on
the river. The lower flows
have dried up some river bed
on the sides of the river,
and this has dried up some
of the insect habitat. The
lower flows have also
increased the growth of
aquatic plants, because more
sun is penetrating to the
bottom of the river. This
has both good and bad
effects. The negative aspect
of more vegetation is that
the ecology of the river is
changing and there is less
of the muddy, silty habitat
midges prefer. This is also
one of the main reasons
there are more scuds in the
river now. I think you can
see a difference in the
quality of fishing in the
lower river since the lower
flows began a couple of
years ago, but overall,
we'll just hold on and hope
for more snow this winter.
It will still take years to
get the lake back up to a
level where we'll see flows
higher than 800cfs.
The fishing is still
as good as it ever was, and
the fish are still in the
popular holes in large
numbers. We've been catching
them mostly on red larva
patterns in size 22 with
cream and brown midge pupas
being our dropper flies.
I've been using less and
less weight lately, so make
sure you stock up on sizes 4-
10. The BIG fish are getting
the spawning urge, and are
starting to roam around the
river. These fish stay in
the deeper water for most of
the year, so for us, this is
one of the only chances to
catch them. The fall hatches
of baetis parvus, or Blue
Wing Olive hatches are here,
but not prevalent. There are
hatches below the Texas Hole
that are getting the fish to
look up in the afternoons
Your best chances for
fishing mayflies on top to
go with 7x tippet and a size
22 sparkle dun. For those
tough fish, drop a midge
emerger behind your dry fly.
Top Producing Flies (in
order of importance):
#22 Red Larva
#22 Duran's Red Larva
#22 Creme Thread Midge
#22 Brown Thread Midge
#12 Olive Bunny Leech/ #12
Natural Leech
#22 sparkle dun
Guide's Advice:
Now that the water flow is
slower, most of the riffles
you are used to fishing will
be moving much slower. This
means that your selection of
weight is even more crucial.
I rarely use anything larger
than a size 8 anymore unless
I'm in the main channel.
Most of the time, in the
ESPN, Upper Flats, Cable
Hole, and Catch & Release,
I'm using either one or two
size 8 weights. There are
times when having a size 9
weight on means the
difference between catching
5 or 10 fish that couple of
hours. Experiment until you
find that you are bumping
the bottom occasionally, but
not often, and move your
indicator so your flies
drift as close to right
below them as possible.
-Jude Duran
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