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Fishing Reports
San Juan River from customflys.com
September 10, 2004
Posted by Jude Duran
Email: customflys@msn.com
Current Report
Water Flow------500 cfs
The fishing slowed a
bit in the end of August (
this is common with the
hotter weather, smaller
hatches, and because the
fish have been fished over
all summer ), but is quickly
becoming the great fishing
September, October, and
November are famous for. By
far, these are my favorite
months to fish the river,
and late November into
December is my favorite time
of all because of the larger
fish, cooler weather, and
lessened crowds. The fishing
is good right now with
strong midge hatches, and
sparatic hatches of Baetis,
or Blue Winged Olives. This
is a good time to plan a
trip to the river is you
want more consistent
fishing, cooler weather, and
a better chance at some dry
fly action.
I try to base my reports
on the experiences of the
people I talk to on the
river. Being a guide, I have
intimate knowledge of the
river, and can usually
change flies, weight, or
tippet size to get my
clients into more fish, but
that won't help you when you
fish the river alone, so I
base my reports on the type
of fishing you are likely to
encounter when you fish the
river without a guide. With
the cooler weather
returning, we are once again
experiencing the great
fishing the river is famous
for, and most people are
averaging 10 fish a day
which is a great day on the
river. If you have landed 5-
8 fish in a day, you are
doing good, and you should
be happy with your effort.
Many times, you'll hook two
or three times more fish,
but keeping them on the hook
is more and more difficult
with tiny flies, and the
soft, scar tissue mouths of
the trout this late in the
season.
The water clarity is the
best it's been all season
and is now 3 feet in the
upper river. This makes
spotting fish easier, and
has given us some terrific
chances to sight-fish to
trout in shallow water (In
fact, a client of mine,
Jason from Denver caught
about 30 fish using this
technique. He learned how to
sight fish to big trout in
only a few minutes, and then
used the technique to catch
almost every fish in a 40
yard stretch of water. He
caught several big Rainbows
in only 1 foot of water!!
Good job Jason!! ) It's not
the crystal clear water you
may be used to, but it's the
clearest the river has been
since last year. The flow
was lowered to 600cfs, but
you won't notice a
difference in the river's
depth, size etc..., and the
flow change won't affect the
fish very much.
If you've been wanting
to take a trip with a guide
on the San Juan River, now
is the best time. My months
fill up quick now that my
name is getting out there,
so e-mail me at
customflies@msn.com or
customflys@msn.com to book
a trip. I have about 15 days
open in October, and several
days still open in
September.
Top Producing Flies (in
order of importance):
#22 Gray Rs2/ CDC and foam-
wing
#22 Cream flash thread midge
#22 Red M&M midge larva
#20 Duran's Wd-40
#24 Black foam-wing midge
emerger
Guide's Advice:
Be cautious not to wade
right out into the water
when you approach a fishing
hole. You'd be surprised how
many fish hold right on the
edges of the river,
conserving energy and
waiting for a meal to float
by. Many times, I see
anglers wade out into the
middle of a riffle to cast
into the main channel of the
riffle only to walk over
fish, or have fish stack up
at their feet to feed on the
midges they are dislodging
from the bottom. Before you
consider wading into the
water to reach that perfect
piece of water you see in
the middle of the river,
slow down and carefully
observe the water in front
of you. I tell my clients to
never cast over, or walk
over a prospective run where
fish might hold. I've caught
some of my biggest fish in
less than 8 inches of water
a foot off the bank!!
-Jude Duran
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