Farmington Nm Area/ San Juan River

[NoLuck]

Anyone familiar with the Farmington NM area and the San Juan River. I'll be out there for a couple weeks starting on the 26th of July. If I have a little spare time I'd like to try to catch a few trout.

Is it worth my time to try it out or is it just to crowded??

[Al Agnew]

It will be crowded, but heck, might as well try it. I've only fished it once, and that was in late September. There were other anglers, but it wasn't bad then. I wasn't too impressed with the fishing but saw some really nice trout that I didn't catch. Mainly, by fishing it I was able to put a check mark by New Mexico in my quest to fish a river in every state

[tippet7]

I have fished the San Juan River many many times. There will be a lot of fishermen but there is plenty of room. My favorite spots are the upper flats and the Texas hole. I use slot of small dries in the upper flats. Here is a great page to get info from. And,Abes has the best green Chile breakfast burrito ever! http://sanjuanriver.com/

[Jeff Tief]

Fished it several years ago the first week of July and it was crowded but not any worse than the trout parks or Taney at times.Caught some nice fish including one rainbow pushing 8#.We didn't rent a guide but went to the different access points and caught fish on the same flies we use back at home.Had some wonderful scenery and toured the Aztec and Salmon Ruins while in Farmington and Bloomfield.It did rain a couple times on us and they had a pretty good hatch of mosquitoes.

[NoLuck]

Thanks for the info guys.

Hey Jeff, did you try fishing TBH midges at all and did they work. Also what weight rod should I take?? 5wt?? What types of wading could you do without needing a boat??

[Jeff Tief]

No Luck, I researched on several websites and got their recommendations and went from there.Caught a lot of fish on scud patterns in tan and gray,wife caught fish on egg patterns in the usual colors and caught a bunch of fish on a little emerger pattern.That pattern is a weighted 20-22 fly tied on a scud hook using tan embroiderey floss and finishing the head with dark brown thread.Caught several browns also in the 18-20" range on a red fox squirrel nymph.Those little TBH patterns should tear them up.We fished primarily in the upper sections and the big bow was from the C&R section.Several areas we waded had a flat hard rock bottom and was slick and we were still wearing felt back them.After the rain, the folks at Abes said the topwater terrestials would be "on" but we didn't fish them as much.We did have a blast.Used 5wt. rods and handled the fish well ;would have probably taken some of the 8'6" and 9' rods if going back today.

[Phil Lilley]

I fished it a couple of times. Did well on midge clusters and tiny midges like griffith's gnat. Also #20 and #22 trout crack (scud) worked real well.

I heard throwing big stuff worked because the fish there are used to seeing tiny flies. I stripped some big streamers in the rapids and caught the best trout of the trip- up and down the river. I also threw jigs below the fly water and caught some great fish. Lot less ppl down out of the fly water too.

[NoLuck]

Thanks Phil and Jeff. I guess I'll load up some fly fishing gear when I head out. I'd like to keep it as light as possible gear wise. Buy flies when I get there so I have some local stuff.

[andytrout]

Was out at the SJ last year and definitely recommend it. Lots of large fish -- legitimate 16" average like the one attached. Texas hole can be a little cramped but there is plenty of space in the braids above if you do a little walking. Did not fish below Texas Hole as that looks like drift boat territory and we chose not to go that route. We used very small nymphs, non-beaded -- size 22-26. 5 wt/9 ft/floating line with 5-6x tippet is all you need for gear.

I would recommend using a guide for a day to get the hang of things. We used Art Martinez and he was excellent ( http://arcom-fishing-hunting.com/ ) .

The C&R section below the dam is fairly remote. There are a couple of fly shops there and a couple of older hotels, but only one place to eat. Farmington is about a 45 minute drive but offers many more options for food and lodging. Or you can stay in Durango, CO which is a bit farther but is much more scenic (and has other streams around it as well).

[dgames]

I love the San Juan. Spent a week there last fall and the year before. As others have said, there will be other people, but it is so vast of an area, that you can always find a spot to fish. My favorite areas are the upper flats and cable area, beatis bend/lunker alley and the lower flats. The Texas hole and Kiddie pool area can be fun, but it is a little more like fishing one of the trout parks that some of the other areas.

Be prepared with small stuff - size 22 and 24 midge nymphs. Buy some size 24 adams parachutes and size 24 fore and aft dries at one of the fly shops there (Abes, Fishheads and a third one I can't remember name of just up the hill from fishheads) unless you are a good enough tyer to tie hackled flies that small. I would also have some 18 or 16 hi-viz griffiths gnats. I spent a lot of time fishing to rising fish with one of the 24 dries droppered off the griffiths gnat Watch the gnat and set the hook if you seen a rise next to it. You will also get some fish on the gnat. My biggest fish last fall was a 20"er on the gnat.

I also did some fishing with a big (size 12) stimulator with a midge larva dropped off it. Size of the larva are too small for tungsten bh, so I did not bead head and used a small split shot. Most of the fish will be caught on the dropper, but you will pick up occasional fish on the stimulator and usually they will be big ones.

For midge patterns, I did well with dorsey's mercury black beauty midges in black or gray.

Have fun if you go. I will probably spend a week out there again this fall.