Fly Fishing San Juan River New Mexico
Type of Stream
Tailwater
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Species
Rainbow Trout
Brown Trout
(Stocked and Wild)
Size
Large
Location
Northern New Mexico
Nearest Towns
Bloomfield
Farmington
Special Regulations
Quarter Mile No Kill Section Below
the Dam
Season
Year-Round
Access: Good
Non-Resident License
State of New Mexico
Seasons:
Fly fishing the San Juan River is possible any day of the year, even during the runoff which takes place in May and June.
Winter:
Winter provides some of the best fishing on the San Juan.
Spring:
Spring has higher water than normal during the runoff but trout can be taken and parts of the stream even waded during the high water.
Summer:
Summer provides some excellent dry fly fishing at times.
Fall:
Fall is a great time to fish the San Juan River. You cannot pick a bad time to catch fish – only a bad weather day for you to fish.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
San Juan River, New Mexico – Fishing Report – December 20, 2024 The discharge and stream are at a normal level and the water is clear. Our pre-rigged midges and dropper rigs are very popular to use here as well as our articulated streamers. Check back with us often. We update the San Juan River fishing report weekly. We received three good reports from customers fishing this past week.
Stream Conditions:
Rate: 476 cfs
Level: 1.29 ft.
Afternoon Water Temperature: 39 degrees
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data at Farmington
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click here for more detailed weather info)
Recommended Trout Flies:
Midges: Cream and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 18, nymphs, emergers, duns, spinners
Winter Stoneflies; size 16/18, nymphs and adults
Perfect Flies are designed and tied to to imitate and behave like the natural foods the trout rely on to survive as much as possible. The more your fly looks like and moves through and on the surface of the water like the real things, the higher your odds of success.
Strategies, Techniques and Tips:
There is little change in the best fishing strategy during the winter months. It is almost always best to fish a tandem Midge rig under a small strike indicator with the midge lava as the bottom fly and the midge pupa as the top fly. Fish the adult midge only when you observe trout feeding on the surface.
Some areas have good concentrations of various species of blue-winged olive nymphs and fishing an imitation of them is an alternative strategy.
Fish the Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin or the Brown or White Belly Sculpin streamer, or any of the Articulated streamer patterns anytime during low light conditions, or early and late in the day. They are good flies for the larger trout.
Scuds will work good at this time of the season.
Sculpin patterns are also as well as Articulated Sculpin patterns.
Aquatic worms are working. Spotted sedge caddis are hatching.
Fly Fishing On The San Juan River In New Mexico
The San Juan River is located in Northwestern New Mexico. It’s one of the best trout streams in the nation. The San Juan is a tailwater fishery below Navajo Dam at Navajo Lake. The San Juan’s first four and a quarter miles of water below the dam contains over 80,000 trout. The stream has a huge population of brown and rainbow trout for as much as twenty miles. Most of the fishing takes place in the first ten miles below the Navajo Dam. The average size trout is about seventeen inches. Fly fishing the San Juan River can be one of the most rewarding and pleasurable experiences fly fishing has to offer. It is a big river but usually easy to wade. The San Juan River’s upper section runs down to the Highway 173 Bridge. The river is wide and probably averages about 130 feet. The entire upper section is accessible by the public. The next fifteen or so miles downstream has a lot of privately owned property bordering the river. By far, the best way to fish the lower section is from a drift boat. Much of the river bottom is soft and even silty in some places. There are outcroppings of sandstone. The San Juan flows through a sandstone canyon. The water released from the Navajo Dam averages from 42 to 45 degrees year-round. Fishing is even great during the middle of Winter. This constant water temperature is great for the aquatic insects and the trout. The flows are fairly consistent day in and day out, not rapidly shooting up and down like many tailwaters. They are higher in the late Spring months but by Summer, the flows are down rather low. They can fluctuate from 5000 cfs to as little as 200 cfs but never abruptly. Most of the time, the stream can easily be waded or fished from a drift boat. Both methods take plenty of trout. It can be fished throughout the entire year. The San Juan River tailwater is located in the high desert country of Northern New Mexico where the summers are usually cool. The winter can provide a lot of warm nice days where the temperature reaches into the fifties some days. If the San Juan River has a downfall, it’s the number of anglers fishing the river at certain times. Even though it isn’t really close to any large cities and highly populated areas, anglers come from all over the country to fish this great river. There is always plenty of room where you can catch trout even when the stream is crowded. You can catch trout anywhere in the river for miles below the dam due to the number of trout that exist there. There’s no shortage of trout. They are concentrated throughout the river. Some anglers think they get use to the fishing pressure and don’t spook as easily as most trout but we are not sure about that. The deep runs are almost always full of trout.
There’s a wide variety of types of water though. The fish do seem to concentrate in the deeper holes and runs. There are channels and braided areas, flats, sloughs, long riffles, deep, fast runs and about every type of water you can find in a trout stream. The river has a lot of algae that provides the perfect habitat for several types of food for the trout. It also provides a fairly slick bottom to wade. Midges are the mainstay of food for the trout. They provide a constant source of food. Aquatic worms are very plentiful. Most local anglers have a fly box with nothing but midges. Some of the midges are so small they are difficult to see in the fly box. There’s a few other aquatic insects as our hatches and fly section indicates. The trout tend to be very selective. Having a fly pattern that closely resembles the appearance and behavior of the natural food is usually critical. Good presentations are almost always required. In fact, lousy presentations will get you nothing but casting experience. o be consistently successful, most of the fly fishing on the San Juan should be nymph fishing. By nymph fishing, we also mean fishing larvae imitations as well as nymphs. If something isn’t hatching, and other than midges, there usually isn’t anything hatching, you should use aquatic worm imitations, leeches, midge larvae, or blue-winged olive nymphs. It’s best to dead drift the flies right on the bottom. Most anglers use a strike indicator. Unless you see trout feeding on the surface, it’s usually not a good idea to fish a dry fly. The trout can be deceptive and feed on the surface without making much of a disturbance or even a slight rise ring. They often sip in midge pupa just under the surface. Two fly rigs are popular. They seem to help anglers determine whether the trout are feeding on the larvae or pupae. You can rig up with both a midge larva imitation and a imitation of the pupa.
Fly Fishing Guide for the San Juan River:
Fly fishing the San Juan River successfully and consistently demands being able to fish tiny flies. If you ever plan on fishing the San Juan River, you are going to need to fish imitations of midge pupae and larvae. The bottom of the river is covered with them. That is what the trout eat 95% or more of the time. That is what you can catch trout on 365 days a year. It is not the only thing they will take. They can be caught on other flies occasionally. They can even be caught on streamers. It’s just that your odds of success is usually far better if you fish imitations of midges. You can fish from the banks in some places, wade or fish from a drift boat. Wading will usually get you just as many fish as the drift boat will. I am certain some of the guides would disagree and probably not like me pointing that out, but this river has so many trout, catching them is usually not a problem anywhere you try. Now that I have said that, please be advised that the drift boat will let you see far more of the river and catch as many fish. There is nothing wrong with fishing from one and many anglers may prefer that. Now don’t let the midge fishing turn you off if you happened to not like fishing midge flies, or if you have never fished them. It is not that complicated and if there was ever a stream to learn on, it is the San Juan River. It is not very much different from fishing nymphs. In fact you can fish tandem midges like you can fish tandem nymphs. You do have to use a tippet small enough that you can get it through the eye of a size 18 to 22 hook. You wouldn’t feasible to run a 4X tippet through one, for example. The trout are not that leader sensitive in the San Juan River. It is just that you must use the light tippet, either 6X or 7X, depending on the fly size used, to make the flies appear natural and to actually get the tippet through the eye of the hook. The best way to fish these tiny flies is to first of all, use the gear we recommend in the Gear Section of this site and secondly, use the following methods. If you are wading, the most likely areas to catch the trout are in areas where some current runs into a flat or pool. You can catch them anywhere on occasions, but that will put you in a good type of area. You want to fish from about the middle to the end of the current running into the pool or flat, not the fastest water you can find. You want the fly, or bottom fly if you are fishing two, right on the bottom. Most of the bottom is gravel and sand. There are some rocks but mostly nothing to get hung on. By the way, that is another reason that this is a good river to learn on. The fish usually have no where to run to break your tippet. The best way to rig for that is to use split shot a few inches above the fly or top fly in the case of two. Now some anglers run the top fly off of a short section of tippet attached to the leader. I usually don’t. I usually just put the flies directly on the tippet. Adjust the weight to match the current and the depth of the water you are fishing. The bottoms are usually more uniform and not so up and down like many trout streams. Getting just the right amount of weight is important. Add a strike indicator on the leader to where it drifts right and allows the fly to touch the bottom. You don’t want the bottom fly suspended off the bottom and you don’t want it to drag the correctly, about 75% of the breaking strength of the tippet. Cast up and across and quickly mend the line by throwing line up stream, not coiling it like some anglers do dry fly fishing. The idea is to get the indicator well upstream of the fly or flies. It may take two mends to get used to it. Get your fly line well upstream or above the indicator. You may want to strip out line and let the fly keep going downstream if you can do that in the particular area you are fishing. As long as you can keep the flies drifting right, let them go. When the trout take the fly, the indicator usually just stops drifting. It may not shoot under for a few seconds. Don’t wait on it. If it stops, make a long slow sweep of the rod tip to set the hook. All you need to do is just tighten up the line. The tiny hooks set very easy. If you don’t, you will break the tippet. When the trout feels it is hooked, it will take off. Just keep some tension of the line and let the drag do the rest. Hold the tip of the rod high in the air. Don’t reel until the fish stops running. It may make several runs before you get it near you. When it first sees you, it will take off again for sure so be prepared for that. I suggest you use a landing net because most of them are lost within reach. Remember, the average size trout you will probably catch is about 14 to 16 inches and it may be much larger.
San Juan River Hatches and Trout Flies:
Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the San Juan River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726.
The San Juan River is where the San Juan Worm fly came from. It is still very popular and used by many anglers. San Juan worms, aquatic worms, are thick in places. All in all, the mighty midge is the most plentiful food available for the trout and imitations of them are the most popular flies used on the San Juan River. Black flies are also plentiful. We have excellent imitations of the black fly larvae, pupae and adults at Perfect Fly. Scuds are also plentiful in the San Juan River. Imitations of them will work year-round. Leeches is another plentiful creature that trout eat in the river. The most plentiful mayfly is the Blue-winged Olive. There are several species called blue-winged olives that hatch from about the first of April through August. Pale Morning Dun hatch in some parts of the river during June and July. There are a few species of caddisflies but the only ones we have found that are plentiful are Spotted Sedges. There may be others and if we confirm any additional species in any significant numbers we will be adding it to the list. The Spotted Sedges hatch in June and July. August and September is terrestrial season and imitations of ants, beetles and grasshoppers work well during that time. One of the most effective flies there is for catching the large San Juan brown trout are streamers. Don’t forget to have a good selection of them. Our “Perfect Fly” Yellow and White Marabou Sculpin Streamers work great. If you haven’t tried our “Perfect Flies” yet, be sure you do. We have the most realistic and effective imitations of all the insects, crustaceans and baitfish that are in the San Juan River. Our midges have been tested and proven very effective
Stream Report Archive:
06/30/19 Conditions remain good in spite of higher than normal discharge and stream levels. You can still wade safely with caution or fish from a drift boat. Midges, as almost always, are still the prime choice of flies to fish. All sections are in decent shape with trout being caught.
07/07/19 The flows are still running higher than during most of the season. This is fairly normal at this time of the year due to runoff. The river can still be fished from drift boats and even waded with caution in many places.
07/14/19 The discharges and stream levels are still high. Drift boats are still catching some trout and there are a few places one might wade near the edge of the river. It will be better when the levels are down some.
07/21/19 The river is still in good shape, flowing a little above normal levels. There are good numbers of trout being caught. There are some good hatches taking place and terrestrial imitations like our Japanese beetles and carpenter ants are also working good.
07/30/19 The discharges and stream levels are down a lot but still high. It can be waded safely in some areas provided caution is used and drift boats should do fine. There are still some hatches and we are still getting some good reports.
08/11/19 The river is in good shape with good discharges and levels. Wading and drift boats should do good. All sections of the river are turning out good numbers and sizes of trout. There are still some good hatches and our terrestrail patterns are starting to work.
08/18/9 It is consistently turning out a lot of trout. All sections of the river are in good shape with good levels and lots of midges hatching. Our customers continue to send in good reports.
08/26/19 The river is still in good shape but iit flowing rather high. Wading will be tough in some places and okay in others. Boats will do fine.
09/11/19 The river is still flowing at a higher than normal level, too high to wade many places but okay in some. There are still good numbers of trout being caught by both boat and wading anglers.
09/19/19 The river is flowing at near a normal level and in good shape. Both wading and boat anglers are catching good numbers of trout. We continue to get good reports from customers.
10/03/19 The stream levels are a little low and wading easy and safe most anywhere. We are still getting good reports from customers.
10/22/19 : Stream levels are still low which makes wading easier. Midges are hatching and October Caddis and Streamers are also working
02/24/2020 The stream levels and discharges are still low and will likely remain low this week. That makes wading safe and easy and good numbers of trout should continue to be caught. Midges rigged in tandem are working as well as Sculpin patterns.
03/21/2020 The discharges and stream levels are still low but it makes wading safer and easier. You may have to make a little longer cast to keep the trout from seeing you. Our customers are catching good numbers and sizes of trout.
03/30/20 Conditions remain good. The discharges and stream levels are still a little below normal but that makes wading safe and easy. Trout are being caught by our customers in
good numbers.
04/16/20 The discharges and resulting stream levels are still a little below normal but that
makes wading safe and easy most places. We continue to get some very good reports from customers fishing the river.
05/12/20 The river is flowing at a near normal level. Conditions are good. You should be
able to catch plenty trout. There are some good midge hatches going on.
05/29/20 The river is flowing a little high but trout are being caught in good numbers.
There are some good midge hatches taking place and spotted sedge caddis are starting
to show up.
06/24/20 Stream levels are a little low but otherwise in good shape. We are getting good
reports from customers fishing it. Wading is easy but in some cases you need to use caution not to spook the trout.
07/07/20 The river is low and you have to use caution to keep from spooking the trout. There are some good midge and other insect hatches taking place and trout are being caught in good numbers by our customers
07/20/20 Discharges and stream levels are near a normal level. Our customers continue to send in good reports. There are lots of trout being caught, both browns and rainbows.
08/03/20 The river is in good shape, flowing just a little below normal level. There are great midge hatches taking place and our customers are reporting som good catches. This coming week should be another good one.
8/20/20 The river is flowing just a little above normal and in good shape. We continue to get some good reports from customers. There are good midge hatches taking place and our terrestrial patterns are working.
09/16/20 Discharges and stream levels are normal and the river is very good shape. There are large midge hatches and our sculpin streamers are catching some big trout. We continue to get good reports from customers.
10/04/20 Discharges and stream levels are running a little low but we continue to get good reports from our Perfect Fly customers. There are good midge hatches taking place.
10/19/20 The river is in very good shape with good discharge rates and stream levels. We continue to get some very good reports from customers. Midges and our sculpin streamer
patterns are really working good.
11/02/20 Conditions are excellent. We are getting some very good reports including some big trout being caught. There are good midge hatches and our sculpin and leech streamer patterns are catching some big ones.
Note: We are discontinuing posting the archive due to the fact we already have so many.
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