San Juan River | New Mexico Fly Fishing Reports & Conditions

The San Juan River is flowing at about 289CF and temps are cold in the a.m. but around 40 in the afternoons. Midge fishing has been doing really well throughout the whole day. Midge larvae in grey, cream, olive, rusty brown and olive brown are working. UFO's, Big Macs, Sidewinders and other similar patterns are doing good. Adult baetis are starting hatch in the later part of the day, but emerger patterns are still doing very well. Use emergers as a top fly and midge larva patterns as a bottom fly. Juju Baetis patterns in black and other darker colors are fishing. Sidewinder patterns are another good bug imitation. Stick to sizes 22-26 right now, even for dry flies. There are some adult hatches occurring so keep an eye out for bugs coming off the water. If you want to fish dries, use patterns like mayflies, parachute adams, bwos, etc. Look for what color the bugs on the surface or flying around might be to help determine what you need to tie on. Hoppers are catching fish, try darker colors first. Eggs and bunny leeches are working well

Fishing Report Last Updated:

2 / 12 / 2019

Choose A Different River Here

Chama River
Cimarron River
Pecos River
Rio Costilla
Rio Grande River

Fishing Conditions

Fly Fishing San Juan River is currently Good

Orvis-Endorsed guides nearby:
Fisheads of the San Juan

Water flow: 280

Visibility: 28 inches

Water temperature at mid-day: 42 Degrees F

Water condition: Stained

Best time of day to fish: All day long.

Best stretch: The whole quality water section is fishing well! The Lower river is too low to float!

Best access point: Texas Hole parking lot

Fly fishing hatches in order of importance:

Midge strongest from 11:00 am on Blue wing olives from 12:00 to 5:00 Some Dry action on cloudy days.

Fish species: Rainbow and Brown trout

Fishing season: Year Round

Nearest airport: Albuquerque, NM (2.5 hr) or Durango, La Plata Airport, CO (40 min) or Farmington, NM (40 min)

Recommended fly fishing tippet: 5X Tippet

Best fly fishing rod: 10' 5 Weight Fly Rod

Best floating fly line: PowerTaper WF Fly Line

Best sinking fly line: Bank Shot Sink Tip Fly Line

Fly Name:	Fly Color:	Fly Size(s):
Woolly Bugger	Brown, Black, Natura	8, 14
Lynch's Double Dot Egg	Orange Blood Dot	18
Griffith's Gnat	Black, Olive	18
Rojo Midge	Gray, Olive, Brown,	20 to 22
Rosenbauer Parachute Beetle	Black	10 to 24
Cartoon Hopper	Gray, Olive, Brown flash!	4 to 8

Midge Larvae	Gray, Red, Olive, Br	18 to 24
Foam Wing RS2	Brown, Black, Gray,	18 to 24
Bunny Leaches	Black, Olive, Gray, Natural, W	6 and 8
Ants	Black	12 to 16

San Juan River Description

Located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, 40 miles South of Durango Colorado and 30 miles Northeast of Farmington New Mexico. The San Juan River is world renowned for providing some of the most rewarding trout fishing you will ever experience. The San Juan is a consistent producer of both rainbows and browns averaging 16 to 18 inches, with many reaching much larger proportions. Recent studies have suggested ...

Techniques & Tips

Fish fluorocarbon tippets at the end of your mono-filament leader when nymph fishing. 5X to the first fly and 6X to the dropper. This will produce more strikes as the fish can't see the fluorocarbon. Fishing 22 to 24 midges in the slower waters has been great. The river is flowing SLOW, fish short light rigs. 8-10 size weights with a strike indicator set at 2-3 ft. We are finding lots of baetis, especially on cloudy afternoons. Baetis live in fast water so look for them in the riffles at the top of holes and at the bottom of holes in the tail out. Fish are eating gray, red, olive and brown nymphs in these places, it just depends on the day so have them all. You may have the chance to see fish on top during this time. A parachute Adams or comparadun should do the job. The may flies are green and are about size 22. Use dark colored wings as the fish are turning away from white wings. If you can't see this try a marker fly about 12 inches above the baetis. You should fish mono-filament tippets when fishing on the surface as fluorocarbon sinks. Change back to midges when the fish stop eating your may flies. Try some bunny leaches if all else fails. Dead drift them like the rest of your nymphs. Fish are eating them for moss! They will shake the drifting moss to get the bugs out. All this goes out the door when fishing streamers. Get them on the bottom and fish 1X fluorocarbon.

7-Day Forecast

Fishead (fish-head) n. A person who spends all their time thinking about, dreaming about, or in the pursuit of fish. The forecast is predicting the temperatures to be the mid 40's dropping to the mid 30's this weekend.. The night time temperatures are in the high 20's to mid 30's the rest of the week with unsettled weather. Possibly rain and or snow showers over the next couple of days.and Friday.