Day 3, San Juan River

From the dam down to the Crusher Hole the San Juan River is known as the "Quality Water."  This upper section is what we fished on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Wanting a change of pace, Jerome told us he would take us to the lower section of the San Juan River on Thursday.  Having never fished this 10 mile stretch, I thought it would be interesting to see.  After finishing the float, I had to ask what constitutes "quality water."  The only thing I could determine is that in the upper portion, only catch-and-release and single, barbless hooks are allowed, which typically means fly fishing only.  We did see and talk with spincasters on downstream, all of whom seemed very nice and were enjoying a fine day of fishing, just like us.  The other advantage we had fishing the "non-quality water" was, we were the only boat on the water all day long.  Being a fishing snob is disadvantageous.

Jerome began the day having Cody and I nymphing, and what a fine spot we hit.  Green egg patterns were the hot fly.  We hooked up five fish and netted three in the boat within the first fifteen minutes.  I finally consistently hook-set the way Jeremy kept telling me on Tuesday. While the day promised to be the warmest, a fine 51˚F, we hit a canyon shaded from the sun, and the temperatures plummeted to a nice 19˚F!  Yes, we were catching fish with ice in the guides; always the true test of winter fishing for trout.

Jerome worked really hard, and as a result, we caught fish in front of the lodge where we were staying, Ayala's.  We caught  fish below the bridge that  runs through town.  We streamer fished catching big, beautiful Brown Trout (I used my TFO 6'8" 2# rod with a tandem streamer set up, just for fun).  We fished in the light of the canyons and under overhanging willows.  The moon shone brightly in the clear, blue sky and followed us down river.  Cody boated six fish, and I boated eight.  Regardless of what the maps and fellow fly fishers say, all of the San Juan River is quality water, all of it.

Day 2, San Juan River

The Texas Hole and a size 28 red larva dropper were the keys to  success for today, and with this set-up,  Rainbow Trout were at the end of our lines.  We fished with Jerome Gallegos, manager of The San Juan Angler fly shop in Durango, Colorado, who was very patient and willing to put up with our photograph antics, especially playing with the GoPro!

Again, nymphing was the fishing technique for the morning.  Cody caught more fish than me, but I at least reduced the numbers of lost fish due to the strip-set, thank goodness!  With warmer weather (morning temp was 25˚F; afternoon temp was 46˚F) and no wind at all, there was a larger crowd on the water (six boats working the Texas Hole at 10 a.m.), and the larger fish from Tuesday were staying away from all anglers' flies.  Cody ended up bringing 11 fish in the boat, and I netted seven.  I attempted the Trout Trifecta but fell one catch short.  I nymphed a beautiful Rainbow, became tired of nymphing, and switched to streamer fishing the GirlieBugger on my 2#.  Second cast, and it was Rainbow TroutOn!  Cody and I both dry fly fished the mayfly hatch at the pool across from the ET rock, but we came up nil and returned to nymphing.  We did manage to catch a couple of nice Browns below ET rock.

I made many interesting observations for the day--places that were just teeming with fish yesterday were void of fish today; fish stock piled behind large boulders and snubbed flies; Brown trout were more sluggish in the quicker waters but aggressively chased one another, including the one that tried to eat a small Rainbow Cody had hooked.  We caught two small trout that are a Steelhead and Rainbow crossbreed, and two small Browns contained large, thumbprint spots below their lateral lines.  All-in-all, it was another great day on the water.