San Juan River

[Taxman]

I have been fishing the San Juan tail waters and below Abe’s for the past week. Caught some very nice rainbows. Best part was watching my boy’s catch and miss some nice fish. Most amazing was just how many big fish are within touching distance, just hover below you waiting for you to stir up bugs with your feet. It Was nothing to see 3 or 4 18” fish watching You.

 

[Taxman]

Primarily used 3 five wt rods in the very windy condition. G loomis Asquith,
Loomis NRXplus and the new Hardy Smuggler. All the rods performed as expected with the Asquith really shining in the stronger winds. The reels were Einarssons and a Hardy MTX Ultralight. Also caught several on 10’ 3wt Euro setup. The boys said the Euro rig was cheating. It was poison when water type allowed.

Mainly used bobber about 6’ above size 22 midges and may flies. proper line mgmt was paramount to catching fish. those fish are very well educated to the sight and sound of line and bobbers.

Btw, the biggest fish caught was while sitting on a bank where the San Juan curved around a small point of land. The water slowed into a small eddy and I could only rollcast into the eddy. Reminded me of just tossing my cane pole into a River as child. No complicated mending nor a Fine tuned fly rod. Just a kid with a stick

Please forgive the grammatical errors. Written while at the tail end of a 25 hr car ride.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

Need pics!

 

[Taxman]

Need pics!

I’ll get some pics up soon. I have about 5 hrs left of my drive home.

 

[Taxman]

I would be remiss if I didn’t share that America is still a beautiful
place with some very wonderful people that willingly shared kindness
and knowledge. Never once did I experience the mayhem and violence
we are inundated with on TV. The heartland was still there. The smaller towns were devastated with closures though and they should remain in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

I have been fishing the San Juan tail waters and below Abe’s for the past week. Caught some very nice rainbows. Best part was watching my boy’s catch and miss some nice fish. Most amazing was just how many big fish are within touching distance, just hover below you waiting for you to stir up bugs with your feet. It Was nothing to see 3 or 4 18” fish watching You.

Aw man, I'm glad to hear this, but kind of bummed too. We cancelled our family vacation this summer. Among the many sights and wonders of the southwest, I was going to spend a day on the San Juan. Maybe next year. Leave me a couple 20 inchers.

 

[Taxman]

Depending on the source, supposedly 15 to 20k fish per mile. Son literally reach down and touched a couple of 18” fish. most wouldn’t bite. Just followed down river eating from the disturbed bottom. You can just watch them in the water. They are very very educated fish.

everything is closed, the exception being 1 fly shop. Closest food was about 30 miles away.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

I've got a buddy that fishes it pretty regularly. He said if you're wading, fish will suspend downstream from you and eat all the aquatic life you kick up with your feet.

 

[Buckstop]

Its an unreal place for sure. Got to fish it a couple days on a float boat a few years back. Was pretty much same as you described, tiny beaded midges with dropper and indicator. Lots of fish, but was definitely a learning curve on the presentation and bite. I did much better on the second day. It was mid October and all the cottonwoods were in full color. Spectacular scenery. Stayed there at Abe’s too. I hope to make it back there again soon.

 

[whitetailfreak]

Maybe one day I'll leave Shaconage long enough to fish a place like that. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[Taxman]

All of the facilities at "Abe's" are closed. Grandson said they
may not reopen. Town is really dead now with the exeption
of two fly shops. We were so very fortunate to run into Abe's
grandson living at one of the facilities. He spent several hours
going over the different areas and different techniques. He even
had us follow him to several public campsites. He really made
our trip spectacular.