San Juan River

Dad and Grandpa

This river has a bit of history in my family. My Grandpa and my Dad used to fish it in the 70s. I remember a few times begging to go when I was little and remember getting told that walking in the river is dangerous and that I had to be bigger... Funny the things you remember.

70s Rig

The money rig in those days was a two burlap nymph setup dredged with a slinky weight. They would use a spinning rod and tie a slinky weight on the end of the line with  two 6" droppers  12" and 24" or so above the slinky weight each with a burlap nymph. They would cast out into the current and keep just enough tension on the line to detect a strike. They used to KILL it with this setup. This was back in the day when you could fish right up to the dam and they would be able to cast out to the main current coming out of the dam and get their flies right on the bottom.

Yikes!

I guess hearing about those trips stuck because as soon as I got into fly fishing I was asking to go fishing on the San Juan. My first trip was in 94 I think. I had just barley started fly fishing and actually started out fly tying with burlap nymph patterns.  My Dad would take my buddy Nate and I down to Colorado Springs Sports on Academy and Austin Bluffs to talk to George who was learning us in the ways of fly fishing rigs. He got us tying thread and disco midges once he heard we were planning a trip down to the San Juan. This was a bit of a challenge going from size 12 burlap nymphs to size 22 disco midges! The killer patterns on that trip as I recall were a chamois leach, size 18 red hot, and size 22 olive thread midge. I caught the biggest fish I had ever caught on a fly at that point which was a 19" rainbow on a chamois leach. I was shocked when I netted it!

So after a 20 year hiatus, and a trip up to the North Platte that was canxed due to weather, Ben and I decided to head down south the day after Christmas and get two days, Friday and Saturday,  of fishing in and then drive back Sunday morning.

Not a whole lot has changed in 20 years. Abe's shop is a little bigger and he added a few rooms but it's still Abe's. Rizzo's is now Fish Heads and there is a third shop now which has a descent selection of fly tying materials if you need to tie something up in the room.

Fish Heads has a restaurant which I highly recommend. We were actually able to score prime rib Friday night which was great. They also offer rooms which I may check out next trip. Abe's was more than adequate however if you don't require anything fancy. If you are in your room for anything other than sleeping or showering in Navajo city during daylight you probably need to do more fishing. 

Upper Flats

We hired a guide for the first day which was a good call because it was hard to read the water with it being so off color. Chris, out of Abe's,  put us on a few runs I would never have fished and they fished well.We fished the Kiddie Hole and landed a few to include a nice 18" bow I fumbled trying to get a pic. We then moved up to the upper flats and continued to hook fish fairly consistently.

After lunch we moved downstream. We started a ways above Baetis Bend and worked our way down to the end of the bend. I missed a 20" class fish as the sun was setting on Baetis Bend that hit a midge emerger that I was testing in

Pueblo. I guess that goes to show that a midge is a midge is a midge. Not too much to change other than color and size.

We spent Friday night tying up some flies and rigging up for the next day. Ben has a very unique saying (which I can't repeat here) when he realizes that he missed a rod eye after rigging up. Let's just say that it's probably not the best thing to yell when two dudes are in a hotel room with thin walls.... 

On Saturday we decided to hit Texas Hole. Figured anyone who fishes the San Juan needs to hit Texas Hole at least once and this was Ben's first trip to this river. We hit the water around 8:30 and it wasn't too crowded. That changed quickly though.... Fishing was good and I landed 2 in 4 casts. The fishing tapered off though as the dude hatch progressed. Ben landed a nice 18-20" fish at the top of Texas hole and I missed a nice one in the same area.

After lunch we decided to work our way through the braids. I remember this section from the last trip and have always thought it would be cool to work your way through them searching for large trout. I was right. It was very cool. You can really get back off the main channel of the river. It feels like small stream fishing. The difference is that you are catching 20" brick red bows!

Leach patterns were definitely the ticket this trip. Most of my fish, including these last two shown here took a leach pattern I developed for Rainbow Falls. A chamois leach worked well if tied large enough. The standard 1-2 inch pattern didn't do squat but a 3-4 inch pattern got bit fairly consistently. By the end of the trip we were fishing double leaches. Not the prettiest rig but very effective.

It was a really fun trip overall. It brought back a lot of memories. It's comforting to know that a river you fished 20 years ago is still fishing the way you remembered it. I don't think it'll be another 20 years before I return but I sure hope it continues to fish well for years to come.

Arkansas River (Pueblo)

Ben and I decided to get in a few hours on the Ark on Christmas Eve Day. We are trying to get an idea of the current situation on the Ark in Pueblo before the Frostbite Fish-Off in Feb. I didn't do great on our last trip but I took some insect samples and had a few patterns to test drive. I figured things would start to heat up a bit.

Well..... it was another tough day. We started off at the Nature Center and ran into Ben and Lou padding up. We hit the rock pile and worked our way upstream. Ben Lewis managed to hit one right at the Nature Center drop off on a red annelid. I came up empty all around the Nature Center. Not even a hit in the riffle above the rock pile.

We worked our way upstream to the Flag Hole and pretty much finished up the trip there. I had to WORK for the only fish that I caught all day. I knew I was in front of fish but couldn't put the pattern together. This bow hit a 22 Black Beauty which I tied on after Ben and I saw a midge crawl out of it's shuck and fly away on my seine. Awesome thing to watch. It really surprised me how fast it took off after crawling out of the shuck. Ben grabbed it and we saved the adult and the shuck which is a pretty cool thing to have.

After landing the bow above I figured I was on to something but that would not be the case. I wound up with a single hit and a single fish for the entire day. Hmm....... Need to learn a few new tricks before Feb!

Speaking of new tricks - Ben learned that if you don't flip your old man magnifying glasses up after tying on a fly, it'll burn your lips. LOL!! Hilarious.

Location:  Nature Center
Time: 10:45 AM
Water Temp: 41
Weather: Sunny / Windy 40
Hatch: N/A

Location: Flag Hole
Time: 12:00 PM
Water Temp: 42
Weather: Sunny / Windy 40
Hatch: Midge (sparse)
Stage: Pupa/Adult
Size: #22
Abdomen Color: Cream / Grey
Thorax Color: Black
Head Color: Black
Wing Color: Clear
Shuck Color: Light Tan / White
Sample: Yes

Notes: Sample contains an adult midge and the shuck it hatched from. Did see a single BWO Dun at this time.

Arkansas River (Pueblo)

It's been a while since I've fished the Ark! Too long! And Team Chuck and Duck need to knock the rust off our Pueblo skills!  (I need to knock the rust off my blog skills as well - still working on my RF wrap up) Man I'm excited though. This tournament is going to be fun (unless we place last). This year is about trophy fish and we hooked a not my rod breaking fish last year!

Ben and I decided to hit one of the beats if there was some open water. It was an absolute blue bird day and people were taking full advantage as they should as any respectful Coloradoan would.

Turns out the rust is pretty thick. I think it was a pretty slow day but we have some figurin out to do before Feb. We managed to catch 5 or so and miss a few more but it wasn't our best day on the water. We did catch some pretty ones (shown above slightly enhanced :-) The one on the right (majorly enhanced) hit on the edge of the hatchery outlet and looked like a mini hog. STRONG little dude.

But... he only ate after finally going to an egg. I have decided to start paying more attention to the bugs instead of jumping into patterns that have worked before. Everyone knows you should do this but not everyone can stop fishing long enough to do it. Anyone who has figured some of this fly fishing stuff out will tell you to know your bugs. I want to understand my hatches a lot better and come up with, or start using again, a very few simple, durable, fast to tie patterns and tie them in lots of sizes and colors.  I will always have some crazies in the box though because it's fun to make up your own stuff. The more crazies I try though the more I realize how good some old standbys really are. Why has it been so long since I fished a standard brassie?

So a few weeks ago I decided to make a little waterproof hook chart that I can look at bugs on to see if my fly size guessing needed some calibration. Yep. Way off. By two sizes in some cases.  I also decided to stop asking my fishing buddies to kick rocks up when I seine. I figure if I'm kicking stuff up, I'm looking at bugs that in some cases won't hatch for a year or more (I know that because of this and this and these guys). So even though I don't seine nearly enough, meaning rarely, I decided to make the hole process take longer.

I have taken Robert's (The Bug Guy) class and know how to collect and identify aquatic insects, plus I've read a few books that connect some dots. I need to stop being lazy about it. Plus it's fun. Just a hard activity to start. Especially when you start seeing bugs popping up. And since I'm going to attempt to be studious why not through in water temperature for the hell of it. Seems important......

So here it is. What I gathered during a few time outs from the whipping. Could be right, could be wrong. Use at your own risk :-) - Cool macro pics by my better half!

Location:  Anticline Bend
Time: 10:57 AM
Water Temp: 39
Weather: Sunny 40

Midge Emerger

Hatch: Midge (sparse)
Stage: Emerger
Size: #26/24
Abdomen Color: Chocolate / Cream / Flashabou Rib
Thorax Color: Black
Head Color: Black
Wing Color: Clear / Light Brown (case)
Sample: Yes

Caught 2 small bows just upstream from mid bend sand bar on #18 Red Hook
Hooked one on #22 Two Bit Hooker (w/ red beads). Missed a few on #22 Dorsey brown Top Secret Midge (looked like the perfect match for the midge emerger I found but I think I need them in #24-26 - maybe add the Flashabou tail). Decided to head downstream to join up with Ben at the hatchery outlet. 

Location:  Hatchery Output
Time: 1:10 PM
Water Temp:41 out of Hatchery
Weather: Sunny 40

Hatch: Midge (sparse / fair)
Stage: Adult
Size: #26/24
Abdomen Color: Chocolate / Cream / Brown / Rib
Thorax Color: Black
Head Color: Black
Wing Color: Clear
Sample: Yes

Location:  Hatchery / River Channel
Time: 1:20 PM
Water Temp: 44 main channel
Weather: Sunny 40
Hatch: Same midge seen at 1:10

Caught 1 small bow on #18 Red Hook. Caught 1 15/16" fat bow on 4mm yellow Otter Egg with yellow bead

Notes: Sample contains various midge adults / emergers, a baetis nymph (I think), and a caddis larva. One midge in sample is just emerging from the shuck. You can see a clear shuck hanging off the abdomen (shuck is same length of abdomen). Shuck looks exactly like a single strand of clear Flashibou. Very cool to see.

Test Pattern / Shotglass

I've been playing with a few patterns and this is the latest. Needs to be thinner though. Actually looks like a good baetis emerger. Pretty much the same thing as Shea's Shotglass as my buddy Justin has pointed out. After checking out that pattern again it is spot on for what I found in the water. No shortage of brilliant fly designers out there!

Flow: 61. fs