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San Juan River Fishing Information
Tailwater Section - near Durango, CO
The mighty San Juan river is full of trout of all four kinds depending on the sections you fish. Â The headwaters provide great small stream fishing to eager trout on any of your favorite flies while the lower sections get progressively more technical. Â The river flows into lake navajo and below is the famous tailwater section with over 10,000 fish per mile. Â The river begins up in the colorado high country and meanders down into the town of Pagosa Springs before it heads into Navajo reservoir. Â The fish vary greatly in size depending on the section with the tailwater holding the largest fish. Â The town section suffers from overheating so it’s best to fish in spring or fall as it is currently stocked regularly. Â Fish can be picky on this river so it’s best to bring your “A” game and be ready to put some time in to find some good fishing. Â With some patience and effort you can catch some great fish and have some awesome memories.
Upper Section
The upper section includes the headwaters down to the town of Pagosa Springs. Â This section contains brook, cutties, rainbows and browns so you have a chance to catch a grand slam. Â Fish are eager in this section and it’s the easiest place to catch fish on the San Juan. Â Access is readily available as you get into national forest.
Middle Section
Through the town of Pagosa Springs is mostly public and there is great looking water that holds mostly brown and rainbow trout. Â Best to fish when the water is cooler and flows are past run off stages. Â It fishes like a freestone in this section and is a great place to spend a day. Â Lots of tubers come out in the summer making fishing tougher, but if you get up early in the am, no ones usually on the river.
Lower Section
This section is technically in NM and requires a different license, but it is worth mentioning on this river explorer app as it has over 10,000 fish per mile and holds some large fish. Â Access is easy, but the fishing can be technical. Â Flies can be super small requiring small tippet and perfect casts to fool trout. Â If you can find the right pattern for the day the fishing can be lights out and easily worth the 6+ hour drive to access the river from Colorado/Denver Area.
Fish: Many Large-Sized Fish
Popularity: High
Difficulty: Hard
Accessibility: Easy
Best Techniques: Dries & Nymphs
Best Seasons: Year Round
River Type: Large Tailwater
Fish Types: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout
Dog Friendly: Yes but Leashed
Located in the San Juan/Dolores River Basin near Durango, CO
Fishable Seasons & Current Weather
The best seasons to fish this river are Year Round. See the current weather reports for the next 5-6 days listed below for the nearest city.
Knowing what flies to use is only have the battle. You have to know when the insects are active on the water and when it's likely the trout are feeding on them. Refer to our hatch charts below to understand when the insect categories and some of the possible hatches on the river.
Midge Hatches
Midges hatch year round, but their importance is from September through winter into April. During the warmer months, the trout often focus on larger insects as they are more active on the water like mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.
Aside from Blue wing olives, mayflies are active most commonly from May to August in Colorado. There are many different mayfly hatches found on most rivers and the most common are listed below.
Blue Wing Olive: September throut winter to April
Colors: Green/Olive
Sizes: #16-24
Pale Morning Dun: June to Mid September
Colors: White, Yellow
Sizes: #14 - #20
Stonefly Hatches
We have some great stonefly hatches in Colorado and while not all rivers carry all species of salmonflies, you can often fish stonefly adult patterns with confidence from May to September. Start off in bigger sizes and get smaller till September hits (size 8 - 16)
Terrestrial Activity
Terrestrials don't hatch since they are out of the water, but they can have importance starting in Mid April and ending in September.
These are the the top flies we sell for this river. Use the hatch chart above to know what flies you will want to have in your fly box during your adventure on the river and then select the flies here 30 days before your trip to get them at a great price. All of our flies are hand tied to each order to ensure quality and to keep our prices low for you.
Click on a fly below to select a size and color for purchase.
Our fly assortments make fly selection easy. We take our entomology knowledge and years of fly fishing experience on these rivers to bring you the right fly patterns, including the correct colors, sizes and quantities to set you up for success. A good selection of flies will prepare you properly for anything the trout may be eating on the river and our fly assortments are specifically curated to maximize your success. Take a look at the assortments we provide below and add one to your box today. Use coupon code AST50 for $50 off and free shipping on these as well, just to help make fly fishing a little more affordable!
Click on any of the pictures to see what flies, colors and sizes we recommend in each assortment.
View our access map for the San Juan River and learn public and private access points as well as other notable features around fly fishing this river. We include headwater and confluence data and in an effort to not "hotspot" river access points that are better than others, we list every access point available. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps us from hotspotting, which is just showing the best spots and bringing unwanted and harmful attention to the specific access point. The second reason is while we want to help you catch fish and find great places to explore, we don't want to spell it all out for you. If you get it all spelled out, we're doing the exploring, not you. Missing out on the journey of exploring places to fly fish is one of the more enjoyable aspects of fly fishing. While not everyone has time to go explore everything in person, we provide some of the top level data to help you know if something is worth your time, then pass it off to you to explore and find your own adventure. Now enjoy the info, if you're on this page then this river is worth exploring! Go out and find some memories.
San Juan River Tips & Resources
Use these epic resources to get ready for your adventure. Whether you're planning your trip, learning your insects, improving your fishing with expert tips or getting detailed resources from the USGS streamflows or DoW, we got you covered to help you find the river and find the success you want.
