Great fishing below the dam and on the lake!

Summer is here in the High Country!

With the incredible late season snow pack, we are still having a good run-off. It is great to see how green Pagosa is in the valleys, and up in the high country there is still snow hanging out on the high peaks surrounding Pagosa. It makes you think that is spring time in the Rockies, but it’s not, its summer. With all the rain and late snow it has made some of the fishing tough in our area. On the plus side, this should help us have a great fall and help some of the fish populations on streams that have been affected by several years of the drought. The other thing that is amazing, is to see how quickly Navajo Reservoir is filling up. Areas of ground and rock that we have been looking at for several years are now gone, spots I have been fishing are now under 20 to 30 feet of water. My favorite pike flats now have water….

With all the water in the reservoir, the BOR will hopefully flush the Lower San Juan with flows up to 5,000 cfs for at least 3 days. This is not only good for the whole river, but the last mile of the Quality Waters if full of sediment from a huge blow out at Simon Canyon. If you end up fishing the Quality Waters during the high water, be very careful. There are limited spots to wade fish, and I would recommend wearing a life jacket.

The fishing below the dam has been very good the last few weeks, and the bass fishing on Navajo has also been good. Last week we had several fish eat poppers and the top water fishing will be on fire in another week or so. The local streams are starting to clear and drop. Looking at the flow chart today the San Juan was at 1,280 cfs and showing a definite dropping trend. The weather also shows 5 days of sun and no rain. This looks like this will be the last week of the big run-off and most streams should be fishable by July 4^th.

Here are some pictures from our trips last week.

Make sure to visit the Laid Up Charters web site (http://www.laidupcharters.com).

.

Scott Taylor
http://highcountrycharters.com
970-946-5229

While you are in town make sure that you visit the following businesses!


Need Fly Fishing gear? See Pop's
Let it Fly
 Downtown Pagosa Springs, across from Kip’s
970-264-3189
http://www.flyfishpagosa.com



Hungry for Adventure?
Pagosa Outside Adventures - Rafting, Biking, Kayaking, Tubing
Downtown Pagosa Springs
970-264-4202
http://www.pagosaoutside.com

Need Ski Rentals?

Pagosa Ski Rental (PSR)

Downtown Pagosa Springs

970-264-2866

http://www.skipagosa.com

Great Fishing On the Lower San Juan!

With Spring Run - Off in full force we have been concentrating on fishing below the Navajo Dam in Northern NM. The town flows on the San Juan have hit 2,000 cubic feet per second today, and the flows below the dam are at 350 cfs.


The San Juan River lies in Northern New Mexico and is one of the most renowned tail - waters in the country. This outstanding fishery was created by the construction of Navajo Damn in 1962. The dam is 400 feet high and 3/4 of a mile long, the water released at the base of the dam is consistently around 41 - 42 degrees. Perfect trout habitat! The management of the New Mexico Fish and Game and the New Mexico State Park system has created and maintained this outstanding fishery. The first 3.75 miles of river below the damn has been given the designation of "QUALITY WATER". The Quality Waters offer some of the most consistent fishing conditions, with fish averaging between 16 - 18 inches! Fish this size would be considered a trophy on any other river. Recent studies have shown that the river is supporting 10,000 fish a mile, through the Quality Waters.

The fish have been eating midge larva or pupa in black, gray, olive and dark brown in  sizes 22 -24, in the afternoon gray foam wing emergers and beatis patterns have been very effective.

Here are some pictures from last week.

Scott Taylor
http://highcountrycharters.com 

970-946-5229

While you are in town make sure that you visit the following businesses!


Need Fly Fishing gear? See Pop's
Let it Fly
 Downtown Pagosa Springs, across from Kip’s 

970-264-3189
http://www.flyfishpagosa.com



Hungry for Adventure?
Pagosa Outside Adventures - Rafting, Biking, Kayaking, Tubing
Downtown Pagosa Springs 

970-264-4202
http://www.pagosaoutside.com

Need Ski Rentals?

Pagosa Ski Rental (PSR)

Downtown Pagosa Springs

970-264-2866

http://www.skipagosa.com