Some of the best early summer fishing in years!

Small stream in the San Juan National Forest

     Our small streams on the San Juan National Forest are now fishing great. We have had some decent rains (some of it blew rivers out for a few days) to keep the flow levels and water temperatures in the ideal range. Most of these streams still have water temperatures in the high 40's in the early morning. If you are out early, and are not getting into fish, you are most likely on the water too early. The bug activity does not really start till the water reachs 50 - 52 degrees. Then it is game on.

First fish on the fly!

    Most of the fishing is done with a dry fly and in deeper holes, so all you need is the hopper dropper rig. with a 5x tippet and dropper. The fish are not leader shy yet, but the 5x is going to give you a better drag free float. Sometimes I will use 6x on the dropper, with the thinner line, the dropper fly will get to the desired depth quicker.

    If you have questions on your set up, or flies for our area make sure you stop into Let It Fly in down town Pagosa Springs and talk to Pop's or Patrick. They will steer you in the right direction.

Nice trout on the Private Ranch on the Navajo.

    The fishing on the Private Properties on the 2 ranches in Chromo, CO has been good all spring and early summer. The lakes have been very good for the beginners while they work on their casting skills and learning how to play fish on the fly rod. The stream that runs through the ranches is the Navajo River. On these properties we have easy access for anyone that has some difficulty getting around. We can get you into a good position to still get "Stream" experience, while other members of the group can beat the bush.

            Sunset Ranch is also fishing great. The good fishing will continue as long as it keeps raining. Next week we have rain in the forcast in the high country alsmost every day. Sunset has some of the biggest fish in the area, and while the flows are still up it is a great time to fish this property. This is also a great place to learn Euro Fishing Techniques. If you are interesed in learning this let us know. 

Quality fish caught on the Private Ranch on the San Juan River.

            

            The fishing on the Lower San Juan River has been awesome, off the chart good. Our guides Craig Butler and Todd Prichard have this river dialed in. They have their "Program". Start with this, switch to this, lets go deeper. Just do what they say and they will put you on some great fish. This fishery is a tail water and the water does not get dirty from heavy rains.  So if some of our other waters get blown out from muddy, high waters, this is the place to be.

    

Your average fish on the Lower San Juan River, a big one anywhere else!    

A really nice Rainbow on the Lower San Juan River.

Fly Fishing in Pagosa Springs should be great this year!

                                  June 25th! Still plenty of snow on the Pass!

After a very good ski season we still have quite a bit of snow up on the pass. That should make this summer and fall one of the best fishing seasons in quite a while. Some of our local streams on the San Juan National Forest are still to high to safely wade with beginner anglers. That should all change by the July 4th weekend.

We had a great winter Ice Fishing. If you are in town looking for something different to do during ski season next year give us a call. Our Ice Fishing season is generally mid December to mid March.

Durring peak runoff this year we did a lot private property trips and caught a bunch of fish. The other great thing about these ranches, is that the water flows drop much sooner than the San Juan and the other local streams.

And of course the Lower San Juan continues to produce whether you are floating or wading. Just this past week the river dropped back to normal levels after a 30 day flushing of the river. Even with the high water it still fished well.

Give us a call before you get to town, we are expecting a very busy summer this year. It is already really HOT in TX and guest are coming to CO earlier than last summer. 970-946-5229

Go To Our Web Page

 Ice Fishing in Pagosa Springs!

Our lead "ICE GUIDE" Craig Butler has been having great success on our Private Lakes south of town. We will be offering Ice Fishing Trips until Mid - March (depends on the ice conditions). Craig has a 6 man tent, sonar / fish finder, and all the tackle. Give us a call if you are interested in a Ice Fishing Trip. 970-946-5229.

Craig with a very nice Brown Trout.

Here is his Report;

Ice is 8-12” we have been having consistent action on rainbow and brown trout in the mornings and strong crappie and Brim bight in the afternoons, water temperature is ranging between 36-40 degrees. Baits are ranging from large plastics and small Jigs, baited with wax worms.

Here are some pictures from some recent Ice Fishing Trips.

                                           bass@highcountrycharters.com  970-946-5229

Great summer so far, and conditions should get better after the Monsoon Season ends.

     I have been using my rain gear almost daily in the high country. Some of the rains have turned the creeks and rivers muddy, right in front of our eyes! These storms are mostly in the afternoon, so we get our fishing in early before the rains. It might make the streams muddy for a day or two, but it is much needed rain. Some of the mornings are getting much cooler. Making me think of the upcoming hunting season. Yesterday, up the Blanco Basin, I heard my first bugle from an elk! That means cooler temperatures and hopefully a mid September rut for the elk. The monsoons also lowered the fire danger to moderate. If you do have a fire while camping, make sure you drown it!

                                                      Blanco Basin Brown!

                                       First fish on a Fly! Creeks are it, when if is muddy in the valley.

                                                      Nice Brown on Sunset Ranch.

                                                        Chromo Valley Ranch rocks.

                                                        Sunset Ranch

                                                         Sunset Ranch

                                                         Blanco Basin

                                                           Blanco Basin

                                                       Another secret creek

We Are Open!

Yes we are open!

Happy Memorial Day! I would like to thank everyone who has served as well as all Police Officers, Fire Fighters, and everyone who works in our health care system. This has been a very tough time for all businesses and individuals, and not just in the US. With some states opening up, which I am for, we have to do it wisely. Even in the fishing business. Here are some of our Protocols for Covid-19. 

First of all we are asking all guests, that if they are sick, stay at home. We have had very little exposure to Covid-19, and being a tourist / ski town our guests from out of town might bring it here. If you are sick please stay at home. If you or a family member is feeling sick while visiting, please stay in your condo, rental or hotel.

We are asking all guests to drive themselves to the area you will be fishing. Social Distancing is a must, and when we are with in 6 feet everyone needs to wear a mask, bandana, buff, or some type of face covering.

We are asking all guests to pack their own snacks, lunches and waters. The less we handle items you might consume, the better.

With the outbreak in San Juan County, NM we are offering (at this time) wade trips only on the lower San Juan River. There is no way to Social Distance in a drift boat.

On our part, I will be disinfecting all equipment (rods, reels, waders, wading shoes, etc) at the end of every day for all the guides.

I have been doing this for the last 2 weeks, and our guests have all helped us out with our Covid-19 Protocols. No one has complained. Let's work together, and go fishing!

Scott Taylor 

Owner / Guide

Sydney with a chunky Rainbow!

 Dillon fishing some awesome pocket water in the Blanco Basin

Dillon with his first trout (brown trout) on a fly rod.

Madison with her first trout on the fly!

 Livia, with a double!!! Rainbow and a Brook Trout.

 Becks Supper Bugger has been working well!

Great Summer Time Fising!

Great Summer Time Fishing

Wow what a difference this summer compared to the drought of last summer. Water levels are much higher than last year and are higher than the 80 year average. This means that the water temperatures are better for the trout compared to last summer. We can fish all day, without checking the temperature all morning. Last summer we were often done fishing by mid-day. Besides having a great snow pack this spring to help with our current water levels, we have also been getting some monsoonal rains and night time temperatures in the low 40’s to cool the water off.

All of our local streams have been fishing good, as well as both of the Private Ranches on the San Juan River and the Navajo. On the local streams, it has been mostly hopper / dropper fishing. Some fish are looking up, but most of the fish have been on some type of a bead head nymph. On the Private Ranches, standard nymph rigs with indicator, shot, and two flies has been the ticket in the morning and then hopper  / dropper rigs. After I spend the morning going upstream, we will fish back down stream throwing streamers down and across the river in the bigger runs and pools. If anglers are good enough to throw streamers, I have had some great success with a Copper John or Lighting Bug trailing about 12 – 15 inches behind.

                  The Lower San Juan, is now called the “Red Chilly Waters”, instead of "Quality Waters".

Designations of Special Trout Waters Keeping New Mexico True, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has established three designations for Special Trout Waters: Red Chile Water, Green Chile Water and Xmas Chile Water. Each designation is easy to remember, and signs with new symbols are posted at STWs with bag limits and tackle restrictions provided.

 Red Chile Water /Catch-and-release

Green Chile Water / Two (2) trout daily bag limit with tackle restrictions with tackle restrictions with any legal tackle

Xmas Chile Water / Two (2) trout daily bag limit

                The Lower San Juan fits in with around a dozen other catch and release streams in New Mexico. The flows are still running high for this time of year. The flow is around 1,500 now and is usually around 500 – 650. With that it has made some of the dry fly fishing tough ( the hatches seem to be later) , but in the last two weeks I have had some good  action on dries after mid-day. There have been some incredible midge hatches mid-morning, with the midges clustering later in the hatch if the wind isn’t too strong. My best pattern has been Ken’s Crazy Ant tied in a size 16 or 18. In the mornings I have had best luck on Black Beauties, Grey Foam Wing, and Chocolate Krystal Flash.

                                                           

                                                             Here are a bunch of Pics.

Spring Runoff and Fishing in the Everglades!

Big Bow on the Lower San Juan Float Trip in late March!

The fishing has still been good around the Pagosa Springs area, but changes are on the way with spring runoff. As always, the “Quality Waters” section of the lower San Juan below the Dam in NM will still be fishing good throughout spring runoff.  If the BOR does let excess water flows out to flush the river, it is usually after runoff in Pagosa Springs. All of our Forest Service permits in the San Juans will open for guiding on May 15. Generally all the access roads are closed until that date. If the fishing conditions are good during runoff we will be fishing the Private Waters on the San Juan and the Navajo. Otherwise we will be fishing in NM on the “Quality Waters”.

 

Strong, hard pulling Brown on the same day!

                The flows on the streams are still good and safe to wade, it just depends on the clarity. The San Juan in town is a 406 cfs today but was at 900 cfs 3 days ago. The Navajo is at 38 cfs, but jumped to 55 cfs 3 days ago. When the fishing is still safe, keep in mind that the highest water will be in the morning and early afternoon is usually lower. Below the dam the water is at 596 cfs. I like that a lot better than the 350 cfs it was at before I came to FL.

 

Bob with a nice Snook!

                The water temps in the Everglades have been around 77 degrees on the outside and up to 80 in some of the back waters. The fishing was really good and we saw lots of reds, and then the wind came. That was a tough day. Now it has calmed a bit, the water is not as stirred up. Out of the last 5 days (after the big blow) we have hooked Tarpon every day, just haven’t got them to the boat. We have some nice tides next week, so everything should improve.

Amanda with her first Tarpon. Way to go!

Over the slot Redfish!

Nice birthday Snook for Jack!

Sheepshead on the fly!

Great Summer Fishing

After coming back from the Everglades in June, we found high water for the first 2 1/2 weeks. On June 10 there was still a 40 inch base at the ski area! Crazy.

June 10th at the Hour Glass on Wolf Creek Pass!

Now that we are in Mid-July, all of our streams are fishing good and the Lower San Juan is back to 500 cfs and the water is clearing and the fish are hungry. We have been very busy, and I have not had time to make a detailed report. So I will just show you some pictures.

Cutthroat!

Monster Rainbow!

1st fish on a Fly!

Another 1st fish on the Fly!