September 15, 2026 · Free
San Juan River Fly Choice
That day
- Day
- September 14, 2026
- Water
- San Juan below Navajo Dam
- Flow
- 875 cfs
- Water temp
- 48°F
- Feeding
- Bottom
- From the owner's notes
- San Juan below Navajo Dam, year round. A tailwater that stays in the forties all year, so it fishes when everything else is frozen or blown out. Tiny flies: midges size 22 to 26, baetis 20 to 24, and annelids, red or pink, size 10 to 14 in the deeper water. Eggs in the fall when browns spawn. Long leaders, light tippet, and a good drift beat everything else. Flows change with dam releases, so check the gauge the morning of.
Right now
- Animas River at Durango
- 1,800 cfs
- 45°F, as of Oct 31, 4:30 AM
- San Juan River below Navajo Dam
- 240 cfs
- 51°F, as of Oct 31, 4:15 AM
Flows
875 cfs and steady, deeper wading than August
Flies
Size 10 Red Annelid
The San Juan is running deeper than it has most of the summer, a steady 875 to 890 cfs below the dam, and it changes where you can stand. Runs that were an easy wade in August are chest deep now, so pick your crossings early and do not push it.
Water temperature told the day’s story. It came out of the dam at 46 degrees at first light and climbed to 51 by mid afternoon, and the fish moved with it, sliding downstream out of the fast water as the day got hotter. Morning was the window. By two o’clock the good fish were a long walk below where they started.
A tough choice led to a solid fish. I went back and forth on the box and landed on a size 10 red annelid, bigger than what most people fish down there, and it was the right call in the deeper water. Do not leave the red annelids at home. Size 10 works.
There is maybe a month left of this. The days still carry real momentum before the cold settles in, so if the San Juan is on your list, go now rather than later.
