As I sat down to write this report, I checked the calendar for the date, and then double-checked to make sure I was reading it correctly. The calendar says January, but I just came inside from the outdoors where I was wearing shorts! In some places that may not be a big deal, but in northern New Mexico, at almost 6000 feet elevation, it is something – absolutely gorgeous weather! We have had an extended period of warm, calm days…

The San Juan River is flowing at 350 cfs, clearing, and giving up some big trout! This week, at least in my boat, red larvae and red annelids fished under big pink pompoms at about 4 ½ feet with a size BB split shot was the ticket. Many other guides are still having great success on leeches and woolly buggers, especially smaller sized ones with lots of flash.

Black woolly buggers and bunny leeches are the stars of the show this week on the San Juan River. With the flows down near 250 cfs, the trout seem to be roaming more, with fewer fish holding in traditional feeding lanes. Don’t misunderstand, there are still lots of rainbows holding in shallow riffles where current is stronger, and you can have a banner day targeting those areas with dead-drifted nymph rigs, but many big rainbows and browns are roaming the…