San Juan
Wow, remember back in the winter when I was crying about the crowds on the San Juan? A Monday in the summer is as bad as a Saturday in the winter! It's not so much the crowds as the etiquette that is wrong there. Fat old rich guys assume that since they dumped their vacation fund into visiting the Juan they can just stand as close to you as they want. They'll happily walk up to a bit of water that you're fishing and stand directly across from you and cast into the same water. Call my old fashioned but I think that's totally fucked. I do, however, make sure that my casting gets very sloppy and unpredictable when people get too close, and when they look at my angrily after I splash my line at their feet I put my hands up in a "sorry, I don't know how to do this!" way. Whenever I see people on a river I quietly walk around them and would never consider fishing right next to someone no matter what the circumstances. Sadly, the population isn't getting any smaller and some day even the most remote places will be fished like this. Grrrrrr.
Ok, done with the fat old rich guy rant, now let's move on to the fishing itself... I was with Travis from Fly Fish The San Juans and we were using 7x tippet since the water is crystal clear right now. We used size 26 midges that worked very well. We hooked lots of fish, Travis brought most of his to the net while I was learning exactly how delicate 7x is, especially with a stiff 5wt. All in all it was a fantastic morning! We then moved downriver to fish a little PMD hatch and we caught some beautiful Browns. I notice that the Browns on the San Juan never seem to look as battered as the Rainbows. I've caught so many Rainbows down there with sores all over them, missing eyes, bandanas, you name it. These browns were vibrant, fresh, and fought like they hadn't been caught a gazillion times.
Like each time I visit the San Juan, I'm left with a strange collection of good and bad feelings. The fishing is magnificent and the scenery is gorgeous. The crowds are unbearable at times and avoidable other times. The etiquette is awful, but it is what it is. If someone pulled the same stunt to me on the Animas they'd be in the hospital for hours having their trout net surgically removed from their rectum.
Ok, done with the fat old rich guy rant, now let's move on to the fishing itself... I was with Travis from Fly Fish The San Juans and we were using 7x tippet since the water is crystal clear right now. We used size 26 midges that worked very well. We hooked lots of fish, Travis brought most of his to the net while I was learning exactly how delicate 7x is, especially with a stiff 5wt. All in all it was a fantastic morning! We then moved downriver to fish a little PMD hatch and we caught some beautiful Browns. I notice that the Browns on the San Juan never seem to look as battered as the Rainbows. I've caught so many Rainbows down there with sores all over them, missing eyes, bandanas, you name it. These browns were vibrant, fresh, and fought like they hadn't been caught a gazillion times.
Like each time I visit the San Juan, I'm left with a strange collection of good and bad feelings. The fishing is magnificent and the scenery is gorgeous. The crowds are unbearable at times and avoidable other times. The etiquette is awful, but it is what it is. If someone pulled the same stunt to me on the Animas they'd be in the hospital for hours having their trout net surgically removed from their rectum.
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