New Mexico Pigs

mka

mka

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I received an email a couple weeks ago from JeepsterII suggesting a trip to the San Juan...it took two seconds for me to respond, YES. This week was beautiful up on the Juan and it seemed only the big piggies were hitting our flies. Every time I turned around to see what Steve was doing, well, he was pulling a big trout out of his net. We had much fun as we always do when fly fishing and I'm lucky to have Steve as a good friend.



The first day I hooked into a "big one" that looked different from the usual rainbows that I net in this river. The trout had a gold and orange slash under its jaw. I'm thinking it has some cutthroat DNA in it, but not sure??? Pic is below:



The "epic" catch on our trip was Steve's...I noticed he had a bent rod and as I looked closer, I saw two fish splashing at the end of his line. As he reeled them in, the 18 incher on the bottom fly tried to eat the smaller trout on the top fly. The big fish had the other trout half way into his mouth by the time Steve had them right at his net. It was an amazing thing to see and watching Steve's expressions (below photo) during that fight was priceless.



I'm already thinking about our next trip to the Juan...

 
jeep.ster

jeep.ster

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Mike said it. It was another great trip to the san juan. Thank you mike for meeting me there. I also value our friendship on and off the water. I can't believe our plan worked to get the premo spot on the river and then have it all to ourselves. A great way to end the trip.

I know that tripoid rainbows have been stocked for a few years. I read somewhere cutbows are or have been in the river. Seeing the spots on that fish in the pic I think it's a rainbow. I don't know why the yellow.

The double hookup mike explained was exciting and it happened so fast. That big pig attacked that little one right at my feet. I imagine there's a few stockers getting ate every day.

Here's a few pics.

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R

Royal Wulf

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It looks like you had a great day! You gotta love it! I was on the Juan with a fishing buddy for 4 glorious days last week. We do it every Spring and Fall, in addition to a few whenever-we-can shorter trips. It will be a long wait 'till next spring... We used to go in January and February until a couple of years ago when it was 17 degrees with a stiff wind and I stepped in the river to find my waders had split open at the ankle. That's when I decided I was a fair weather fisherman. :) Other than that, it's always a great time! This round, Chris had a monster trout take the fish he almost had in the net, too. I caught a lunker that I had to fold in half to net (he released just fine). We fished with herons, otters and osprey... Loved it!
SJ092218.jpgBigun.jpgHeron.jpgRodBender.jpgSJRainbow.jpg
 
mka

mka

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I've never had a bad trip at the San Juan...last week was so much fun! This week, I was on the road again Monday to a National Forest known for its beauty and trout waters. A fun transition from San Juan Pigs to Leetle Fellers:) A friend has been wanting me to take him to this area all year and this week happened to be a good time for both of us. Local anglers on the forum will have a good idea of this location, but I'm keeping it to myself on this post...sorry.



The water was thin but had plenty of deep runs and pools for some fabulous ultra-light fishing. Over the course of two days, we fished the entire length of the "quality waters" that Game & Fish have dubbed "Red Chili Water." The fish change in appearance quite significantly as you hike from the lower sections of the stream up to the very top of the valley. Below are sample trout I caught starting with the lower section and how they look as we moved upstream to the very top. This was a fun two days and the autumn colors were nice, indeed...the fish really got active when a cloud came over and sprinkled some rain drops on our heads:)





I will not see this stream again this year...but will definitely be back a few times next year!
 
flav

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Yes, Mike, nice photos of some beautiful trout. I always thought I wanted to fish the SJ, but the more pictures I see of crowds and hatchery fish with worn fins the more I know I'll be giving it a pass. It's good to see wild looking trout coming from other waters in the SW though, even if they're a little smaller.
 
mka

mka

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flav said:
Yes, Mike, nice photos of some beautiful trout. I always thought I wanted to fish the SJ, but the more pictures I see of crowds and hatchery fish with worn fins the more I know I'll be giving it a pass. It's good to see wild looking trout coming from other waters in the SW though, even if they're a little smaller.
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Thanks, Flav...the good news about the San Juan is that's the river everyone wants to go and fish. They leave most of the other streams pretty much to us locals for some awesome ultra-light fly fishing. Small stream fishing is my favorite...the hikes up a mountain trail is much fun and having a tightline on an ultra-light fly rod for me is what I enjoy most. I have more fly rods in the 1 to 4wt range for reason :smile:
 
jonbo

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You have me gnawing on my arm with those pictures. I plan to fish the "Juan" at least for one day over the Thanksgiving holiday coming up in 6 weeks. Will be in Durango visiting family. I'd love to fish some other streams, but don't know of any at that time of year that are known to be fishing well. I tried the Animus in town once in late November. I saw a few lethargic rainbows. I couldn't interest them in anything. I might try fishing it with my 10', 3 wt Echo and Euro-leader in some deeper pockets for the practice.
 
mka

mka

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My brother is coming out later this month and I'm planning on us spending a couple of days on the Juan while he is here. Always debatable, but I have come to the conclusion my Winston rod is the best "all round" rod for me on this river. The rod rod does a great job with any type of rig and the tip is just perfect for bringing in those big trout while protecting the light tippet and tiny midges. I do like to use my Sage ONEs too on the Juan, but only when I'm dry fly fishing the river. When I know I'll need an indicator two nymph rig at some point in the day, I've settled on my Winston 8'6" 5wt for that type of fishing.

 
jonbo

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Yeah, when I go to the Juan I'll probably carry my 9' 5wt Hardy Zenith, though possibly my 7'10" 4wt Sage TFLX because I really love to fish that rod. I was talking about taking my euro-outfit down to the Animus in Durango just to mess around with it.
 
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