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  • Jay Walden

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And finally, a break. The earlier part of this coming week looks to be about as good as you could expect for this time of year, with temperatures in the 50s and very little wind. It's a welcome contrast to my two days off last week. Honestly, last Monday I had every intention of going out, but after a quick trip to town in the morning when I thought I was going to freeze to death in the grocery store parking lot, I finally decided to bag the idea. I even gave it a few hours, hoping that the wind would die down a bit, but it only seemed to get worse. I don't think it ever got above freezing, with the wind chill factored in. Anyway, Tuesday was a bit better, but not by much. I went out and caught fish, but I was far from comfortable and must have thought about leaving five or six times. It's hard to leave rising fish. I made it until 3:30. It was worth, every moment of discomfort. If you're planning on making it out this week, the water is still clear and the flow is around 320 cfs. There's still plenty of fish rising to midges throughout the larger part of the day and there's a smattering of BWOs that are coming off around noon for a couple hours, in the lower part of the quality water section. I haven't had any phenomenal results on fishing the baetis dry patterns, mostly just a fish here and there, and more refusals than takes, but the midge drys in size 24 and 26 have been the real ticket, with about every rising fish eating it, if the presentation is right. It's hard to beat those results, so I'll keep the comparaduns in my pocket for a while longer, until I'm proven otherwise. On the nymphing side of things, stick with the old tried and true San Juan patterns of small, dark midge larva, pupa, and emerger patterns and some baetis patterns like foamwings, RS2s, rootbeers, and fluff baetis anywhere from Texas Hole and below. 6x for the nymphs, 7x for the drys. Based on my recent experience, I think that the way the river is fishing right now, you'll actually take more fish on the dries than the nymphs, which isn't always the case here, but don't take my word for it, I'm biased. Either way you choose to do it, you'll be hard pressed to beat the conditions, until the wind and colder temperatures roll in, starting on Friday. The week after just looks downright nasty, so that might be the week to stay inside and tie flies, or get your Christmas shopping done. If you would like to book a guided trip or need more info, give us a call at 505-632-2194.

Jay's Fishing Reports

Books by
Jay Walden
Can be purchased on Amazon or in our fly shop.

Jay's Fishing Report  

To our faithful fishing report readers, 

Here's a way to get your rainbow trout fix 'til you are able to hit the San Juan again-- available online only

Check each style out--there are a variety of colors, fabrics & sizes to enjoy.

Special thanks to designer & artist, Matt Zudweg 

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Offer

As a small aside and attempt at shameless self-promotion, there was an article featured  on Flyfisherman Magazine's website written by yours truly about the 60th anniversary of Abe's Fly Shop that can be accessed through the following link: Abe's Anniversary. Hope you can make it out this week. If you would like more information or would like to book a guided trip, give us a call at 505-632-2194. 

Abe's Fly Shop Turns 60 - FlyFisherman.com

Watercolor by Tim Oliver                                          Photos Courtesy of Abe Chavez

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Jay's Past Reports:  

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