Mid January Outlook

It’s wintertime on the San Juan River. The river has color, the summer crowds are gone, and the fish are more reluctant to eat bigger bugs (leeches, worm patterns etc.) With that, it’s wintertime on a tailwater, technicalities are still in play. Finding the depth where fish are suspended is a challenge when water visibility is less than a foot. Starting low and working up the water column is what you can do to combat this. With low visibility you can get away with 3x and 4x tippet as well as flies with bigger profiles.

PATTERNS

Leeches: Black, White, Olive – sizes 8-12

Eggs: Apricot & Cream – size 16

San Juan Worms: Brown, Red, Tan and Pink – sizes 12-16

Midges: Chocolate, Black – Sizes 20-24