Richie27
04-12-06, 12:53 PM
First off if you've never been out west to fish you owe it to yourself cause it is worth every second and the one word to describe it is amazing! We fished the San Juan one day and the Animas the next. The San Juan River is a tuff nut to crack but if you can figure that river out then you’re in large trout heaven! I mean there is a TON of HUGE fish in that river but the hard part is to figure out what they are eating on. I've never fished a more tech river...cause the fish in that river will change their diet at least 3 time a day from midges, to pupae to emergers...etc and if you can time it right with the exact size and color then you're good to go! That river is pretty much a midge breeding ground 365 days a year and it’s crazy! We were using 6x and 7x and fishing with 28's...yeah thats right 28's...which are tiny as crap and also is hard to land a big trout on a #28 but but I learned a lot from fishing that river and I also learned what the locals call the "San Juan Shuffle" this is illegal and the game wrd will bust you big time if he/she sees you doing this. It is where you move your feet and cause tons of subsurface insects to stir up and the fish will (no bs) will pretty much get in line right behind you and feed on what you're kicking up. I couldn't believe it but its the truth....fish will pretty much walk in your foot steps. However the only down side to fishin that great river were the ridiculous people. I mean they had NO PROBLEM walking up and casting into the same hole that you were fishing I mean the etiquette or lack there of was terrible but I guess that is how they fish that river...and I actually heard an older man in Durango refer to the state of New Mexico as a third world country which I thought was funny (sorry don't take it personal if you're from New Mexico) and the next day we fished the animas which was off color due to some runoff but helped us out cause we pretty much had that river to ourselves. The biggest fish I landed was a 19"er but was a beast! She took drug me down the river about 350 yards jumping over and over again trying hard to throw the hook (and it seemed like I hit every rock in that river during the fight but I didn't feel a thing till after I landed the fish and I noticed my legs were all bruised up from hitting the rocks :D ) but that was my high light of the trip and by far the best fight I've ever had.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3546.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/trout-master/IMG_3546.jpg