Our hope is the last minute changes from the BOR did not destroy any anglers Spring Trips to the San Juan. We know it has been very hard on the Businesses in Navajo Dam. We would ask all anglers to communicate to the BOR what a hardship this type of move has on our industry and your fishing vacations.

The Fly Fishing industry may be small but we create local jobs, buy goods and services from local and State wide vendors and most importantly…. We all ‘pay our taxes’, that fund the State and Federal Agencies that effect our businesses it is up all our members and anglers to keep the pressure on the powers to be, to make sure the decision making process is fair.

We thank you for your attention to this matter, should you have any questions give me a ring.

Tight Lines, Larry Johnson

Soaring Eagle Lodge

 San Juan River Guide Association

505-632-3721

From: Sicker, Ruth A [mailto:RSwickard@usbr.gov]
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 1:27 PM
Cc: Swickard, Ruth A
Subject: Navajo Reservoir Final Spring Release

                                                    BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

NAVAJO RESERVOIR

2012 SPRING PEAK RELEASE FINAL SCHEDULE

May 14, 2012

SENT VIA FAX AND E-MAIL

The Bureau of Reclamation has finalized this year’s scheduled spring peak release from Navajo Reservoir.  The attached chart shows the end of day release rates throughout the spring peak release period.  Reclamation will begin to increase the release on Monday, May 21, 2011 at 1:00 AM, reaching 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Wednesday, May 23^rd at approximately 3:00 PM.  The release will stay at 5,000 cfs for seven days.  On Wednesday, May 30^th at approximately 7:00 AM, the release will begin to decrease, reaching 500 cfs on Friday, June 1^st at approximately 11:00 PM, where it will remain until further notice.

The release pattern, duration, and magnitude for the spring peak release follow the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRIP) Flow Recommendations for Endangered Fish. 

Adjustments may be made to the release if significant precipitation occurs during the scheduled release period. 

If you have any questions, or would like further information, please contact Ryan Christianson at 970-385-6590 or e-mail him at rchristianson@usbr.gov.

The first questions we get asked is “can you fish during High Water?”.  Of course that answer is yes and no.  The first 4 days with the water on the rise the fishing is almost impossible and we recommend you give the river a miss.  Once we hit the 5000 cfs mark and it runs for a day then you can fish via a “drift boat”.  We do not recommend wading anywhere on the river once the flows reach 3000 cfs plus.  Floating the river is a different story and you can hit all the back channels and many parts of the water open up during this time.  In any case we wanted all our followers and clients to have the straight story.  Any questions give us  a call or e-mail and we will be happy to address your issue.

Tight Lines, Larry Johnson                                                                        Soaring Eagle Lodge

Tele: 505-632-3721                                                                EM:  info@soaringeaglelodge.net

Fish Story:  03/13/12                                           Soaring Eagle Lodge

Well, I snuck out of the office on Tuesday and got to do some fishen!  What a day it was… 4 seasons in 6 hours, we had snow, sleet, rain and sun.  Believe it or not the best fishing was during the snow, there was a cloud of midges over the river surface and forming clusters the size of dimes.  It was “Dry Fly” to the max.  I was able to fish the new habitat above the Kiddy Hole and that is getting better every day.  It literally went from 3 holes to over 20 and everyone was holding fish.  NM Game and Fish must have stocked some little ones for every other cast I ended up catching a 4” fish.  Come to find out, Mark the NM State Biologist had just stock from Texas Hole north over 40,000 3 to 4 inch Rainbows.  He also stated another 40 thousand would be going in before the end of the month,  March 2012.  That means nothing but good news for next summer.  First of all, the fish that don’t survive will make our big boys and (girls) even bigger because they will end up as dinner.  Secondly, fish that do make it will pack on about a pound of weight per year and will be almost wild being on pellets for 2 to 3 weeks.  I’ve got to give our State some kudos!  Over the last 3 years they have really stepped up to the fact that NM holds one our nations fishing gems… the San Juan River.  I am seeing some real improvements from the Biology management of the fish and bugs to the enhancement of the river facilities.

Back to fishing, when the Sun did come out it was back to nymphing and I did my best on a size 22 gray foam wing with a small 24 disco midge on the point.  I am now a fan of the hotly contested “Thing-a-ma-bobber” it is so easy to move on your leader it really helps catch more fish.  I know some guides still cannot bring themselves to putting on one of those on their rigs… but, having that indicator (and weight) at the correct lengths really ups the ante on catching fish.  Now remember I said catching them, not landing them, which is a different subject.  Anyway, I thought the dry fly fishing was good in the morning and mid day… well let’s just say we were slaying them with the nymph.  My best to the net was an 18 ½ inch Brown but the best fish of the day was a freaking Rainbow that came up from the bottom and ate the dam indicator, with my eagle eye I would swear it was 24 inches long, if not a foot!  Of course no hook on the “indicator” and it all ended with a complete back flip out of the water with, what I hope I only imagined, a smile on the fishes face!

No worries it was already 4:30pm and Chef Athena was serving a 48 day aged, slab of aged beef tonight so I bid the river adieu and headed back to my old Bronco but could not help but smile and think, “I am a pretty lucky guy”!

Tight Lines, Larry Johnson

The venue date and locations for this year’s 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour has been secured. It will be the same parameters as last year. Sponsors for ABQ, will be NM Trout, Truchas TU and the San Juan River Guide Association and for Farmington, it will be FFF Farmington and San Juan River Guide Association. All we ask is that all proceeds got to projects on the San Juan. There will be NO COST to any of your organizations, Soaring Eagle is providing the film and Heritage Hotels will be donating the use of their ball room in ABQ and Marriott Courtyard will do the same in Farmington NM.

For more information: 

www.TheF3T.com  

Albuquerque, NM: Date: 03/09/12 Friday 

Doors Open 5pm (Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres) Show at 7pm.

Venue:

Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town – Albuquerque, New Mexico Located at

800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW | Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104.

505-843-6300 phone | 505-842-8426 fax

Ticket Sales: $10.00 up till Noon on the Day of the show at the following venues, $15.00 at the Door or On Line the night of the Show.

Buy Tickets Early at:  $10.00

Charlies Sporting Good (505)-275-3006

Los Pinos Fly Shop: (505) 884-7501

Doors Open at 5:30 pm Show starts at 7 pm sharp

Farmington, NM: Date: 03/16/12 Friday 

Doors Open 5pm (Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres) Show at 7pm.

Venue:

Marriott Courtyard Hotel – Farmington, New Mexico Located at

560 Scott Ave. | Farmington, New Mexico 87401.

505-325-5111 phone | 505-325-5588 fax

Ticket Sales: $10.00 up till Noon on the Day of the show at the following venues, $15.00 at the Door or On Line the night of the Show.

Buy Tickets Early at:  $10.00

Zia Sporting Good: (505) 327-6004

East Main Trade Center: (505) 326-7474

Abe’s Fly Shop: (505) 632-2194

Float N Fish Fly Shop: (505) 632-5385

Fish Heads Fly Shop: (505) 634-0453

Soaring Eagle Lodge: (505) 632-3721

 Tight Lines, Larry Johnson

 BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

NAVAJO RESERVOIR RELEASE

November 29, 2011

SENT VIA FAX AND E-MAIL

The Bureau of Reclamation will be increasing the release from Navajo Reservoir to 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) Thursday, December 1, 2011 at approximately 4 a.m. The temporary, lower release was in collaboration with New Mexico Department of Game & Fish’s fish habitat project, just below the dam.  The project is now complete, and the release will be returned to 500 cfs.  Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).

 If you have any questions, please contact Ruth Swickard at 970- 385-6523 or e-mail her at rswickard@usbr.gov

We are pleased to say that NM Game & Fish have started in earnest the work on the Rex Smith Project of the famous San Juan River. I was lucky enough to get a bird’s eye view and up-close tour from Marc Wethington (Biologist for NM Game & Fish) last Wednesday, 11/02/11 and the work is progressing very nicely. For many of you that were not aware of this project it i…s something that the professional fishing community has been lobbying for years to enhance our world renowned fishery.

The just of this project is to contain the silting of the river via the Rex Smith Wash. Since NM State Parks built a giant berm to protect the restrooms in the Texas Hole parking lot, silting of the river occurs with each storm event. A plan devised by Marc and this crew would construct a 3 acre holding pond. When the wash runs, instead of tons of silt running into the river, it will collect in this holding pond. The beneficial rain will still find its way to the river but via a new direction through the willows on the north rim of the wash, which mimics its natural filtering process. Hence enhancing the wet lands and eliminating the choking silt for the river.

At the same time they will be redirecting the major part of the flow from the north channel that only holds about 8 anglers max to the “Braids Section” of the river that is well over 30 acres. To date, most of that 30 acre area only had approximately 3 inches of water so it does not hold many fish. Now with the redirect of that flow, with all natural material, we will see a new average depth of 7 to 14 inches and 15 plus new pools with depths of 3 to 6 feet deep. This is a brilliant plan but as always you will hear some complaints that “They” are changing the course of the river. We all must remember the river below Navajo Dam was completely man made…. all of this section was scoured out for materials for the dam itself and when the steam shovels were done, that is how the river laid! All “TailWater” are dying rivers and eventually get scraped down to the bed rock or in our case sandstone. So is this tapering with nature? A dam yes, but below the dam is another story. This plan devised by NM Game & Fish has been very well thought out using all materials right from the river itself. Should a section of the project not pan out, they may make corrections or just simply dismantle that section of the river not working according to plan.

Good publicity, bad Publicity? Some in the business community say there is no such thing as bad publicity but I have been reading some articles in the Albuquerque Journal and other fishing Blogs that fishing is great but the State wants make the San Juan an amusement park for the lack of better wording. I don’t agree but after I read in the Albuquerque Journal article, a fisherman (who will remain un-named) stated, 3 years ago could catch 40 to 50 fish in a day and not have to move more than a few steps….? Now he fishes all day and has to walk almost a mile and only, and I quote “only” lands 20 to 30 trout? Talk about unrealistic expectations, I think any fly fishing angler who reads that would have a pretty good belly laugh.

The state has told us they have over 50% of the project completed and are shooting for a December 5th finish or December 15th at the latest. For those anglers coming our way, the construction crews are working 4 ten hour shifts, Monday – Thursday but will not be in the river on Friday, Saturday or Sundays. With that we are seeing some cloudy flows on work days but it has not impacted the fishing one bit.

Soaring Eagle Lodge will keep you updated on the project and if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us.

Tight Lines, Larry JohnsonSee More

 

SEL Fishing Report         10/27/11

We are now deep into our Autumn Splendor and this is one of my favorite times of year.  We are seeing cooler days and nights here in North West New Mexico.  I cannot remember the Cottonwood Trees being so yellow and gold in many years.  I know they turn gold each autumn but I think because the weather has be so nice and sunny during the day with hardly any wind, it just magnifies their beauty this fall.  So with that let’s talk about the fishing.

The river has been at a flow of approximately 500 to 600cfs with gin clear waters and an easy 3 to 4 feet of visibility.  Fishing has been tough in the a.m. but picking up with the midge hatch from mid day on, with some very good dry fly fishing.  It should be noted 5x and 6x fluorocarbon is still a must!  The fish are fat and happy but now “they be educated” so you will need every trick in your book to be successful. 

Day time temps are now reaching the high 60’s to mid 70’s almost every day so you need to dress accordingly, layers seem to work best.  Sunscreen 30+ is still mandatory and cannot be stressed enough.   The summer monsoons are over and we are about to see the first winter storms hit our San Juan Mountains.  In fact Wolf Creek Ski Area has already opened to one of its earlier starts in years.  We don’t want to see snow on the Mesas yet but in the desert we will take any drop of moisture we can get any time.  The positive effect of these autumn storms is they produce a very cloudy day which stimulates our Fall BWO hatches.  The other day the bugs were so thick the clients said they could swipe them off the water with their rod tips.  Hence, those anglers willing to throw small dry flies, i.e. 26 Parachute Adams will see some very good and exciting results. 

Anglers fishing above Texas Hole to the dam have been doing well with midge patterns – both pupa and larva, but very, very small flies, size 24-28 in red, cream and olive, don’t forget to switch out to a chocolate or grey emerger as the morning ends.  As soon as you see tailing fish, it is time for an emerger.  Some angler’s have also been very successful in the “Catch & Release” and “Cable Hole”, again with a very small midge, “flash wing” pupa’s, sight fishing in the shallow runs up by the dam.  On cloudy days there have been some very good Baetis hatches that have been coming off, and it is not just down river but all the way up to the dam.

Texas Hole to Gravel Pit has seen great floating and wading days for all anglers.  The hatches are starting earlier, around 11:00 a.m. but lasting until 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., which makes very good afternoon fishing.   Mid and Lower River flies are very much the standard fare… but definitely try some “big dries” towards the banks and as always do not overlook the streamer fishing if you want to change it up a bit..  We just had Alan Reyes and his boys in form Colorado and they put the SEL 505 to its test and they gave a big thumps up on the Olive color of this new streamer pattern.  The PMD hatches are still coming off down by Duranglers Corner and Last Chance but I think these will peter out soon.

As always, should you have any questions or want more detailed information call or e-mail us and we will do our best to get you the answers.   Like we say, do not just read the SEL Fishing Report… Get your Fly Rod in hand and fish the San Juan.  Soaring Eagle Lodge would be pleased to host you and yours, so give us a call and come up to the Juan for some great Autumn Fly Fishing Action.

Tight Lines, Larry Johnson

Owner:  Soaring Eagle Lodge

Tele: 505-632-3721

EM: info@soaringeaglelodge.net

We would like to open up with an “Update” on the NM Wild Fires. This has been catastrophic for our state and a hardship on many of our residence but luckily for us in the North West or The Four Corner’s part of the State, we have not been affected at all. All our major Airports, Farmington (FNM), Durango, (DRO) and Albuquerque (ABQ) are in full operation.

The river has been at a constant flow of approximately 500 cfs with gin clear waters and an easy 3 to 4 feet of visibility. Fishing has been tough in the a.m. but picking up with the midge hatch from mid day on, with some very good dry fly fishing. It should be noted 5x and 6x fluorocarbon is a must! The fish are fat and happy but now “they be educated” so you will need every trick in your book to be successful.

Day time temps are now reaching the high 80’s to high 90’s almost every day so you need to dress accordingly. Sunscreen 30+ is mandatory and we cannot stress that enough. The summer monsoons are ready to start and we are seeing the massive cloud formation coming in almost every day. Everyone is salivating for the first big rain, for then the “Ants will Fall”. It has not happed yet but Chef Michael has bet me a gourmet dinner it will happen this week.

Anglers fishing above Texas Hole to the dam have been doing well with midge patterns – both pupa and larva, but very, very small flies, size 24-28 in red, cream and olive, don’t forget to switch out to a chocolate or grey emerger as the morning ends . As soon as you see tailing fish it is time for an emerger. Some angler’s have also been very successful in the “Catch & Release” and “Cable Hole”, again with a very small midge, “ flash wing” pupa’s, sight fishing in the shallow runs up by the dam. On cloudy days there have been some very good Baetis hatches that have been coming off, and it is not just down river but all the way up to the dam.

Texas Hole to Gravel Pit has seen great floating and wading days for both guided and self fishing anglers. Midge hatches have been slow coming off since the high water stopped running, we think. The hatches are starting well after 2:00 p.m. but lasting until 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m., which makes very good afternoon fishing. Mid and Lower River flies are very much the standard fare… but definitely try some “big dry’s” towards the banks. We just had Chris Travis’s production company “Hooked on the Fly” filming a one hour show, for ESPN, Sportsman Channel, Wild TV, Fishing and Hunting and much more. They filmed with Jeff Massey as their guide and all they did was hit the bank with giant dry flies landing over 15 good fish in the net almost every day. Definitely have some 18 to 26 Parachute Adams in your box but also have some big… ugly stuff too!

The rumors of a good PMD hatch are true and this year they superseded the Caddis Hatch on the Mid and Lower River. We think the Caddis came off during high water in very low numbers so we were a bit disappointed. The thick afternoon PMD hatch help fill in the gap for our “Private Water” and dry fly fishing here has be excellent since the High Water has gone down.

As always, should you have any questions or want more detailed information call or e-mail us and we will do our best to get you the answers. Like we say, do not just read the SEL Fishing Report… Get your Fly Rod in hand and fish the San Juan. Soaring Eagle Lodge would be pleased to host you and yours, so give us a call and come up to the Juan for some great Summer Dry Fly action.

Tight Lines, Larry Johnson

San Juan Rainbow July 2011

Day time temps are now reaching the high 80’s and low 90’s almost every day so you need to dress accordingly. Sunscreen 30+ is mandatory and we cannot stress enough, that you need to drink at least 2 liters of water if you are fishing all day on the river. We don’t see many medical issues on the Juan but if we do it usually has something to do with “Dehydration” so for god sakes drink the dam water.

A little press release….. The Arizona and NM wild fires are not affecting our area at this time. We did have some hazy skies in the beginning of June but it has now cleared up and all is normal. We have had some clients calling in saying they heard rumors they were closing Albuquerque Airport. This is ridiculous; unless we see ash plums like the active Volcanoes overseas, the airport will remain open. ABQ is not only a civil airfield but it is also one of the nations must important military airfields too. Durango and Farmington Airports are also in full operations so no problems there. Any questions feel free to give us a call.

Anglers fishing above Texas Hole to the dam have been doing well with midge patterns – both pupa and larva. Size 20-26 in red, cream are great choices and don’t forget to switch out as the morning ends to a chocolate or grey emerger. Some angler’s have also been very successful targeting or (Sight Fishing) to specific specimens with Chamois Leeches or Bunny Leeches. They are using short 8’ leaders with 4x on the point and probable a #1 Shot 6” up from the fly, then casting very accurately 2 to 3 feet above the fish watching for the take and making their set. We had a client state that he and his guide landed 4 fish over 20” using this method, plus numerous others in the 16 to 18 range. It should also be noted on cloudy days there have been some very good Baetis hatches have been coming off, all the way up to the dam.

Texas Hole to Gravel Pit has seen some great float and wade days for both guided and self fishing anglers. Midge hatches are coming off like clock-work almost every day now, from just before lunch and lasting right up to about 2 to 3 pm. Boat anglers are also doing very well casting those streamers. The only issues with this is that, both anglers in the boat need to be chucking lead or it won’t work. A guy on the nymph and a guy on the streamer is not a good combo, trust me be there done that. As we keep saying… don’t overlook the new structure put in by NM Game & Fish from Simon Canyon down…. very big browns are being pulled out from behind a lot of those rocks now on both dries and streamers! There are rumors of good PMD hatches in the afternoon and from Simon down and even some Caddis fluttering from Abe’s Bridge downstream. “ MORE ON THE CADDIS HATCH, NEXT REPORT”

As always, should you have any questions or want more detailed information call or e-mail us and we will do our best to get you the answers. Like we say, do not just read the SEL Fishing Report… Get your Fly Rod in hand and fish the San Juan. Soaring Eagle Lodge would be pleased to host you and yours, so give us a call and come up to the Juan for some great Summer Dry Fly action.

Tight Lines, Larry Johnson