2012 in Review

Spent the last hour looking through the last years fishing pictures, thinking back on all the great adventures that I had.  Whether it was fishing for trout in the Rockies, or bait fishing for Red Snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, 2012 was a great year, and makes me even more excited to see what 2013 has in store.

San Juan River- Sept. 2012

Went back to the San Juan River recently for my annual trip with my Dad.  As usual, the fishing was outstanding, and it was really fun to watch my Dad hook way more trout this year than last.  We decided we wanted to see more of the river this trip, so we made an effort to move around much more.  Spent the first day exploring Kiddie Hole, and the new braids improvement.  Made it all the way up to Sand Hole before working back down the river to end the day.  Caught fish on cream Yong Specials and Annelids  Caught a bunch of freshly stocked fish, but my Dad did manage a pretty Rainbow in Sand Hole.  Unfortunately, we fumbled the picture.  Second day, we fished below Cable Hole in the morning.  Had a great time sight fishing to some very active fish.  Landed some much larger fish.  In the afternoon we headed down below Texas Hole to where the river splits in two.  Hooked some more larger fish, and got into some awesome dry fly fishing right before dark.  It was quite the experience to see so many fish rising to small midge patterns. Landed a 20" Brown on a Griffith's Gnat.  Third and final day, we headed down to the Crusher Hole parking lot, and headed up river to fish the weirs around Durangler's Corner.  Had a very active morning, taking turns hooking and netting fish with my father.  Around noon, the fishing slowed down, until we tied on a pheasant tail.  It seems the baetis are starting to move around a little bit in the lower river, as we hooked up almost every drift.  After lunch, we decided to finish the trip in the Baetis Bend area.  Fishing was outstanding as well, including landing one of the larger fish in my life.  Again, we fumbled the picture.  The Rainbow was over 20", and had to weigh close to 10 pounds.  Couldn't even get my hands around it.  Caught that fish on size 26 Top Secret Midge.  It was a great trip with my Dad, and was depressing when we turned the truck north, headed back to Denver.  Saw much more of this amazing river, and looking forward to the next time.  Enjoy some pictures of the trip!!

Tying on a Yong Special in the Braids

Fumble!! Nice Rainbow in Sand Hole

Looking up at Navajo Dam from Sand Hole

First fish below Cable Hole

Nice brown on dry fly

Man-made weir near Durangler's Corner.  These weirs hold fish below them all day.

Last fish of the trip!  So sad to leave.

San Juan River (aka Heaven)

Haven't posted in a while, so here is a big one loaded with a bunch of pictures.  Spent four days fishing the San Juan below Navajo Dam last week.  I fished the San Juan back in June during high water at 5500 CFS, so was not sure how  different the river would be 10 times lower.  We absolutely slayed it!!!!!  Never had so much fun fishing in my entire life.  One of the best parts of the trip was hiring the famous Andy Kim for a day.  It was crazy to learn the A.K. system of fly fishing.  First thing he said to me after looking the Yong Special that I had tied up and was using, "Not a bad fly Mark, but let's tie on a real one."  We had a good laugh at that.  Pretty incredible the way that man catches fish.   Flies of the trip were Yong Special, Yong Flasher, Yong Wing, Mercury Pheasant Tail, and sparkle wing RS2.  Here are a bunch of photos that do a pretty good job of explaining the complete awesomeness of this place.

My father being "schooled" by Andy Kim

Look how fat this fish is!!!

My favorite pic of the trip!!

Last fish of the trip.  Right at Sunset