Animas Lunch Report – 7/23/15 – Good News
If you are only catching fingerling stockers, you could be fishing at the wrong time of day…
We have a few bits of good news for ya!
“As a result of decreasing river flows in the San Juan River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Reservoir from 350 cfs to 500 cfs on Thursday, July 23, at 7:00 a.m. 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).”
That’s right, the flows have been bumped up on the San Juan below Navajo Dam to 500 cfs. Trout are still spooky but this just means you should be able to find a few fish in water that were previously uninhabited.
The other bit of good news is that there are still big fish on the Animas. Not that we really had a fear that big fish went anywhere, but with the recent stockings; it can be tough to find the big ones through all the stockers. Derek (not to be confused with Earl Sweatshirt) managed to find a few, including a tank of a 24″er on a sculpin pattern yesterday.
Andy – Dropping daily, the Animas is currently flowing at 875 cfs. The middle of the day might be a good time to catch a lot of smaller fish, but the big boys have been hanging low around high noon. Mornings and evenings are the best time to be on the water for bigger trout. Be prepared for hatches of caddis and PMDs. Make sure you are also armed with a few streamers to entice the bigguns…they have become accustomed to the taste of fingerling stockers.
