April San Juan River Report 2026

Guide Kyle McCallum found a giant streamer eater on 4/7

As of April 15, 2026, the San Juan is running at 300 CFS and still carrying some color, but the fishing has been good. We recently had a cold snap roll through, and while that slowed a few things down, the nymphing has remained excellent.

Mornings have still been a little trashy, but the river has been very bug heavy, and fish are eating throughout the water column. We are finding them from the upper third all the way to the lower third, and as usual, it is less about reinventing the wheel and more about dialing in depth, weight, and where fish are holding that day. Our better bugs have been the usual San Juan suspects: RS2s, Root Beer Baetis, Fluff Baetis, Bead Wings, Big Macs, Chocolate Foam Wings, and KF Emergers, all the way down to size 26.

If you read enough of these reports, you will probably notice the theme. We really do fish a lot of the same flies all year. The key is figuring out how deep to fish them, how much weight to use, and where those trout are set up in the column on a given day.

The streamer fishing had a really nice window recently. Kyle found some big fish, and John Kelly stuck a few good ones as well. That said, the recent cold snap knocked it back a bit. If streamers are what you are most excited about, July and August are still the windows we really look forward to.

The dry fly fishing has not been great overall, but there have been some very intense Baetis hatches and Blue-winged Olive activity from about noon to 1 p.m. The problem has been the wind. Once it starts pushing in during the afternoon, it tends to blow those bugs right off the water and shut things down before it really gets going. On those calmer afternoons, though, there are definitely rising fish around. If you can time it right, keep an eye on spots like the bottom of Texas Hole, Lower Flats, Lunker Alley, Simone, and Baetis Bend.

That is the story for April: off-color water, excellent nymphing, a temporary slowdown in the streamer bite, and just enough dry fly activity to keep you looking up when the wind gives you a break.