November on the San Juan
If you’ve guided or fished the San Juan long enough, you know November is a special time. The summer crowds are gone, the mornings are crisp, and the river feels like it belongs to the trout again.
Welcome To Guide Season
We always call it “guide season” — not because we’re less busy, but because it’s the kind of fishing that reminds us why we do this in the first place. Long drifts, willing trout, and the kind of quiet that is very much welcome after our October peak season.
It’s All About The Bump
At 300 CFS, the river is technical, rewarding, and perfectly suited for light midge rigs and stealthy presentations. But here’s the thing — we like when the flows bump. Take a look at the flow chart below: you’ll see releases pushing over 1,000 CFS mid-month. That kind of rise injects oxygen, cleans substrate, and dislodges aquatic food sources — making trout far more aggressive and predictable. Higher flows also redistribute silt and push fish into fresh feeding lanes, giving both nymph and streamer anglers new opportunities.
When those flows drop again, the fish are still on the feed, and the river fishes lights-out.
November fishing on the San Juan River is as pure as it gets. Quiet water, big trout, and a river that fishes differently every week. The brown trout are on the move, the rainbows are feeding heavy, and every drift feels full of opportunity.
This is why we guide — and why we’ll always call November our favorite month on the San Juan.
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