San Juan River Update: 800 CFS Below Navajo Dam

(A great fish from day 1 of the bump)

On May 22, 2026, flows on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam increased from 300 CFS to 800 CFS. As of this writing, the current schedule has the river holding at 800 CFS until June 10. After that, we do not know exactly what flows will do. As always with dam releases, schedules can change, and we will operate off the best information we have right now.

For us, this is a great start to summer.

It is no secret that the Southwest is in a drought, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. But one of the great things about the San Juan is that it is a cold-water tailwater. Even when other rivers around the West start dealing with low, warm, and stressful conditions, the San Juan has cold water coming from the base of Navajo Dam. So far, the fishing has been very good, and we love seeing this bump in flow.

At 800 CFS, the river really starts to open up. Boats can spread out more, fish have more habitat, and trout can move into shallower weed beds and softer inside edges instead of stacking in the same obvious main-river lies. It takes pressure off the usual spots and gives anglers more ways to fish the river.

Eight hundred CFS is a great streamer flow. It is a great bug flow. And for anglers planning to wade, it is still very wadeable if you pick your spots, move carefully, and use good judgment.

With the increase in flow, especially as fish push into the weed beds and softer edges, this is a great time to get out those shallower rigs. The river has been trending more bug-heavy. We are still fishing some junk in the mornings, but as the day warms up and the ambient air temperature bumps the water temperature, we are turning more and more to bugs.

On the nymph side, think small and technical. Scintillas, fluff baetis, RS2s, bead wings, foam wings, midges, and baetis patterns have all been in play. We are seeing fish eat larval, nymphal, and pupal forms throughout the day, so do not be afraid to adjust depth, weight, and fly size as the day changes.

Streamer fishing has also been good. We had a couple streamer trips out last week, and with this bump in flow, there is simply more habitat for trout to settle into and more places for them to attack a streamer. That is exactly what we like to see heading into summer.

As for the dry fly fishing, it has been more of a later-in-the-day game. If you are interested in really targeting dry fly fishing with our guides, we recommend booking a later half day or planning around that evening window. Traditionally, the end of May is when we can sometimes get away with throwing bigger attractor-style dries tight to the bank. We are still seeing some success, but it has been later, usually starting around 5 or 6 p.m.

Honestly, this has been one of the slower dry fly years we have seen on the San Juan during normal guide hours. That does not mean the dry fly fishing is nonexistent. It just means you need to plan around the right window instead of expecting it to happen all day.

If you are coming to the river right now, here are five flies we would feel confident having in the box:

Dry Fly: Fat Albert, size 14
Streamer: White Mongrel Meat or Sculpzilla
Nymph: Chocolate Scintilla, size 24
Nymph: Gray Fluff Baetis, size 22
Nymph/Junk Fly: Natural pine squirrel leech, size 8

Those five flies give you a solid way to cover the river from top to bottom. You can fish the surface, work the weed beds, get technical with bugs, and still have something bigger and meatier when the fish want to chase.

Overall, we are happy to see 800 CFS on the San Juan. It is one of our favorite flows. It gives the river more room, gives the fish more habitat, spreads out the pressure, and opens up more ways to fish.

We do not know exactly what happens after June 10, and we are not going to guess too hard. For now, the river is at a great level, the water is cold, the fish are eating, and we are excited for the start of summer on the San Juan.

We will keep you updated as the release schedule changes. Until then, we hope to see you out here.