The San Miguel River begins in the San Juan Mountains above Telluride, Colorado and ends at the confluence with the Dolores River 72 miles downstream.
January 13, 2025
The San Miguel is in full winter mode! Ice has begun to take over and freeze sections of this river. Open water can still be found among public access. Fish are still feeding throughout the cold weather and water temps. Rely on your smaller mayfly and midge nymphs such as the Frenchie in sizes #16-20 and small natural perdigons in similar size ranges. Fish light tippet such as 5x and 6x fluorocarbon to reduce drag and to pick up on those softer takes. Search for deeper holes and slow water to find fish feeding.
Chuuby Chernobyl #8, Rainbow Warrior #16, Flashback Pheasant Tail #14, Radiation Baetis #16, Tungsten Zebra Midge #18
The San Miguel River, which originates high in the windswept San Juan Mountains above Telluride, is one of the last undammed and untamed freestone fly waters in Colorado. This boisterous beauty is popular with both beginners and seasoned anglers alike. Neophytes benefit from the river’s generally easy wading and relatively easy and aggressive trout, while more advanced fly anglers love the challenge of getting a perfect drift in the river’s more difficult and confusing currents. Brown and rainbow trout dominate this trout stream, butbrookies and cutthroats call this fly water home as well, especially in the headwater area and tributaries of the San Miguel. While no one will make the claim that the San Miguel is a “big fish” river, trout to 18 inches are not uncommon, and even a rare 20 incher can be found in out-of-the-way pocket water that is difficult to access.
Quality fly fishing begins in late February or early March, and lasts until runoff puts a kybosh on the fly fishing fun, normally by early May. The San Miguel remains sullied and largely unfishable through June. Several species of stoneflies provide protein for trout from February through September and a biblical caddisfly hatch brings a bug banquet to the San Miguel during the summer months of July and August. Blue-winged olives, pale morning duns, midges, and terrestrials round out the macroinvertebrates available to trout in this fabulous freestoner.
