San Juan River

Desert tailwater. Small flies, year-round.

Below Navajo Dam in San Juan County, New Mexico, the San Juan River is a tailwater: its flow follows releases from the dam, which the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operates as part of the Navajo Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project.

The New Mexico Department of Wildlife (formerly Game and Fish) designates the river from Navajo Dam downstream 3.75 miles to the Crusher Hole Day Use Area as Special Trout Water: catch-and-release only, artificial flies or lures with a single barbless hook, and no more than two flies or lures per line. Many anglers call this reach the “Quality Waters.” NMDOW lists the San Juan among the state's rainbow trout waters and among its waters holding brown trout.