I fish the San Juan Worm quite a bit almost any time of the year. I believe it works best when there is a chop or riffle on the water. The chop gives the worm a bit of movement. The interesting thing is that the S J Worm is what I call an "attractor" fly in that it gets the attention of the fish. Even if they don't hit the Worm, they see the trailer fly and hit it. Thus, you can catch more fish even if they are not hitting the Worm. I thought I was crazy to believe in this concept but in "The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing" they describe this exact same idea.
The creek changed a lot from two weeks ago. No luck today with my San Juan Worm setup. I tried 4 different nymph rigs with a worm in the middle, nothing! I was out there from 1- 4:30, didn't sea fish all day.. There was some bug life around 4:00 but no risers.
Two weeks ago there was a lot of action. Where do the trout go after a big rain?
Thanks,
GloBug
I wouldn't give up on the S J Worm yet. Admitedly it's not a consistent producer, but it does have its hot moments. One day I wasn't having any luck on my usual mayfly nymphs and midges. I put on a S J Worm and hooked three 17+ inch fish in the next 20 minutes. The first two were on consecutive casts. I lost both fish. I then switched from a Brown to a Red S J Worm and landed a 17 incher; this last fish was clearly smaller than the first two. On another occasion I hooked and lost a 20+ incher on the S J Worm. But later I landed a 22 incher. So even though it's inconsistent, it's still worth fishing.
Since the fish are spawning right now you may want to fish some deep pools with a Globug Globug. Please stay away from shallow water riffles and areas with spawning signs.
I was out a couple of weeks ago before the heavy rains. The flow was 72 CFS; now it's around 121. I had a good day. I had to limit myself to three hours of fishing since I have a chronic foot problem. I caught two 18 inchers and a 16 incher. I caught the second 18 incher after I switched to a S J Worm and a mayfly nymph end fly. It hit on my first cast with this combo. It didn't hit the Worm, but, like I've said, the S J Worm can act as an "attractor" fly. It was my best day in quite a while, but these last two years I haven't fished nearly as much as I used to due to my foot problem.
