Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Fishing Report San Juan, Taylor, South Platte, Arkansas River May 2011

Hello everyone, Happy fishing!

My detailed fishing report is just few pictures away.

Spring runoff schedule status : B.O.R is delaying the increase of flow for one more week on S.J, hence I do have that week open for guiding if anyone is itching for some S.J trout trophy and tranquility.
But then again you'll be listening to your reel screeching and me telling you how to land those trout due to hookups...so forget the tranquility part.

The fishing is still excellent.
If you are interested in catching quality trout on S.J then give me a call or email me for booking.
505-334-0909 or yspecial1@msn.com

Larry is my very first client and has been my regular for 16years since I started guiding
service on the San Juan River.
Thanks Larry,  for your patronage and friendship!

Did you notice that he is sitting on a lawn chair in the middle of the river?
Catching trout sitting down on a lawn chair...mmm
Since he has difficulty hiking or wading, I thought that
sitting on a lawn chair might help him to rest and
catch trout at the same time.
I break out this lawn chair for my elderly clients on the river frequently.
Place we're fishing is called "Lawn Chair hole"





These teenage girls had so much fun and they will be back next year!






Tommy's biggest trout ever! this wasn't on S.J
Great job Tom!


My trout isn't big as Tom's but still a nice trout nevertheless...

My trout in the net that was given to me by Brad C from San Diego.
This net opening is about 22"  long.


Tommy's trout in the net. We need a bigger net!

My trout isn't wide as Tommy's


                                                       Notice 4 big spots on the side of the face


Steve caught several brown trout like this, this was his first trip to Taylor River
but sure did well with Yong Special flies.

This brown was caught just above the bridge. It has distinctive adipose fin, see close up below


                                               My little brother John finessing a trout


                                                                      So. Platte river





John at Arkansas River fishing
Yong Wing and Cream Yong special was the choice of
these pretty trout.



We had lots of fun catching and enjoying great friendships all around.
We will do this again next year.
Can't wait till next year.
Our annual trip to Colorado every year!












                                  This report is for San Juan and my annual trip to Colorado 
                                        (Taylor River, Arkansas River and South Platte River)



Let me start with the San Juan River, although I’d like to talk about the Taylor River hogs we caught but...

***Make sure to read finalized San Juan spring runoff schedule from B.O.R at the end of this report.***



The river visibility is still about 2 feet plus or minus. It really depends on the wind condition for that day. Winds up to 50 mph on some days but we'll still catch fish regardless.

I’m seeing more people on the river especially during the weekends now, so let’s be nice and respect each others space and have lots of fun.

The fishing is still same for us; catching lots of trout everywhere on the San Juan. We have fished using both nymphs and dries.

I believe there are more baetis populations on the river this year compare to last few years past. It seems that baetis population is recovering steadily from the Kiddie Hole flood 7 or 8 years ago.

Hopefully they will  continue to thrive and reproduce more and more each and every year.

Anyway this is a good thing for those people who can’t see too well with fly size 24 since most of baetis patterns I tie now are size 18-22, Yong Wing and Andy’s Candy Mayfly.

The best flies have been:

Yong Wing; Yong Flasher; Yong Blondie; Andy’s Candy (both midge and mayfly); Yong Special



Now, let’s talk about my trip to CO.

My youngest brother John, Steve and Tom whom have been my friends/clients for many years joined us at Salida, Colorado. This trip is our annual trip to Colorado. We started this gathering about 6 years ago. We visit Colorado each year to enjoy the magnificent scenery and fly fishing opportunities.

The first day which was Friday morning. We drove up to  Taylor River, quality water section.

There were four other vehicles there before us already. By the time we got suited up, it was 9:30 am so we had to fish the left over section (less popular area) of the river and that happened to be just below the bridge.

I caught 3 little browns right away using Yong Blondie and Yong JR so make sure everyone use the same flies and the rig if you fish out there.

Then Tom spotted huge trout  (27-28 inches long see photos, look at the girth of this cut-bow) and told me to catch it so I started to cast to that large trout then my little brother asked me to help him with his setup.

At that time my brother and Steve needed small Yong Blondie flies for their setup so I left that spot to hand them over my Yong Blodie flies out of my box and then I hear Tommy calling out for me to help him for some reason. That is when we all saw that big hog trying to spit out irresistible Yong Blondie.

We were using 6x tippet so I quickly flanked the trout around the bank and helped him to land the trout of his life time. He did a marvelous job fighting the trout. You can see my youtube action videos on Taylor River.

http://www.youtube.com/user/yspecial1#p/a/u/1/WKPvofYIDhk--Taylor River
http://www.youtube.com/user/yspecial1#p/a/u/2/7RX10Xp616Q--Arkansas and So. Platte River


The funny thing is that Tom was a victim of speeding ticket 4 am in the morning coming from Denver.
He was late to meet us at Salida because of his mishap with the officer.
I told my brother John that he may get lucky today and catch the biggest trout amongst all of us and my prediction was correct and you can hear that on youtube video if you pay attention on our conversations.

The river was running high due to spring runoff but we caught lots of trout there till 4:30 pm.

The best flies were: Yong Blondie; Yong Wing; Yong JR; Y. OJ

The next day we fished the South Platte River and it was a blast.

My brother John and Steve never fished So. Platte before so I helped them where to start and what to tie on and the rest was history.

We caught so many trout there in many different types of waters, even down at the bait fishing section
was fun. Then it started to snow. It was icing on the cake!
My little brother just loves fishing in the snow, typical So. California dude!

The best flies were: Yong Special; Yong Wing; Andy’s Candy (both midge and mayfly)



The last half day we fished Arkansas River.

No caddis hatches were witnessed this time around but trout were hungry for caddis larva and baetis though.

Though Arkansas was also running high due to spring runoff, hence bit murky with low visibility but no problem catching them on Yong Special flies, mostly nymph fishing technique was used.

After an hour of fishing the weather turned bad so we drove into town of Salida to fish the local lake for one more hour or so before my brother had to leave to catch his airplane in Colorado Springs.

The best flies were: Yong Special; Yong Wing; Y-Ugly



Recent letters:



Andy,



Thanks for the good time and pictures. How was the Arkansas? It was cold and rainy here in Denver yesterday. Ate the fish last night was very good.



Looking at coming down the week of June 19. Let me know what you have available that week. I assume run off will be coming to end about that time.



Tom



It was best time I ever had fly fishing in terms of fishing

in many different ways.

I've learned a lot from you on this trip.

Your technique has now sunk in with me as far as

how to mend the line properly and how to fish certain types of waters that was

front of me. Riffles, drop offs, deep pools, slow pool, fast waters, pocket water,

and more...

You know which one was my favorite of them all...

Caught so many trout fishing that technique you'd taught me especially

on that middle of a long riffle, on top of the bank to a feeding trout below.

Distinguishing and setting up #2 or #3 is still bit hard but

I'll certain always have knots in between two flies as well as knot above the

first fly as wel



I was lazy and really didn't care about it since I don't nymph fish much at all.

I now know that when I visit Merced river near Yosemite National Park and Kern river,

I'm confident that I can catch more fish since I now know how to setup for nymphing waters there properly.

I still caught trout being lazy before but now? I'm more confident in what I do now.

I just needed to figure out what flies (nymphs) will work on Merced river.

Do you have any ideas?

Fishing there will be awesome once water level and all the crowds dissipated.

If you come around that time, fall time, then you can show me how to nymph that

water if dries are not on the menu.

I know there are some big ones in those deep pools. Will require # 4 rigging perhaps.

Yes, #4 rigging, using egg sinkers for the weight--HA HA!

Can you kindly send me Tom's and Steve's email address please?

I need to learn to tie Yong wing. I'm sure that is one of the best flies anywhere.



Thanks again for all the great time I had with you and your great friends.





--

Best regards,





John Kim









Hey Andy I am back in Albuquerque now. Thank you for the guided trip it was awesome. I plan to do it again in September because you showed me a lot, and I want learn more from you. It's cool that you still helped me even though you were guiding someone else.....I lost all the yon flashers cause my line was all screwy and from forcing the fish to much so I tried a black mono midge that I tied that worked well so I will be ordering more flies from you and your leader that you make

Adam

Hey Andy,



This is Bruce ( the one armed fisherman ) and I was wondering when a good time would be to contact you on Tuesday or Wednesday? I am interested in looking at your flies and buying some. I hope you had a great fishing trip in Colorado. Your client Larry was great fun to watch. Let me know a time. Thanks and have a good week.



Bruce Stell









BUREAU OF RECLAMATION


NAVAJO RESERVOIR


2011 SPRING PEAK RELEASE SCHEDULE


May 24, 2011





SENT VIA FAX AND E-MAIL






The Bureau of Reclamation has finalized this year's scheduled spring peak release from Navajo Reservoir. The attached chart shows the end of day release rates throughout the spring peak release period. Reclamation will begin to increase the release on Monday, June 6, 2011 at 1:00 AM, reaching 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Thursday, June 9th at approximately 3:00 PM. The release will stay at 5,000 cfs for seven days. On Wednesday, June 15th at approximately 7:00 AM, the release will begin to decrease, reaching 500 cfs on Friday, June 17th at approximately 10:00 PM, where it will remain until further notice.






The release pattern, duration, and magnitude for the spring peak release follow the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRIP) Flow Recommendations for Endangered Fish.






Adjustments may be made to the release if significant precipitation occurs during the scheduled release period.






If you have any questions, or would like further information, please contact Ryan Christianson at 970-385-6590or e-mail him at rchristianson@usbr.gov.

















Happy fishing!



Andy Kim

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Fishing Report April-May 2011








































Hello everyone,




The fishing is still hot with both dry and nymph flies.

All sizes (18-26) and color midges and couple of different sizes (20-22) of baetis have been hatching everyday for last few weeks which confused lots of people hence scratching their heads to try to figure out by changing flies or ask us what we’ re using.

Knowing what available (aquatic entomology) is to trout and selecting right flies for the current condition sure help catching lots of trout easily.

During this multiple hatch, I had to change flies quickly because the one kind of midge hatch may last only 30-40 min.

The fishing above KH to the dam can be done with midge flies but still there were few short times of baetis hatch occurred.

Down below Texas Hole all the way to end of quality water have some nice fat trout lately taking Yong Wing and Andy’s Candy mayfly in the afternoon consistently for couple of weeks now.

We had many 30 plus mph windy days but didn’t stop for trout to come after my flies as you can see on photos.

The flow is steady around 500 cfs and visibility is about 2 feet.

The best flies were: Yong Wing> iYong Special> rYong Special> Andy’s Candy (midge and mayfly> Yong Blondie> Yong Blood in order



Spring runoff schedule as of April 19th:

http://www.usbr.gov/uc/wcao/water/rsvrs/mtgs/pdfs/archives/NavajoApr11Meeting.pdf

The current Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) forecast for the peak of the Animas River at Farmington is May 31st. The goal of the spring peak release from Navajo Reservoir is to best match the peak of the Animas River at Farmington. The preliminary dates for the spring peak release are to begin on May 23rd with the ramp up and reaching 5,000 cfs on May 27th continuing through June 2nd, followed by a ramp down concluding on June 9th. After the spring peak release, it is anticipated to return to the base release of 500 cfs. These dates may be adjusted on the order of 2 to 3 days based on the latest peak forecast for the Animas River. A final release hydrograph will be announced approximately 1-week prior to the beginning of the ramp-up.




Recent letters from you:





Hi Joe public, I've known Andy and Jerry (the only guide on the Juan and Green) that Andy has confidence in for well over 15 years. I started fishing the Juan in 1969 using a weighted jig called the "rock a roo" catching beautiful fish on a regular basis. When the waters were changed to quality waters and to catch and release I gave up fishing the Juan...I didn't know how to fish the quality waters...in the mid 90's I met local artist and fisherman David Carpenter and I was able to hook up with some fish and land some of those monsters occasionally. One time David and I were fishing well below Texas Hole and there was a guide across the river from us with 2 clients who caught and released at least 15 fish in a very short period of time, David told me that he was a new guide...Andy Kim. I waited for him, we talked and I have been using him ever since.



Those of you who come once or twice per year I highly recommend you contact Andy...if he's not home leave a message...he's very busy... the tiny little midges in the river tend to have a short life, so colors and sizes change often...since AK is on the river constantly he knows the fishes location and proper flies to use during your visit...Master Kim, my name for AK, is the type of person who sucks the oxygen out of a room, type A personality... he will give you an experience of a lifetime, at the same time, he will teach you tricks that you will use everywhere you fish and like me you will be bombarded by fellow anglers asking you...what are you using? Can I see the fly?... presently there is no better wading guide on the Juan...call 505 334-0909



Buenas Hatches (Great Hatches)



CoCo



Andy,



I have attached the picture of my big fish Saturday AM, how big do you think it was?



I need to tell you that I landed 11 or 13 strikes Sunday AM before I had to leave. The 11 I landed were using the AK method. The two I missed were; first one, because I held the line and did not let go and second one, because I turned away from the fish with my body to try to tighten the line. In both cases I knew right away.



Thanks so much.



PS - My daughter thinks it might be a good idea to try it next year. We will see if it works out.



--

Galen Killam



Hey Andy....My friends are very grateful for your help on the river and vow to return soon. Here's a shot of you at the lodge.....Cheers....Johnny Lee Schell



Hi Andy, First off, we all had a great time on the San Juan and you were a big part of it. Looking forward to our next trip to the San Juan! Rob ps please send the pics/video you took, thanks



Andy,



Thanks for the fishing trip and Korean food. I thought it was very good. When I come to the San Juan you will have to make me some of the soup. It was tasty.

Tom



Thanks again Andy for a great day fishing.



Paul



Happy Fishing!

Andy Kim