Fishing the San Juan River: A Memorable Experience

Upon arrival, we chatted with some locals, who mentioned that the fishing had been a bit off lately. Undeterred, we made our way to scout out a prime fishing spot and decided to try our luck the following day. We set our sights on the Crusher Hole, and we saw rising fish! We decided to try this spot the next morning. But then the next morning came, it was surprisingly quiet. Not a single bite all day, though I did manage to reel in a small brown trout. It wasn’t much, but hey, at least I can say I caught fish on the San Juan!

Success in the Evening

As the sun beat down, we made our way back to the camper for lunch and to strategize for our evening session on the water. We decided to return to the Crusher Hole, hoping the fish would be more active after the heat of the day like we saw the previous evening. After several unsuccessful tactics and switching out flies, I finally discovered what was working! Barely twisting a sparsely tied version of the Nelson in the current got me a few light hits almost instantly.

Being vigilant and paying attention to the subtle takes paid off as I eventually caught two nice rainbow trout. Excited, I called over Scott to share the news and what was working. As I explained my technique, surprisingly, I managed to reel in three more fish! When Scott finally got rigged up and back into the water, he managed to catch a nice rainbow before day faded to night.

Bucket List: San Juan ✔

Overall, our fishing trip at the San Juan was a fantastic experience. The highs and lows of the day made it thrilling. It’s true what they say—a day of fishing is better than most any other day! We can’t wait to come back and try again; after all, nature’s playground always has an adventure waiting for us!

Our Adventure Really Began Today

Scott and I finally checked off a major item on our bucket list: fishing the famous San Juan River! The anticipation was high, especially with the weather being perfect—hot, clear and low humidity. However, the river was the exact opposite: cold, dirty and flowing high, ideal weather but not ideal conditions for a fishing trip so it was a bit challenging.

Assessing the Fishing Conditions

North Louisiana Fly Fishers

Join us for fly fishing and fly tying adventures.

OUR mission

© 2025. All rights reserved.

★★★★★

It is the charge of the North Louisiana Fly Fishers to afford to the general public and our members in particular, a better understanding of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying. We wish to perpetuate the sport as a most pleasurable and exciting fishing method and provide education, instructions and the opportunities for relaxation to the membership.

The North Louisiana Fly Fishers (NLFF) serves the Ark-La-Tex area surrounding Shreveport. As the closest cold water fishery, we consider the Little Missouri (Little Mo') river near Murfreesboro, AR our home waters. We also fish the local rivers and lakes. We even have a growing group of kayak fishermen that, as well as the local rivers and lakes, will fish the gulf coast marshes for some saltwater action!