Our guest speaker was Chris Taylor, President and founder of Fisheads. Fisheads is the premiere flyfishing lodge and guide service on the San Juan River. Fisheads operates out of their San Juan River
Lodge in New Mexico. Their web site address is https://www.fisheadsofthesanjuan.com/
Background: The guide service and lodge opened in 1999 with only Chris as the guide and a single boat.
Today, Fisheads’ is an Orvis endorsed guide service and lodge. In addition to the lodge and guide service,
there is a restaurant and full-service outfitter shop on premise. He is the largest outfitter on the San
Juan.
The San Juan River: The San Juan and Fisheads is open for fishing year-round. Despite the weather in
northern New Mexico, the San Juan River temperature averages between 42 to 43 degrees, making it
ideal for the rainbow and brown trout that flourish in its waters. The San Juan is a tailwater that is fed by
snow melts and is a major tributary to the Colorado River. You can fish up to 25 miles of the river.
Rainbows, Browns and Fishing: The river is ranked number one for the number of fish caught and their
size, with the average catch being 17 – 18 inches. Chris remarked that clients can catch browns and
rainbows of 30 inches or greater. There are 15,000 fish per mile, which feed on the many hatches of
mayflies and other plentiful aquatic insects that start on May. Chris and his guides use mostly size 22
and 24 flys (midges preferred), streamers and a selection of worms. Many of the aquatic insects’ larva
are a distinct red, which has become a “must have” in the fly box. Red iodized hooks work well also.
Chris’ favorite rig is a strike indicator, weights and two midges. He noted that the guides will adjust the
strike indicators and weights to match the depth. Chris started the session with story of today’s mayfly
hatch that clients took advantage of to switch to dry flys for some great fishing. Chris went onto explain
that there are times during hatches that the midges are an inch below the surface. The guides will rig up
a RS2 midge with no weight, allowing the fly to sit just below the surface making for some fantastic
fishing. The San Juan is very popular so Monday – Thursday’s are the best days to avoid the crowds.
Getting to Fisheads: Fisheads is located in northern New Mexico, close to the Colorado boarder. There
are two ways to get to his lodge and some great fishing. Albuquerque has direct Delta flights from
Atlanta and is a three-hour drive to the lodge. Another option is a direct flight into Denver from Atlanta
and a hopper on United or American from Denver into Durango, which is 45 minutes to Fisheads lodge.
Packages: Fisheads offers several package types including all-inclusive room, meals and guiding services
as well as self-guided options. The river can be drifted and waded, which provides a variety of fly-fishing
experiences. Chris also discussed group discounts for parties of 12 or more with a free pass to one of the
twelve or the discount spread over the dozen or more fishing. He also said that he provides a free stay
and fishing experience along with the group discount that can we used by the chapter for a raffle.