Summer Fishing and Camping on the San Juan River

The author shows off a typical rainbow trout that can be caught in the San Juan River of northwestern New Mexico. 

Our vision of the river shimmered in the 95 degree heat and a wave of dry, hot air enveloped us as we came to a dusty stop in a parking lot on the legendary San Juan River in northwestern New Mexico.

My fishing partner, T.A. Phillips, eyed me suspiciously as I rooted around the back of the aging GEO Tracker and tossed a beat-up set of hip waders and a pair of thick, wool socks in a heap at his feet.

“It might be hot out here but it’ll be cold in there,” I said of the river fed by bone numbing, cold water, released from the base of nearby Navajo Dam.

I watched as Phillips wrestled on the waders, shrugged his way into a fishing vest and then sprayed a heavy dose of aerosol sunscreen about his head.

He followed this with an equally misty, dose of bug repellant, clamped on a high-tech, booney hat, rolled down the sleeves of his lightweight nylon shirt and tied on an old fashioned neckerchief around his neck.

I chucked him a couple of liter bottles of water, an apple, banana and a few trail bars and we were  ready to enjoy a long summer’s day on one of the best trout streams in the West.

The best place to beat the blazing heat on the San Juan River during the summer is in the incredibly cold water.  

Staying well hydrated, remaining in the cold water, creating your own shade and eating light is the key to beating the high desert heat and blazing sun that makes this one of the West’s better known winter fisheries.

But here in the summer, anglers who know how to handle the hot conditions will enjoy great dry fly action, lots of sight fishing in incredibly clear water and a really memorable experience, especially in the weeks following the annual spring flush.

The San Juan River’s flows are managed in part to maintain a downstream, endangered fish’s habitat so the flows normally run at about 500 cfs (cubic-feet-per-second) most of the year except for in the spring.

Then they crank it up to mimic the natural spring time runoff found on free flowing streams and send out about 5,000 cfs for a week or more depending how much water Navajo lake is holding and how much more is flowing in from feeder creeks and rivers.

Navajo Dam unleashing a torrent of stored water during an annual spring high volume release.

And when they bring the water back down to normal the river really turns on!

We spent four days during the second week of July,  2009 on the river. The first couple of days the water was flowing at a nice pace of 850 cfs and then it was increased to 1,000 cfs for the last two days of our stay.

But even at the higher flows we were still able to negotiate most of the river in hip waders, crossing at specific spots known to be fordable under those conditions.

I prefer using three ply,  lug soled,  hip waders on the San Juan because I have done a lot of hiking while fishing there, sometimes covering several miles in a day.  I have found  insulated, canvas and rubber  hip waders to be nearly indestructible when bush whacking and they are well ventilated when worn with shorts, an important consideration in the summertime.

And even if I do happen to step in too far and fill my boots with water I find it refreshing to lay down on the bank on my back, raise my legs and let the cold water run down into my shorts.

In the hot, dry, desert sun they’ll dry out in no time at all and I’ll be all that much cooler for the slight discomfort of my swampy boots.

We began our trip at Simon Canyon where one can usually find the river deserted during the week and there’s plenty of shade to be had among the great cottonwoods that grow here.

Phillips is a great warm water fisherman but still new to fly-fishing, so we wanted to let him work on his casting, mending and fishing with flies on a quiet part of the river.

Simon Canyon is also just a pleasant place to fish. You can stroll down the bank chucking a roll cast out  into the current and letting your rig dead drift down to an occasional trout lurking below.

It’s quiet here with remarkable scenery and plenty of action if one knows how to fish it.

The San Juan River below Simon Canyon.

We did fairly well that afternoon, fishing downstream of Simon Canyon, picking up some very nice rainbows and an equal number of browns lurking in and around the strategically placed boulders installed by  the state Department of Game and Fish recently  to improve fish habitat and water quality.

We had luck on top with #12 and #14 stimulators, #16 caddis and #22 and #24 parachute Adams.  We found a #22 grey CDC emerger tied off the back end of the dries also logged a number of additional hits. A #18, copper beadhead, flashback pheasant tail nymph tied off a pale yellow egg worked well off the bottom.

Anglers should be note that there will be plenty drift boats floating through this area later in the afternoon as guides head  down to the takeout area at the gravel pit just around the corner.

An umbrella is another good way to ward off the scorching sun while enjoying a day on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam in northwestern New Mexico.

Here below Simon Canyon one might also meet a fisherman armed with a spin casting rig working his way upstream from the bait waters below.

A polite inquiry about the angler’s gear and a friendly reminder that to fish up here it's catch and release with a  single, barbless hook  is usually enough to send most back downstream to the “bait and take” waters down below the gravel pit.

At Simon Canyon anglers will find a couple of fine, primitive camp sites under the trees that allow an early riser to get first crack at the water.

And at the end of the day the flickering light of a campfire, dancing off the overhanging cottonwoods at Simon Canyon is enough to make one think they’re in their own “Old Milwaukee” commercial, where “it just doesn’t get any better than this.”

It should be noted this is primitive camping here with no trash pickup or water but there's  vault toilet in the parking lot.

And the noisy, gravel, parking lot here can get busy with visiting anglers, other expectant campers and hikers seeking the old Indian kiva up Simon Canyon.  A lot of locals, out for an evening drive, like to swing through here too, just to check things out.

But when the timing is right and things quiet down, this can be a great place to own a piece of the river for a few nights and really experience the San Juan at a different level, free of the crowds and the noise found at the full service campground down the road and the mobs of anglers staked out on the upper stretches of the river.

There's  also a hiking trial that leads upstream to the deep water at ET Rock and then on through the woods to emerge on the far bank at Baetis Bend for some equally fine fishing.

ET Rock above Simon Canyon on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam in northwestern New Mexico.

The following day we fished the back channel at Baetis Bend looking for those trout that had moved in during the high water and would hang around as long as it stayed that way.

We found some great dry fly action and plenty of sight fishing to be had along with some much appreciated solitude.

Geese enjoying some shade on the back channel between the Lower Flats and Baetis Bend on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam in northwestern New Mexico. 

We emerged from the back channel into the wide expanse of water found at the Lower Flats where we picked up several nice fish hanging out in the usual places along the edges of seams, in the faster water or on the bottom of pools.

We worked our way further upstream past Three Island Run all the way up to Jack’s Hole where we spotted a couple of bigger trout hanging out at the tail of a deep pool below a shelf where the water churned  in.

Through the gin clear water we could see the fish seesawing back and forth in the current snatching passing food. We choked up our rigs to dapple the goods right before them and had one on in no time.  But trying to pull them out of the heavy, deep current took time and effort and those became our last for the day.

We headed back down to Baetis Bend along a dirt access road and arrived back at our camp tired and ready for a few ice cold beers.

It’d been a good day.

But the next day turned out to be even better as we went upstream and fished down the back channel between the bottom end of Texas Hole and the Lower Flats. It was here that Phillips landed the best fish of the trip, a big bruiser laying up in the shallows.

And she was caught on a little, green, flashback emerger we tied up just that morning.

There’s something to be said for sneaking around those back channels and the lower flats where you can see the fish you’re trying to catch.

And there’s just no substituting the thrill of seeing that  flash of white as a trout opens its mouth to take your fly and then the explosion of water and color as it of bolts with its back cutting a swath through the shallow water.

It was great to see that in just a few days Phillips had mastered the art of catching these elusive back water trout, reeling in one after another, like he’d been fishing here for years.

On our last day on the river we elected to go upstream to the Upper flats and the Cable hole where the majority of visiting anglers here tend to fish.

We tiptoed in our waders across the upper flats to the far bank to get away from the crowds and were rewarded with a couple of very nice fish.

T.A. Phillips shows off a nice rainbow trout caught off the far bank of the Upper Flats of the San Juan River below Navajo Dam in northwestern New Mexico.

But it just wasn't as much fun fishing up here as it had been downstream and in the back channels .

It was uninviting to look out across the river and  see  a line of stationary, well appointed anglers, spread out along the edge of a seam, standing in the same spot hour after hour.

And there was no solitude to speak of as the cheers and remarks of anglers echoed across the water whenever one of them hooked up.

So we’ll probably stick to those downstream stretches the next time we come back to enjoy the trophy class fishing found on the San Juan river below Navajo Dam in northwestern New Mexico and maybe you should give them a try too.

Summer fishing and camping tips for the San Juan River.

Sunscreen and lots of it:

Only a fool goes out on this river without sunscreen and lip balm. Use it and forget about the macho sunburn to prove you’ve been on vacation, let the pictures do the talking.

Bug spray and lots of it:

Deet based sprays seem to work best for mosquitoes although those pesky gnats don’t seem to be deterred by anything here.

The bottom line is expect to be swathed in the stuff for days on end and make sure you have it with you in your fishing vest.

And don’t leave the screen door in your tent open for long, you’ll regret it later when you find yourself trapped inside with all those guys buzzing around and feeding off you.

Water and lots of it:

You’ll never feel yourself sweat here because it evaporates so fast. Thus you may never realize how much water you’re expending. So it’s imperative to stay hydrated. If you find your piss is really yellow or a pinch of your skin doesn’t bounce back then you're probably already dehydrated. Other signs include cottonmouth, tiredness and mental fatigue, headache and lightheadedness. Do not disregard any of these symptoms, cool yourself off with a dunk in the river, get into the shade and rehydrate!

Don’t venture out onto this river for any length of time without at least a couple of liters of water. Carry a lightweight water filter if need be but most importantly drink plenty of water and do it before you become thirsty, before you head down to the river.

Remember! Your stomach and body is your best canteen.

Limit caffeine and alcohol intake as they contribute to dehydration. Pack a baggie of powdered Gatorade in your fishing vest to add to your water for more rehydration power.

Ice and lots of it:

Ice melts fast here so keep your cooler out of the sun, if it’s in the car, crack the windows to let out the buildup of heat. Use sun shades in the windows. Anticipate the track of the sun and park accordingly. Keep the cooler wrapped in a sleeping bag or blanket for added insulation. Take one cooler for food and another for beverages, use block ice if you can find it, the stuff lasts forever. Don’t dump out the cold water in the bottom of the cooler until absolutely necessary. It’s what’s holding the cold. Put your food in doubled zip-lock bags to keep the water out and store standing up. Use a beer can coozie to keep your beer cold while your mouth is busy talking about the fishing.

Food :

The days are long out here and most folks are usually rolling in late and they’re beat! So keep dinner simple.

Fry up some burger with some garlic, sliced onion and green pepper, add a can of Ranch Style beans, top it off with some shredded cheese and sop it all up with fajita-size tortillas. I’ve lived for weeks on this stuff and it only takes one skillet to cook it up and eat out of.

Live off fruit, especially apples, trail bars, peanuts, crackers, tuna fish and beef jerky during the day.

Expect to find yourself sitting at the local bar or restaurant  looking for someone else to make you dinner at least once during your trip to the San Juan so bring money and don’t look at the prices.

Clothing:

A wide brimmed, well ventilated hat is essential to deflecting the sun and keeping cool. I love those big straw hats with the ventilation holes woven in along the brim but always have to remember to apply sunscreen to my scalp to avoid a funny looking and nasty sunburn. You’ll see some great hats on this river but many don’t belong. Remember it’s all about ventilation and shade.

Wear long sleeved, lightly colored shirts to protect your skin and deflect the sun. Nylon and other synthetics are lightweight and dry quickly.

Carry a neckerchief. It can be dipped into the water and slung about the neck to cool down. Use it regularly to soak your head too, a slight breeze across a wet scalp is natures’ swamp cooler.

Remember it’s not a fashion show, leave that to the posers up in the Texas Hole parking lot.

Take shorts and sandals and expect to live out of them for days on end.

Camping Tips and Tricks:

Bring a spray bottle and a couple rolls of paper towels for cleaning up yourself and your cooking utensils. The spray bottle also comes in handy for applying a cool, refreshing mist to the head and body. It’s even better at cruising speed!

Bring a toilet kit with your own nice, soft, toilet paper and a package of those personal towelettes so you can stay comfortable and clean for days on end.

Sleep on top of your sleeping bag under a light, cushy blanket, it’ll be more comfortable when you first go to bed when it’s still warm outside. Don’t add the rain fly to your tent unless you’re sure it’s going to rain, it’ll be much cooler and breezy inside. But keep it nearby, just in case.

Make sure you bring a sweat shirt, rain coat, jeans and sneakers, just in case the weather turns nasty.  If you don’t, it will.

Bring all of your pillows, a good book and reading light and use ear plugs, if needed, to assure a good night’s sleep. Bring extra batteries because you will fall asleep with your reading light on.

Embrace the hum of the oil and gas rigs, they provide the fuel we use every day to run our vehicles, cook our food, and heat and cool our homes. Until something better comes along don’t knock it.

Thirty Years of Thrills and Spills with New Wave Rafting

They started out with a used rubber raft, a beat up station wagon and a hunger for some cash and kicks.

Thirty years later river guides Steve and Kathy Miller of New Wave Rafting in Embudo are still going strong, providing passengers great whitewater adventure on the rivers of Northern New Mexico.

And they aren’t quitting anytime soon.

“We’re having too much fun,” Steve says during an April 2009 interview at the couple’s modest home located on the big river between Espanola and Taos.

Miller, whose rugged good looks, full head of hair and energetic demeanor belie his 69 years, lives a life many who visit the Southwest might find enviable.

During the spring and summer the Millers and their crew of experienced guides provide customers waves of excitement and adventure on the best rafting rivers New Mexico has to offer, the mighty Rio Grande and the idyllic Rio Chama.

And when the season ends the Millers typically unwind with a relaxing, three-week float down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon or spending some time fishing down at Padre Island.

But then it’s back to work, this time teaching skiing up on the slopes of Taos for the winter.

“It’s a lifestyle we’ve worked hard to make a living at,” says Kathy, 58, while flashing a brilliant smile amid a sea of freckles and bronzed skin.
The two who expect to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary this July, met at a party in Tesuque back in the late 1970s, when real hippies could still be found wandering the scene in Northern New Mexico.

Steve Miller was an intense, rugged, outdoor type with long hair and beard and wearing authentic Navy bell bottoms jeans, the ones with the buttoned flap on the front, Kathy says.

“He was a very exciting, outdoors type,” she says.

Miller had come west from New York City to ski and then learned a host of other outdoor skills which led him to a career with Outward Bound and a stint with state government creating a similar program for criminal offenders.

The program took groups into wilderness settings where they learned to challenge themselves and work together to overcome difficult situations involving mountaineering, rock climbing, river rafting, canyoneering, camping and wilderness travel.

Prior to that Miller had attended the University of California at Berkeley and received a Master's Degree in anthropology from Harvard University. He also taught anthropology at New Mexico Tech in Socorro for several years and chaired the Department of Physical Recreation where he ran outdoor adventure programs.

Kathy Hamerlee had gravitated to New Mexico from her hometown of Simi Valley, California, where she had at one time considered a career as a marine biologist but got caught up in the “tune in, turn on and drop out” nature of the times.

“She was your classic, cute, little hippie chick with two kids then,” Steve says of their first meeting.

They hit it off, got married and have been having a ball ever since.

“I was not an outdoor person,” Kathy says. “But he (Steve) taught me to kayak, backpack and fish. He really opened up the outdoor world to me.”

Miller says he was heavily influenced by the environmental movement at the time including the works of author Edward Abbey whose books “Desert Solitaire” and “The Monkey Wrench Gang” inspired many Southwestern environmentalists.

“I was rock climbing in Moab during the sixties,” he says.

During the 1970s and 1980s Miller says he and Kathy became members of the radical environmental group “Earth First” and ran rivers with its founder Dave Foreman.

“Abbey was one of our early heroes,” Steve says. “Everyone nurtured fantasies of blowing up Glenn Canyon Dam. It (the dam) was the single clearest affront to those who loved the Southwest. There are people still trying o do something about that.”

The couple and Earth First’s founder, Foreman, parted ways with the group after other members became increasingly involved in eco-terrorism, Steve says.

The two got their start in the river rafting business after the Southwest Outward Bound School they worked for in Santa Fe went under in the late 1970s.

They purchased one of the school’s surplus rubber rafts, a 13 ½-foot long Campways Miwok , slapped it on the roof of their beat up Mazda station wagon and opened their own business.

“Our motto was the river’s are free and we’re as cheap as can be,” Steve says.

The early days during an outing on the Arkansas River in Southern Colorado, notice the sheared off bow of the kayak.

But business was so bad their first year due to low water from a drought that they finally just packed up and headed over to Idaho to float the Salmon River with some fellow Earth First members.

But the following year they got serious, employing the use of a booking agent, Jim Manning, who maintained a kiosk in the lobby of the La Fonda Hotel in downtown Santa Fe.

“Because of him our business grew considerably,” Steve says.

By 1995 they had a fleet of about 30 boats, employed about 20 guides, carried 9,500 passengers and generated a half million dollars in revenue.

“We hit it big time,” Steve says. “But I was under so much pressure I had to see a shrink.”

Steve says those were the days of big water on the Rio Grande, when springtime runoff routinely ran at 3,000 to 5,000 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) and the movie thriller “River Wild” was a big hit at the box office, and a big boost to business.


But the good times took a tragic turn for the worse in June 1997 when Kathy’s son, Brahm Reynolds, 23, lost his life while kayaking on the south fork of the Payette River in Idaho.

Reynolds was following in his mother’s footsteps and working on the river and at the slopes at the time.

“He was born to row, it was literally in his blood,” Kathy says.

Having been brought up on the river, Brahm had all the skills needed to make it on his own.

“He embraced the lifestyle we were enjoying but wanted to experience the big rivers,” Kathy says. “He was looking for adventure like any young man his age.”

Kathy says the only consolation she can find in her son’s death is that he died doing what he loved.

“I like to remember him for his love of nature, his self assured, quiet confidence, his ability to make people feel comfortable and safe,” Kathy says. “I miss him terribly.”

Brahm at 7-years-old and already an experienced river runner.

Kathy now finds some peace in having finally having achieved her goal of living on the river.

“It’s something I’ve been scheming on for years,” she says.

With a little luck, a lot of savings and the help of a small family inheritance, the couple was finally able to make their move.

And at the start of the 2008 season, as gas prices soared to four bucks a gallon, the Millers were bailing out of Santa Fe and moving their rafting business north to Embudo and a new home down on the Rio Grande.

No more running school bus loads of customers fifty miles from the “City Different” to the boat launch at Pilar, Steve noted with a sigh.

“We didn’t lose any business and significantly improved our profitability,” Steve says.


The Millers attribute much of their success to their dedicated, longtime employees like Dave “New Wave Dave” Wassil, Mike Boren, Britt Huggins and Neil Oberheide, just to name a few.

They also credit their many repeat customers with helping keep the business afloat during the change in location.

Asked about some of his more notable clients over the years, Steve remembers most former Governor John Connally of Texas who was sitting next to then President John F. Kennedy when he was shot and killed by a sniper as the politicians rode in a motorcade through Dallas back in 1963.

Steve says Connally showed him his scar from the wound he received from one of the sniper’s bullets that passed through Kennedy.

Steve says actor John Travolta and his family also rode with New Wave as did fellow actor Beau Bridges while Steve’s son, Ethan, had the pleasure one time of guiding members of the band, “Z.Z. Top” down the river.

Ethan, 41, Steve’s son from a previous marriage, now lives in San Francisco where he works in computer programming and design and has three children.

Kathy’s daughter from a previous marriage, Laina, 36, also lives in San Francisco and has two children and with a Ph.D. in Peace Studies works for the organization, Partners for Democratic Change, which is engaged in peace and confliction resolution in emerging democratic countries.

Steve is also president of the New Mexico River Outfitters Association which represents the majority of Bureau of Land Management-permitted outfitters on the Rio Grande and the Chama River.

The association presents a unified voice on behalf of the industry and seeks to maintain the highest standards of safety and service, he says.

The Taos Gorge Bride over the Rio Grande. Photo by Britt Huggins of New Wave Rafting Co..

Steve is also an accomplished photographer whose work is featured in his book “The Grand: The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, a Photo Journey,” published by Wilderness Press and the Grand Canyon Association.

Photographs in the book were taken over the course of 13 trips through the Grand Canyon, dating back to 1971 and represents some incredible work. Check out the Miller's website at www.newwaverafting.com for more info.

And to what does Steve Miller attribute his longevity and good health?

He fishes regularly and comes from good stock. His mother is still alive and kicking at the tender age of 102 and his father lived to the ripe old age of 94.

(All photos courtesy of Steve Miller of New Wave Rafting Co., Embudo, New Mexico 1-800-984-1444

Meeting Produces Workable Solutions for Improving San Juan Fishing

It was one of those days that old time anglers of the San Juan’s quality waters like to talk about.

A Baetis hatch that caused the river to roil with rising fish and anglers to howl with glee.

The day began dark and drizzly with low, threatening clouds and a quiet calm that held the promise of such a hatch.

And the river didn’t disappoint this early spring day.

“My God, look at all of them,” a voice exclaimed from downriver. “They’re everywhere.”

I turned from my spot below the island at Baetis Bend to see a couple of late arrivals trudging up the bank, talking and pointing excitedly.

I returned to my quarry, a big rainbow, steadily sipping Baetis bugs off the surface and ignoring every fly I cast her way.

She was wary of me as I had already caught and released several silver-sided, stockers in her immediate vicinity.

These future “hall-of-famers” greedily attacked my flies and fought like crazy but they were hatchery trout, leftovers from a recent, well intended but ill conceived stocking event designed to appease some guides during this controversial period of the river’s life.

As far as I was concerned, all they were doing was getting in the way of my catching a classic, river reared, San Juan rainbow, 18 inches of beautifully colored attitude and fight.

In the end she took a bigger Adams than I would have thought and my day was complete as she broke the surface, shook mightily, spit my fly and swam off unharmed.

As I headed back to the parking lot I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the river’s more vocal critics had been on the water this day, would they still harbor their negative view of this great fishery.

Because in an afternoon of fishing the back channel, the lower flats and the wadeable water at Baetis Bend, I caught on dry flies, plenty of good looking, hard fighting, Rainbow trout.

And while fishing deep with a big nymph and an emerger for a dropper, I managed to snare several of the lower river’s more predominant but stealthier brown trout, with most taking the nymph and steamrolling into the depths.


On this day, it felt like the river had vindicated itself, rejecting the notion that she was in poor health and doomed to die because of the lower flows over the last decade.

And it was apparent that many of the river guides, angler’s groups and others felt the same way at a state Game Commissioner’s Meeting in Farmington just a day before.

Over two hours of public comment about the river produced plenty of constructive suggestions on how to improve the fishery and little of the negative and misleading rhetoric that has dominated some flyfishing forums and the mainstream media of late (see related article ).

Mike Sloan, Chief of Fisheries for the state Department of Game and Fish opened the meeting by providing commissioners with an update on the department’s public outreach efforts in recent months.

The department is gathering feedback as it mulls numerous proposals to improve fishing conditions on the state’s world class, blue ribbon trout stream.

Angling on the river accounts for as much as $40 million a year to the state’s economy and a $250,000 legislative appropriation was earmarked by Governor Bill Richardson for habitat improvements on the river this year.

Sloan advised commissioners that the department has recently sought public imput and comment from groups such as New Mexico Trout, The San Juan Fly Fishing Federation, the San Juan River Guide’s Association, several Trout Unlimited chapters, the group Concerned Citizens for the San Juan and it’s newly created fellow organization, the San Juan Quality Waters Coalition, and Southwest Consolidated Sportsmen.

Sloan said almost everyone seemed to agree that the river has changed due to lower flows imposed just under a decade ago and silt and sediment has built up.

Many said they were seeing more crowding in productive fishing areas, tougher fishing due to warier fish and reduced insect hatches.

“But I also got feedback that the fishing remained excellent,” Sloan said. “And it’s still the best place people want to go to.

James Dominguez, Fisheries Biologist with the State Department of Game and Fish shows off one of the San Juan River's prized trophy trout during an electro-shocking expedition in November, 2008.

To improve conditions, groups like New Mexico Trout, the San Juan Flyfishing Federation and the San Juan River Guides Association said they wanted to work with the department on more in-stream habitat improvements like those that have been installed below Simon Canyon and at Cottonwood Campground (see related article).

One possible project under consideration involves narrowing the river channel and adding gravel, cobble and boulders into areas immediately below the dam to provide fish and insects more habitat in which to thrive.

A silt and sediment diversion at the Rex Smith Wash inflow area adjacent to the Texas Hole parking lot is another project under consideration which could have an immediate and positive impact on the river.

Other proposals include imposing a catch and release only rule on the river’s entire 4.5 mile stretch of quality water where an angler can currently harvest a single trout over 20-inches each day but must cease fishing once they’ve taken that limit.

Proponents argue that the vast majority of San Juan anglers practice catch and release and eliminating any harvest on the quality waters would help reduce poaching and mortality among fish being measured for possible harvest.

Another proposal involves the creation of a San Juan stamp added to state fishing licenses for those who fish the quality waters, something along the line of $3 to $5 with all revenues raised earmarked specifically for San Juan river projects and to fund assignment of a full-time game officer to the river.

Other proposals include improved hiking trails along the river to encourage anglers to spread out, better picnic areas and boating facilities and more trash containers.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Citizens of the San Juan and San Juan Quality Waters Coalition continued their demand for an independent study of the river and higher stream flows.

It was apparent from commissioners remarks, especially after hearing from Bureau of Reclamation and Land Management officials, that commissioners clearly understood that they had no control over the water flows or the oil and gas industry operations on surrounding lands.

Those issues were better addressed by agencies with jurisdiction over them and as far as the commissioners seemed to be concerned, they would concentrate on problems they could actually solve.

Chairman McClintic even went so far as to suggest that those groups seeking an independent study of the river should consider paying for it themselves.

The department has already conducted studies and issued a white paper addressing concerns about the river (see related article )while also continuing to survey insect populations and analyze sediment data for a better idea of what’s going on down on the river.

And for these efforts, San Juan Fisheries Biologist, Marc Wethington and his boss, Sloan, were applauded by commissioners and audience members.

Others in attendance, like oil and gas opponent, former game commissioner and San Juan Quality Waters Coalition front-man - Oscar Simpson - weren’t so fortunate.

Simpson was publicly chastized for his involvement in stirring up negative publicity about the San Juan river to further his political agenda (see related story ) and his tactics and efforts were openly rejected.

And notably absent from the meeting was Associated Press Reporter, Susan Montoya Bryan, whose attendance had been promised and was widely expected.

Many in attendance expressed disappointment, as they were looking forward to her providing coverage of this other side of the San Juan’s story - the one she overlooked when writing about Simpson and the river recently.

For more details and comments from the April 16, 2009 Farmington meeting see the game commission minutes posted on the department's website .

In the meantime, a working group of San Juan River stakeholders is slated to convene shortly to hash out a plan on what projects to pursue so the department can settle back down to doing some real work on improving the river.

To get involved contact your state game commission .

Oscar Simpson - Is it About Him or the River ?

Editorial note: As a frequent angler of the San Juan River and a longtime New Mexico journalist I feel compelled to publish this article in the interest of fairness and to voice an often overlooked side of the story about this great fishery and the decent, hard working folks who live and work there.

Oscar Simpson of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation has apologized to a group of San Juan River fishing guides for his making unsubstantiated claims and stirring up negative publicity about the blue ribbon trout fishery to further his political objectives.

“I’m sorry if I cost you guys some money,” Simpson told a gathering of San Juan River Guides Association members at a tape recorded meeting in Aztec on March 23. “But the only way to get politicians moving is with bad press and a lot of constituents chewing on their ass.”

Arron Carithers, Vice President of the guides’ association said after the meeting that Simpson’s crusade against the oil and gas industry is ruining the fishing guide business on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam.

“He has no evidence to back up some of the things he’s saying and it’s killing us - just so he can further his own agenda,” said Carithers, who runs Anasazi Anglers of Durango, Colo.and has been guiding on the river for 18 years. “Personally, I don’t want anything more to do with him or his cause.”

Simpson who says he’s a paid public lands organizer for the National Wildlife Federation, is one of the oil and gas industry’s most vocal critics and claims that silt and sediment runoff from drilling on surrounding mesas is killing the San Juan river.

“If we don’t have a multiple approach ... this world-class fishery will be lost within a few short years,” Simpson told the Associated Press (AP) for a February article about the river.

The article stated that two thirds of the river had become silt laden, forcing the river’s trout into a small area below the dam, something many guides and locals would have been happy to debate.

After all, the quality waters above Simon Canyon had been scoured clean by an average flow of 3,000 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) for five straight months last winter and the river saw an average flow of 750 cfs in the seven months before that.

The San Juan is normally flowing at about 500 cfs those times of year.

And plenty of trout have been caught up and down the river all year long, as any parking lot inquiry or flyshop discussion would have revealed.

Nonetheless, Simpson continued to make his apocalyptic claims during the guides’ meeting, arguing that if the group didn’t join in his campaign, then the river would be “dead and gone” in a few more years and the guides would all be out of jobs.

Former state Game Commissioner, Oscar Simpson. Photo Courtesy of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

When questioned during the meeting about some of his public statements about the river’s supposed declining health and loss of fish habitat, Simpson conceded he had no scientific evidence to back those statements.

Simpson then apologized for his use of “political license” and explained he had to “rattle some cages” and “make big statements” to attract political attention to his cause.

Simpson warned the guides that the “press would cut their throats” if there was any “conflicting messages ” from those speaking on behalf of the river and stressed the need to “stay on message” and “stick together.”

Simpson then urged the group to get on board with his newly formed San Juan Quality Waters Coalition which includes members of another group that shares Simpson’s ideology, the Concerned Citizens of the San Juan and its spokesman, Andreas Novak.

Novak was also quoted in the same AP article written by Susan Montoya Bryan that states “Novak and other anglers are worried that erosion from increased gas and oil activity and low flows mandated by federal officials for endangered species and water users downstream could mean the death of the fishery, if something isn’t done.”

Novak and his followers have been calling for increased flows to return the river to its glory days when higher flows routinely scoured silt and sediment from the riverbed, producing prolific insect hatches and easy angling for big fish.

What they don’t explain is how they intend to accomplish that, especially since the Navajos own most of the water behind the dam and the feds that control it have bigger priorities than fishing.

It’s a sticky issue that’s conveniently overlooked in their rhetoric.

Perhaps that’s why Simpson, a self admitted “half-assed” fly fisherman who hasn’t angled much on the San Juan since the 1980s, told the guides that he wants to see an independent, scientific study done on the river to determine what’s going on and recommend solutions.

Simpson said after the meeting during a telephone interview with Outdoors New Mexico that he doesn’t consider the recently completed San Juan River White Paper conducted by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) to be such a valid study.

The department’s White Paper includes results from angler satisfaction interviews, annual electro-shocking surveys, water flow data and government reports that shows despite lower flows in recent years the river still maintains a healthy, stable, population of big trout and that the vast majority of anglers are highly satisfied with the fishing.

The White Paper also cites a US Geological study of the oil and gas industry’s impact of the area that shows 87 percent of silt and sedimentation in the river is produced by naturally occurring runoff.

The White Paper notes that NMDGF routinely replenishes the San Juan River’s stock of rainbow trout and naturally reproducing brown trout also make up a big share of the tailwater’s 70,000 fish found in a 4.5-mile, specially managed, quality water section.

The average trout caught on the San Juan ranges in length from 16 to 18 inches while trophy fish over 20 inches are routinely netted, according to the White Paper.

And what you don’t find in the NMDGF White Paper, many longtime locals can provide with their knowledge of the weather, the surrounding natural environment and the river’s history and behavior.

It should be noted that neither the White Paper’s results, nor any comments from the San Juan River Guides Association, local residents or business owners were included in the AP article about the river.

Carithers noted the AP article was dispersed nationwide due to the news co-op’s reach and that kind of publicity could result in irreparable damage to the river’s reputation as one of the country’s top ten fly fishing destinations.

Simpson explained during the guides’ meeting that he wasn’t satisfied with his fellow Game Commissioner’s conclusion last year that conditions on the San Juan River were acceptable which is why he felt the need to call in a reporter to write the story.

Simpson is a former state Game Commissioner who was replaced in January after serving about a year on the commission.

The governor’s office reports Simpson was replaced because the state senate failed to confirm his appointment in the first place.

During his tenure on the commission Simpson advocated for NMDGF to take a more aggressive stance in its dealings with the oil and gas industry.

Simpson at the time also urged sportsmen to join a new organization he was championing, Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development, which also targets the oil and gas industry.

Simpson said in an interview with Outdoors New Mexico following his appointment to the commission that he once worked for the state’s oil conservation division, which led to his desire to see more oversight of the oil and gas industry.

Simpson claimed that the oil and gas industry was destroying wildlife habitat and having a negative impact on hunting and fishing in New Mexico and he wanted to see tighter regulation and control.

Simpson then found himself a constituency to serve and a battle to fight with the oil and gas industry down on the San Juan River.


San Juan fishing guides and anglers got their first taste of then Commissioner Simpson’s agenda and tactics after he and his organization ran a negative radio ad about the San Juan river in the Albuquerque market late last summer.

The ad came after a black mass was seen floating down the river near Navajo Dam following a thunderstorm. It was captured on video and thought by some who viewed it, such as Simpson, to have been caused by oil pollution from the nearby oil and gas fields.

Shortly thereafter the questionable radio ad was aired in which a youngster asks about going fishing on the San Juan River and is told by an adult that may never happen again because of pollution from the oil and gas industry.

Both the state Oil Conservation Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) investigated the matter and following site inspections and an analysis of the video found no evidence of oil, and no signs of dead or dying fish or other wildlife, according to a press release issued by the NMDGF.

Investigators determined that the most likely explanation for the report was that a large amount of organic debris was flushed out of an arroyo during a heavy rainstorm.

Organic materials such as piñon needles, juniper berries and salt cedar branches contain natural oils and could be mistaken for oil field byproducts, the press release stated.

The Citizen’s Alliance for Responsible Energy blasted the ad in its September 2008 newsletter saying “the ad is wholly deceptive--built on a false premise, making a guilty assumption with no avenue for defense.”

But by the then the damage had already been done and guides were receiving calls from clients asking what the hell was going on down on their river.

Simpson defended airing the ad during an Albuquerque radio talk show regarding new proposed oil and gas regulation during this year’s legislative session.

Simpson was unapologetic and argued the ad was okayed by his organization’s lawyers and only “implied” that the river had been polluted by oil and gas activity.

But Simpson’s willingness to sacrifice the river’s reputation and related businesses to further his campaign against the oil and gas industry has angered many on the San Juan.

Bubba Smith, fishing guide and one of the directors of the San Juan River Foundation complained to Simpson during the guides’ meeting that Simpson’s negative publicity campaign had cost Smith’s foundation $110,000 in pledged contributions from the energy industry.

The foundation’s mission is to raise funds that can be used by the NMDGF for in-stream habitat improvements and other worthy projects on the San Juan River.

And the energy industry was instrumental to NMDGF’s past efforts in constructing in-stream habitat improvements on the San Juan below Simon Canyon and at Cottonwood Campground, providing cash and other assistance.

Those improvements have helped keep silt and sediment suspended and flowing downstream while providing habitat for fish and the insects they feed upon.

The NMDGF’s plan is to manage the fishery for low water flows and expects to continue with similar habitat improvement projects throughout the river.

Smith said energy industry representatives he had been working with were upset that they were the target of negative publicity, especially since they have tried to be good neighbors on the San Juan River.

Smith is credited with bringing Governor Bill Richardson’s down to the river last fall, a trip which resulted in Richardson seeking and obtaining $250,000 from this year’s cash strapped legislature for more improvements to the San Juan fishery.

The governor’s appropriation is earmarked exclusively for in-stream habitat projects on the river and will be the subject of upcoming discussions by the state Game Commission which is meeting in Farmington on April 16th.

Smith said after the guides’ meeting with Simpson that his foundation wants to maintain good working relations with those agencies involved in operating the dam, maintaining the fishery and helping with economic development.

“So I don’t think you’ll see us aligning ourselves with his (Simpson’s) coalition.” Smith said. “We just don’t see oil and gas as the boogeyman here.”

And while some may feel Simpson’s efforts are well intended, after all he was actively involved in helping save the wildly popular Valle Vidal from any oil and gas development, others say his current activities are damaging to his, and his organization’s, integrity.

For instance, during this year’s annual hunting and fishing show at the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque, Simpson angered show promoter and highly respected voice of the outdoors, Bob Gerding, by reportedly harassing attendees and using questionable rhetoric to obtain signatures on a petition opposing a legislative bill favorable to the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains.

Gerding said he was forced to tell Simpson to “straighten up” and “shut up” or he would have to leave.

Executive Director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Jeremy Vesbach, told Outdoors New Mexico when questioned about the show said that he didn’t think the confrontation with Gerding was that big a deal.

But Gerding, who stated after the show that he wouldn’t invite the Wildlife Federation back next year, obviously thinks it is, enough so, that he’s now thinking about not inviting any non-profit groups back next year.

“There’s just too many conflicting agendas,” Gerding said. “And some of these guys just don’t know how to behave.”

Vesbach did not return a call seeking comment on Simpson’s activities nor did Jennifer Jones, Vice President of Strategic Communications for the National Wildlife Federation.

And during his previously mentioned telephone interview with Outdoors New Mexico, Simpson grew irate and hung up when asked to justify some of the statements he’d been making about conditions on the San Juan River.

In the meantime, Peggy Harrell of Abes Motel and Flyshop reports fishing on the San Juan River is fair with the river flowing at 500 cfs and fish up to 20-inches, mostly rainbows, hitting on red larva and egg or apricot colored egg patterns.

Abes Motel and Flyshop Fishing Guide, Peggy Harrell, shows just how easy it is during a little foray down to Baetis Bend in the summer of 2008.

Head East to Lake Sumner for a Winter Angling Oasis

Bosque Redondo Lake is a pretty place to stop on the way to Sumner Lake.

It was the only bright spot in what was otherwise a dismal, mid-winter, fishing report.

The walleye were supposed to be biting out at Sumner Lake, a little known fishing hole far out on the plains of Eastern New Mexico.

A high-pressure system had been parked over the state for a whole week and daily temperatures were soaring into the sixties, sunshine was abundant and the winds were nowhere to be found.

It was too much for me to handle as I muddled through another day of home schooling in website design, digital photo editing and everything else I needed to know to survive my transition to the new media.

I squirmed as I dialed up my wife’s office and begged her for permission to flee.

Once she heard my whining she was all too happy to send me packing.

I was out the door and down the road within minutes, a tuna fish sandwich in hand and my trusty dog, Wiley, nipping at my heels.

I’d never been out to Fort Sumner before despite having lived and traveled throughout the state for close to 30 years.

I was too busy chasing trout, women and work back then.

But now that I’ve settled down some and learned the joys of warm water fishing, I’ve discovered a whole new slate of fishing holes to explore.

But my wife, Wren, suggested that if I was going out that way I needed to stop and see the state’s Bosque Redondo Memorial near Fort Sumner first.

As a reporter with the Farmington Daily Times, she was a member of a three-person team that earned an E. H. Shaffer award for investigative coverage of the Army’s 1860s’ forced march of many Navajos from their homelands in the Four Corners to an ill-suited reservation by the Pecos River.

Painting of "The Journey of Despair" by artist Carlos Ortiz at the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Forst Sumner State Monument.

Being a longtime student of history, I knew I’d want to stop at the memorial so I decided to take my time and enjoy the drive, bask in the remarkable weather and take in some scenery too.

Heading east out of Santa Fe on I-25, I jumped off at U.S. 285 south and proceeded south along a two lane ribbon of blacktop through cattle country.

Bordered by tawny, juniper and piñon studded pastures and the occasional red rocked butte, I found myself humming the “Rawhide” theme song, as I ripped down the road.

Some 50 miles later I rolled into the truck stop straddling I-40 at Clines Corner.

Gas was thirty cents a gallon more here and a quart of oil set me back something like five bucks, but the gift shop had the most amazing assortment of New Mexico trinkets I’d ever seen, so it was a wash.

I’d have to remember this place come Christmas time, I thought to myself as I headed over the interstate and continued south on 285.

Here the road opens up to two lanes each way and runs through some long, fast, flat stretches.

By now I’m listening to AM radio and the last of the right wing pundits who still don’t get it.

Thirty miles later I hit US 60 at the neat, little town of Encino and head east again, chasing a long freight train strung out along the plains.

At one point I jump off the highway and bounce down a narrow, rocky, two track heading down to the tracks. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a closeup picture of the lead engine bearing down the tracks toward me.

I arrived in a cloud of dust but I am just a few seconds too late. I could only watch as the cars lumbered by, the ground quivering under my feet as I take the opportunity to piss in the sand.

With the tinny squeal of the tracks fading, I lean against my little Jap Jeep and let the silence of the plains envelope me.

Out here the sweeping, uninterrupted grasslands dominate the faded, blue horizon, the only interruption, an occasional speck of a far off head of cattle.

I think what a bummer it would be to have to walk anywhere from here.

Back on the highway I soon cover the 20 miles to the town of Vaughn, a once thriving little railroad town that now looks like its just barely hanging on.

Here two rail lines intersect with one heading northeast and the other jogging south and later east again.

I continue east across the flatlands for a 60-mile dash to Fort Sumner, having lost my companion train to the countryside. But the map shows the tracks reconnecting with the roadway at the little town of Yeso.

I’ll stop here for lunch and get my picture.

I park behind what looks like an old hotel and what had once been the post office.

Leafless elms stand like silent sentries around the run down property. A lone wall made of small rocks leans precariously at an adjoining ruin.

Here I eat my sandwich as a light breeze plays through the open window, the dog leans out, reading the wind and then stares at me and my sandwich for a while.

I give her a potato chip, she bites it and it explodes across the seat.

The train finally arrives and I get my picture, once again enjoying the thrill of standing close to the thundering train as it screeches down the rails.


The conductor rewards my attendance with an extra blast of his lonesome sounding horn.

I return to my seat behind the wheel and shoot a picture of an empty rock house across the road. I wonder who lived here, what did they do and where have they gone?

The plains and abandoned buildings of Eastern New Mexico do that to you, make you stop and wonder.

I finally roll into Fort Sumner, visit their pretty little town hall on the hill, find the old railroad station, stop in at the Billy the Kid Museum for directions, check out his gravesite at another location and then make it over to the memorial.

The parking lot is empty but I can see they’re doing some construction inside so I walk into the building only to find the gift shop closed and no one around.

A lady comes out of a back office and says I can look around but I don’t have to pay because of all the inconveniences of the construction.

I read all the interpretive boards and feel ashamed to be white as I leave the place.

No wonder the Indians act the way they do sometimes, I think to myself.

I sure hope they bring a lot of kids here. Wren was right, we all need to see this.
The Fort Sumner museum at the Bosque Redondo memorial.

I take a quick detour to the Bosque Redondo Lake before heading off to Sumner Lake.

It looks like a great place to hide out for an afternoon and the sign says it’s stocked with 14- to 16-inch catfish with a bag limit of two.

The smell of cattle is thick along this bottomland, with little farms and pastures bordering the road leading back to town.

I finally made it out to Sumner Lake late in the afternoon, passing along the way a windmill farm, way off in the distance, gently producing electricity and hope.

“This is one of the best places for bank fishing and taking the kids,” Shawn Denny, Southeast Area Fisheries Manager for the state Department of Game and Fish says of Sumner Lake. “You can almost always catch something here.”

Sumner Lake has one of the highest fish densities in the state, second only to Caballo Reservoir and is well stocked with walleye, a particularly aggressive fish, a fine fighter and tasty too, Denny says.

Anglers will also find good populations of large and small mouth bass and crappie too, he added.

Denny is a 1995 New Mexico State University graduate with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management. He has been with the Department of Game and Fish for the past 12 years and has been the Southeast Area Fisheries Manager since 2001. He works out of the Roswell Office.

Denny says the primary food source for fish in the lake is crawdads.

“And with the warmer weather it won’t be long before they’ll be moving around and getting up into the shallows,” Denny said. “Then you’ll be able to really whack them (the fish).”

Denny says if the weather remains warm anglers can get a jump on the spring season and get into some really good fishing from now through the end of April.

A lone fisherman navigates his way across Sumner Lake.

The lake is productive all summer and into the fall too, he said.

Denny says good spots to fish include down by the gauging tower on the face of the dam, off the rocks in the cove opposite the dam and in the flats on the east side of the lake.

And if the wind gets up and pushes folks off the lake as it’s been know to do, anglers can hide out on the Pecos River below the dam.

The stilling basin there is chock full of trout and is regularly stocked with catchables every other week or so, Denny said.

Powerbait and salmon eggs are the choice of bait here, he said.

Some of these trout even sport cash tags which can earn a lucky angler a cash reward from the nearby Hide Away restaurant, bar, grill, tackle, grocery store, RV park and motel.

Proprietor Mary Sena said supporters chip in every year to tag fish with colored chips that can be redeemed at her store located by the state park entrance.

Yellow tags bring $10, red for $20 and a green tag will earn $50, she said.

Sena said they planted $250 worth of the fish this year and anglers have only redeemed $160 as of mid-February.

The Peco river emerges from below the dam at Sumner Lake.

Sena, a Vaughn native, said she and her husband have been in business at the lake for the past 35 years and absolutely love it.

“And we’ve had a beautiful winter so far this year,” she said.

Sena’s operation is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and provides visitors to the lake with most needs including nightcrawlers and minnows.

Visitors will also find plenty of camping at the state park including RV spots with electricity and a dump station and primitive lakeside tent sites for those seeking a more natural experience.

Sena’s bar overlooking the 2,800-acre lake is within easy walking distance of the camping areas.

Park Ranger Derek Drew says the weather and the fishing has been spectacular and anglers have reported seeing a lot of shad in the water thus minnows have been working well. Red curley tailed jigs sporting a nightcrawler have also worked well in deeper water where 16- to 24-inch walleye have been found lurking at about 20 feet, he said.

The author with a nice walleye.

The park features several boat ramps and docks for public use and the east side of the lake has been producing well for boaters, Drew said. However, those fishing from the bank have also experienced success especially down by the dam, he said.

There's also hiking and biking trails and plenty of wildlife viewing to be had at the Sumner Lake State Park.

For more information about the lake check out the state parks site website at www.emnrd.state.us

If you Go: Take I-40 out of Albuquerque to the US 84 turnoff to Fort Sumner. From Santa Fe take I-25 to US. 285 south to U.S. 60 to Fort Sumner and north of US 84 to the Sumner Lake turnoff. About 150 miles one way from Santa Fe.