Recs for San Juan guide

[Tele'ndaboat]

Want to float the San Juan in April. Any guide recs? Wife's 40th and this will be our first guided float trip.

[Ernest_Hemingway]

We have stayed before at Soaring Eagle Lodge and my wife enjoys the skill and humor of their guides. Also, if you stay with them you can fish their property when your wife decides she would rather read a book or write her lover. They will offer an assortment of advice and fly wisdom but if you prefer to just fish with your favorite fly (in my case a Yellow Sally) they are fine with that, as well.

There are so many guide boats bumping into each other it's like a homecoming dance at a school for the blind but everyone seems to manage to hook a lot of large fish. Your wife will enjoy it.

[plugboots]

I've fished with John Tavenner http://www.sandstoneanglers.com/index.asp a few times. Floating the lower river is a nice way to see fewer people.

[Tele'ndaboat]

Thanks guys. I'll check these out.

[LeeC]

http://www.fly-fish.com/
The best there is..No floats though

[SWskier]

Stay in Durango and book a trip with Brian at San Juan Angler for the Juan. Animas should fish well in April as well.

[NMmatt]

Lots of good guide choices, I have never used a guide on the Juan so I can't say one way or the other. I'll just throw out there that the river is very low right now, and will be for the foreseeable future unless we get a shitload of snow the next two months. In order to recover Navajo Lake, the BOR will be keeping the flows as low as possible, which depend on minimum flows way downstream for endangered fish species. What this means in the quality waters is flows as low as 250 cfs, 350 pretty common and less than 500 almost for certain unless there are major changes.

FWIW, I wouldn't really be into paying to float the river at 250, and 350 is marginal for floating IMO. Fishing can still be great, but wading seems like a better option to me. Keep an eye on the flows.