Two miles of public access for shore or wade angling at numerous access sites along the Pagosa River-walk

Two boating access points for deployment or pickup of rafts (see map)

Seasonal restrooms availa-ble at Town and Yamagu-chi Parks

Guided wade or float fish-ing available from several local guide services.

For additional info about local amenities and ser-vices, visit the Pagosa Springs web site at: www.townofpagosasprings.com

Rainbow Trout

95% of fish captured are Rainbow Trout. Since the Town of Pagosa Springs started it’s quality fishing program it is not uncommon to capture 3-5 lb rainbow in the 20-25 inch range after stocking

Brown Trout

Brown Trout make up a smaller percentage of the catch but provide a quality angling experience in the fall during the spawning season (October—mid No-vember)

From US 160 and 84 Highway in-tersection downstream to Apache

St. Bridge

Bag and possession limit is 2 trout.

Above and Below Pagosa Reach (see above)

Standard bag limit for trout is 4 per day and 8 in possession. Mostly private land above and below access by raft or drift boat only.

General Information: The San Juan River , running through the scenic town of Pagosa Springs, provides the angler with an opportunity to capture quality rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout while the family soaks in the riv-erside Hot Spring pools. Public access is very good for bank, wade, or float fishing on this 2 mile reach of river. Although mostly private, float fishing opportunities exist for another 16 miles downstream under higher water flow conditions.

Location: Archuleta County. Reach starts at the intersection of US 160 and Highway 84 down to Apache Street Bridge (see map) in Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Primary Management: Coldwater angling

Survey Data: Angler Use and Fish Sampling Info on Page 3

San Juan River, Pagosa Springs

FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT INFORMATION Jim White - Aquatic Biologist

Durango Service Center, j.white@state.co.us, (970) 375-6712

Regulations Amenities Sportfishing Notes

2018 & 2019

3,128 rainbow catchables each year and 10,000 Brown Trout fingerlings

10,000 whirling disease resistant rainbow fingerlings

The Town of Pagosa Springs also supplements CPW stocking with up to 2,000 catchable trout ranging from 10-16 inches

Previous Stocking

San Juan River in Pagosa Springs

Raft launch behind “Malt

Shoppe”

Take out on S end

of Yamaguchi Park

San Juan River

San Juan River in Pagosa

ANGLER USE AND FISH SAMPLING INFORMATION Jim White– Aquatic Biologist

Durango Service Center

Year

All Trout (number

of fish/mi)

Biomass-RBT*

(lbs/ac)

Biomass-LOC*

(lbs/ac)

Biomass-All Trout (lbs/ac)

BRN>14 in

(fish/ac)

RBT>14 in

(fish/ac)

All Trout>14in

(fish/ac)

2005 693 19 21 40 12 29 41

2007 1134 41 19 60 14 2 16

2010 526 21 7 28 1 1 2

2013 541 31 16 47 5 4 9

2019* 278 20 4 24 10 5 15

*RBT = Rainbow Trout; LOC = Brown Trout. Fish data obtained by a “mark and recapture” effort using a raft electrofishing boat with a “throwable”

anode. *2019 survey was a 1,000 foot section; river level too low to survey from 2014-2019.

TOP LEFT GRAPH:

Rainbow Trout were the most abundant fish collected

during the 2019 survey.

Rainbows ranged from 4.5 (stocked fingerlings) to 18

inches.

The most abundant size class of Rainbow Trout were

fish in the 10-11 inch range suggesting these were

primarily stocked fish.

The rainbows in the 7-8 inch range are wild fish as are

the fish greater than 12 inches.

BOTTOM LEFT GRAPH:

Raft electrofishing requires flows in early September

greater than 100 cubic feet per second or cfs.

Despite the extraordinary wet winter of 2018/2019,

flows in the San Juan River still dropped below 100 cfs

by late August (dark blue line).

Drought years like 2018 (gold line) are tough on trout.

Water temperatures in the San Juan during the sum-

mer months when flows are less than 50 cfs can ex-

ceed 75F.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2.2

3.0

3.7

4.5

5.3

6.1

6.9

7.7

8.5

9.3

10

.0

10

.8

11

.6

12

.4

13

.2

14

.0

14

.8

15

.6

16

.3

17

.1

17

.9

18

.7

19

.5

Nu

mb

er o

f fi

sh

Total Length (in)

2019 Rainbow Trout in Control Section

10

100

1000

Aug

1

Aug

3

Au

g 5

Au

g 7

Aug

9

Aug

11

Au

g 13

Au

g 15

Au

g 17

Aug

19

Au

g 21

Au

g 23

Au

g 25

Aug

27

Aug

29

Au

g 31

Sep

2

Sep

4

Sep

6

Sep

8

Sep

10

CFS

Month_Day

San Juan River Discharge

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

San Juan River in Pagosa

ANGLER USE AND FISH SAMPLING INFORMATION

Management Notes — Fish populations in the San Juan River through Pagosa are primarily sustained though annual stocking of fingerling rainbow and Brown Trout as well as catchable Rainbow Trout. The Town of Pago-sa Springs has been very proactive in developing a quality fishery through this reach by funding and stocking trophy trout and obtaining grants and constructing pools and cover boulders for fish. Periodically, CPW assesses angler success and attitudes by conducting a “Creel Census”. A creel census was done in 2001 revealing that approximately 2,140 anglers captured a total of 3,770 fish between July 1st and September 30th for a catch rate of 1.57 fish per hour. 95% of the catch were Rainbow Trout and 79% of those trout were released back into the river.

The San Juan River also supports a robust population of native fish species, particularly Bluehead Sucker. Na-tive fishes (or non-game fish) must be returned to the water immediately.

Electrofishing in un-improved habitat

reach

Quality Brown Trout near Hot Springs

Resort in Downtown Pagosa Springs

Electrofishing in improved habitat Reach