San Miguel Above Placerville (Smith Fork)
Call (970) 249-0408 or stop by the shop at 317 E Main St. in downtown Montrose for gear, tips and/or advice.
<< Go To San Miguel River Map
River Section Description
This section of river is tighter, with a higher gradient. Numerous access points and pullouts along the river exist. Respect the homes and yard of land owners, especially in the Fall Creek area. A beautiful pocketwater fishery loaded with caddis and stoneflies. Browns and Rainbow primarily inhabit this fishery. It fishes well just out of the dead of winter to runoff, then after runoff subsides, late June or early July depending on snowpack, and well into the late fall.
Suggested Patterns
No fly pattern suggestions have been added for this river section at this time...
Helpful Hints / Local Tips
No helpful hints / local tips have been added for this river section at this point.
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Local Angler Reports
San Miguel River Sections
Updated: Sep 03 at 3:07 PM
- Good
Click on a section below for the full fishing report...
Above Placerville & South Fork
- Good
Clarity: Fair but Fishable
Hot Flies: Use dry attractor patterns such as Foam Caddis, Renegades, Irresistibles and small Stimulators with a #16 bh dropper. Pulsating Caddis, Killer Caddis, Copper Johns, Rubber-legged hare's ears and Princes are good choices for droppers
Hot Flies: Use dry attractor patterns such as Foam Caddis, Renegades, Irresistibles and small Stimulators with a #16 bh dropper. Pulsating Caddis, Killer Caddis, Copper Johns, Rubber-legged hare's ears and Princes are good choices for droppers
Near Placerville : 120 cfs
Full Report:
Monsoons are causing the San Miguel to muddy up in the late afternoons and evenings. Check the cfs graphs for steep spikes. If the graphs shows only small rises in the flows, go the next morning and fish dry caddis with a bh pulsating caddis dropper.