FISHING: NEW MEXICO WORTH THE WADE.

Byline: BILL BECHER

The last time I joined a group I'd met on the Internet, I found myself paddling a kayak to Anacapa Island. This time the plan is to catch big trout on the San Juan River in New Mexico.

Willi Loehman, from Fort Collins, Colo., doesn't look like a Web-surfing computer nerd. He sports a stylish mustache and looks for fish with the crinkly eyes that come from staring into the far Western distances. Loehman, who got his nickname from the character in the Arthur Miller play, is a seducer of trout. That's his rep on rec.outdoors.fishing.fly, a UseNet group that posts messages about fly-fishing.

Known as ``ROFF,'' this group asks questions, trades fishing tips and occasionally argues heatedly about the fine points of fly-fishing. A few years ago they decided to get together at conclaves, soon shortened to ``claves,'' to meet face to face and enjoy some fishing.

Eight anglers met for the winter clave at the San Juan River. This classic Western tailwater trophy-trout fishery used to provide habitat mostly for minnows and suckers. When the Navajo Dam was built in the late 1950s, it chilled the water to trout-friendly temperatures, creating a year-round trout fishery below the dam for several miles. The four-mile section below the dam is called the ``Quality Water,'' and not because upper-crust fly-fishers fish it but rather for the extremely good fishing here.

New Mexico Game and Fish biologist Mark Wethington says about 80,000 trout populate the Quality Water, producing about a 20,000-fish-per-mile count. The fish feed mostly on midge larva and pupa and on aquatic worms and the occasional baetis mayfly in the winter. Scuds, a tiny freshwater shrimplike creature, also provide winter food.

Summer produces hatches of caddis and some stoneflies and PMDs. Resident brown trout are self-sustaining, but rainbows reproduce poorly here, so they are supplemented with about 60,000 planted rainbow trout. Last year the fish came from a Northern California hatchery, a feisty cross of Eagle Lake, Donaldson and steelhead fish. In previous years, some Snake River cutthroats were stocked, and some of their genes might be present in self-reproducing cutt-bows, according to Wethington.

Because Whirling disease has been found in the San Juan, Game and Fish has increased the size of the stocked trout slightly to about 4 to 5 inches. Larger fish might test positive for the disease, which has severely impacted other Western fisheries, but they don't exhibit the impacts of the disease. The fish grow quickly, as much as an inch a month in peak season, according to Wethington.

This is the place I caught my first fish over 20 inches and where trout 17 to 18 inches are average. The San Juan Worm, a thin hunk of orange or red chenille or chamois tied to a hook fools a lot of fish. But you also need to use tiny flies, as small as size 28, which are about the size of the word ``fly'' in this sentence. And when a big rainbow takes one of these, he's in charge. You have to apply side pressure with your rod to try to keep him out of the fast water, but too much and the hook straightens or pulls out.

As a big female bow heads toward a big rock in the main channel section of the river, I palm the reel to apply some brake and manage to turn the fish away from the rock. It heads downstream quickly and I scramble along the bank after it.

``Mind if I fish through?'' I say to the guy below me.

``No problem,'' he says. ``I'd like to see that football-sized fish.''

He nets the fish for me and it's a fat 19-inch hen in bright colors. The football analogy is a fisherman's exaggeration, but the trout here ``have shoulders'' as they say. The bright New Mexico sun has warmed the air temperature from the 19 degrees when we woke up; it might hit a balmy 45 today. The water stays at a numbing 40 degrees, enough to make you wonder where your feet went after a couple of hours of wading, even in neoprene waders and extra thermal underwear.

We release the fish, which bears small scars on the side of its mouth from previous encounters with fishermen. Wethington says a large percentage of San Juan fish have been caught numerous times. Most fish caught are rainbows or browns.

There are some clouds in the future of this fishery, according to Wethington. Competing water interests - developers, municipalities, four Native American tribes and local industry - want more water. This could mean halving winter flows to 250 cubic feet per second, with a possible negative impact on the trout.

The river's previous occupants, the Colorado pike minnow and razorback sucker are now on the endangered-species list. Already, higher spring flows, as much as 5,000 cubic feet per second, are released to mimic natural spring conditions for these natives, but that means less water for the rest of the year.

Overhead, a vee of Canada geese fly by; the hills sparkle with a dusting of snow. We also see a bald eagle, a species that has staged a comeback in this area, soaring over the river.

Fishing is tough on this trip. There's not much of a bug hatch and the fish seem especially sluggish in the cold, slightly murky water. But we do see some classic San Juan River sights: big fish swimming in the shallows with their backs out of the water like submarines running on the surface.

Fish stack up below your feet, feeding on the larva and worms you kick up from the bottom as you wade. It's not legal or sporting to fish for them, though they do tend to frustrate anglers having a slow day.

This is not the place for fishermen seeking solitude. Even on a winter weekend, the parking lot at Texas Hole, so named for the large number of Texas license plates seen here, is half full. Some of the fish skulking in the shallows are covered with fungal infections, the result of poor handling by anglers. But the fish are big.

Wethington says the turnover in the lake with the resulting cloudy water negatively impacts fishing for a while, so we have an excuse for not catching too many fish. But Loehman is hauling them in, even on dry flies.

Later we see a muskrat swimming across the river, and a large beaver building a den on the lower section of the river. Mornings are crisp. The thin crust of ice that has formed in the shallows cracks as we wade toward prime fishing spots such as Baetis Bend or Lunker Alley.

There's diversity in the backgrounds of this group brought together by the Internet: a retired computer scientist, a retired LAPD officer, a former U.S. Marine preparing for law school and a physics professor.

``The thing that gave me the most pleasure,'' says Loehman, a dog trainer, ``was to see the growth in fly-fishing skills of a couple of the participants. ... They have progressed to the point that they were able to catch fussy fish on a large river in difficult, murky water conditions. ... Great to see!''

IF YOU FISH

--General info: Mike Mora's excellent Web site is entirely devoted to the San Juan River and has fishing reports, flow report, maps, tips, suggested flies and much more: www.ifly4trout.com.

--Getting there: You can fly to Albuquerque Airport. From there to Navajo Dam is 190 miles (about 3 1/2 hours). The drive from L.A. is 850 miles, about 16 hours.

--When to fish: You can catch trout year-round there. Winter is less pressured. Angler success rates are highest in June and July, but temperatures can hit the 90s. Avoid the spring release when flows can top 5,000 cubic feet per second.

--Access: The lot closest to the dam was closed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks for security reasons, but there are three other fee parking lots ($4 per day). The ``Texas Hole'' parking lot features handicapped access ramps and fishing platforms. Most of the river is wadable, but some use pontoon boats.

--Lodging, food and guides: Abe's is the original fly shop, restaurant, outfitter and motel catering to fishermen, [phone], www.sanjuanriver.com; Float 'n' Fish, [phone], has a well-stocked shop and guide service; Duranglers is the closest shop and outfitter to the river, [phone], www.duranglers.com; Rizuto's has guides, shop and rooms, [phone], www.rizutos.net, as does the Rainbow Lodge, [phone], www.sanjuanfishing.com.

--Camping: The Pine River Campground overlooking the lake above the dam has space for tents, campers and RVs with electric hookups, phone, heated bathrooms and hot showers. Ten bucks a night, $14 with electric hookup. Camping fee also covers parking fee at the river. The Pine River facilities have been updated and this is a nice place to camp. Lower down on the river is the Cottonwood Campground. Abe's and the Sportsman's Inn also have RV camping sites.

--Regulations: Fishing is permitted year round on the San Juan. The first 3 3/4 miles below the dam are designated a special trout water. Only flies and artificial lures are allowed with a single barbless hook. The first quarter-mile downstream from the dam is catch-and-release only. In the remaining 3 1/2 miles of the Quality Water section, you can only keep one fish if it's more than 20 inches. If you keep that big fish, you're done fishing unless you fish the catch-and-release section or go below the Quality Water section where the normal limit of six trout over 6 inches applies and bait fishing is allowed.

--The San Juan shuffle: It is illegal to disturb or dislodge aquatic plants, sediment or rocks for the purpose of attracting or concentrating fish. It is also illegal to fish in the immediate vicinity (downstream of your feet) or where such a disturbance has occurred. A New Mexico fishing license is required for everyone over 12 years old. Annual, one- and five- day nonresident licenses are sold at local fly shops.

--Gear: A 9-foot, five-weight rod is standard artillery here. Don't forget chest waders, even in summer, as the water is cold. Studded wading boots and a collapsible staff can help keep you upright. A landing net with a big opening to scoop your trophy is a good idea. Make sure it has fish- friendly soft weave to minimize damage to fish. A 9-foot 5X leader with a yarn or small cork indicator is good for nymphing when the water is cloudy; when it's clear go to 6X and for dry fly-fishing. Don't forget polarized sunglasses, suntan lotion and some warm layers.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Willi Loehman, a dog trainer from Fort Collins, Colo., wades deep into New Mexico's San Juan River, home to browns, rainbows and other species of trout. The ``Quality Water'' section has extremely good fishing.

(2) Mu Young Lee of Thousand Oaks appraises a rainbow trout while wading up to his waist in the frigid San Juan River.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News