Including the 16-inch rainbow I caught on a black midge at Three Island Run, just beyond Texas Hole. The fish put up a good fight, taking nearly 10 minutes to land before Bailey gently returned it to the river.

This catch looked nothing like the ones shown in "A River Runs Through It." For starters, we cast just once and used a dead drift.

"It's the Hollywood thing, casting back and forth a lot," Bailey says. "You do that on some rivers, but not here and not as often as they do. They had a lot of line out. You don't really need to cast that far for trout.

"The presentation, how you drift the fly in the current, is way more important than the correct fly."

We cast just a few feet and had a nice mend in the line. Then it's a matter of watching the strike indicator.

"The reason you mend is if that indicator drags unnaturally, the fish usually won't hit it," Bailey says. "You want to have a dead drift here with an S curve and slack in the line. ... A lot of rivers you'll have a guide tight line, and you'll feel the fish nibble. Here, the fish don't grab it like that. All they're doing is staying in one spot, opening their mouth, grabbing the fly. They're not running with it or running to get it. They're very lazy here."

A short time later, there's a brown on the line. A couple of inches smaller and with a little less fight, but it's still a nice catch.

The San Juan lived up to its reputation this day, and not just because of the fishing. As we glide downstream, there is beauty all around, from the sandstone and shale rock outcroppings to such wildlife as goslings, swallows and kingfishers.

It's easy to see why New Mexico's nickname is Land of Enchantment.

"This part of New Mexico, the Four Corners and southwest Colorado, is hard to beat if you like the outdoors," Bailey says.