New Mexico Fly Fishing Blog

Red River Fly Fishing Reports November 1999 The Browns are right on time and I saw the first ones working redds on 11/2. This year they finished their spawning by 11/15 and seemed to disappear back to the Rio Grande and the second half of the month was not very...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports December 1999 Some snow and some cold nights [0* 10*].I saw a few Cutbos in the Red in late November but they were really active thru this month and the afternoon Mayfly hatch is the main event for resident fish..Just before Xmas it got...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports January 2000 No snow and warm days in the 50*s as the drought continues. Skiers are crying but there have been some good Mayfly hatches on warm days in the afternoon. Best action on Para-Adams #14 and droppers [ Caddis larva & Mayfly...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports February 2000 I saw the first Caddis on 2/1, the earliest I ever seen seen them on the Red. Its been exceptionally warm and very little precipitation. Fish have been very active on the surface and I have been fishing a straight dry...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports September 2000 Our summer rains have subsided and as the water cleared the fishing picked up from 9/15 thru the rest of the month on the usual patterns..Best : Moth and a caddis dropper. Ed Adams New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Questa, New...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports November 2000 On 11/1 I fished the Red with my daughter and the Browns have moved up out of the Rio Grande and Rita got a 19" Brown among a bunch of other nice fish.. The bigger Browns were done and gone back to the Rio Grande by 11/20...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports December 2000 Warm and dry weather and water low and clear. Cutbos are in the system and spawning but with low and clear conditions they were real spooky. On 12/2 a client got 3 Cutbos over 17" and on 12/21 another got a 21" and a 20"...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports February 2001 There has been a little more snow than the past 2 years but the Red remains low and clear..On 2/6 a client fishing a nymph-egg combo { his choice} got 10 Cutbos over 16"..On 2/13 with a front moving in we did fair with Dry &...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports March 2001 On 3/2 there were a lot more Caddis and a few small Stones as well as the usual Mayflies {#14 Para-Adams}. It was good early but slowed considerably at mid-day. It picked up again later and client got a 19" Cutbo and a 16"...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports June 2001 I fished alone on 6/16 and water still high but clear. 110/140cfs. The first number is the reading in town {Questa}and the second is below the springs at the Hatchery. I haven't fished this level for a few years and high water...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports August 2001 I fished with Rita on 8/24 and 8/30 and flows continue to be up 30/60cfs from summer rains which is good as these flows get those better fish out from under those rocks..Caddis-Moth and dropper...Fishing was consistantly good...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports September 2001 9/4 was my last chance to fish with Rita before she returns to school in Spain and we had one of our best days together on the Red..Flow was 28/58cfs and we got lots of fish...My best a 17" Cutbo and Rita 2 16"...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports November 2001 On 11/1 fishing was steady but we didn't see any bigger Browns up for their annual spawn..On 11/18 fishing started well but we ran into a couple of other anglers and it was slow after that..You don't want to fish behind...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports December 2001 On 12/3 we saw a number of Cutbos spawning and picked an 18"er off a redd on a dropper and then got another from the same spot that turned out to be a 17" Brown..On 12/10 there was a nice Mayfly hatch in the early afternoon...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports February 2002 Another mild winter with very little snow. I fished on 2/19 and was a bit rusty but I did see a bunch of fish.. On 2/23 I saw some Caddis and a few small Stones but fishing was poor almost like someone was ahead of me but I...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports March 2002 On 3/12 I fished with son, Joe and altho there were lots of Caddis, Stones and Mayflies fishing was again poor..Maybe the extended drought is finally affecting this stream????On 3/18 I fished alone and it was better than 3/12....

Red River Fly Fishing Reports May 2002 Runoff a non-event again this year and water everywhere very low. On 5/6 flow was 12/42cfs and I don't usually fish the Red much in May but I spotted a couple of larger Stoneflies flitting around and one landed on my hat. I had...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports October 2002 I fished with son Sam on 10/16 and water temp was 58* at 11am. Water was low and had a blue tint that we used to see when Molycorp was really cranking out the ore. We got a lot of small fish {6"} and a few to 12" but fishing...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports November 2002 I fished alone on 11/7 and water temp was 58* at 11am. Again lots of smaller fish. On 11/13 there were a lot of spawners about and I got a 23" Brown off a redd [one my nicest Red River Browns].. Some big Cutbos around...

Red River Fly Fishing Reports January 2003 I fished alone on 1/7 and broke the tip on my bush rod going in. I fished anyway and caught a few fish..Water temp 48-52* over the day. On 1/17 I fished close to the Hatchery and temp was 53* and fishing fair on D&D combo.....

Red River Fly Fishing Reports February 2003 On 2/3 I fished with a client and he fished nymphs for spawners on a cold and blustery day. He got 2 nice fish, an 18" Cutbo and another 17". Temps were 48-53*...On 2/17 I fished alone and the river seemed dead so I walked...