New Mexico Fly Fishing Blog

Water flow below Sumner Lake is presently 82cfs.

Fishing is fair-to-good using salmon eggs, power bait, worms and corn for trout.

Anglers are reminded that there are tagged fish in this area and if caught
should be taken to the park office.

More cold and snowy weather kept me off the river in the first half of February. On 2/17 I fished with Joe at the confluence and unbeknownst to us we were behind another angler. Water temp was 48-52* and we did see a few Caddis but no rising fish.. On 2/20, a warm and overcast day and water at 52* at 11am. I got a few nice fish but it was slow and there were few bugs..On 2/22 I fished with Rita and water temps were from 52-56* and a fair amount of bugs {Caddis-Mayflies}. Some of the Browns we got were very skinny…We didn’t see any spawners..On 2/25 I fished alone and water temps were 52-55*. Fishing was slow and fish seemed to be holding deeper and reluctant to elevate. Water level is also up a bit but clear..We have had some -0* nights and this may explain the skinny fish as they weren’t around the last time we had a winter like this. On 2/26 with water temps 50-55* we had a good day especially after the Mayflies came off at 1pm..The Mayfly emerger fished as a dropper worked well during the hatch and the Caddis larva later..On 2/29 Rita fished alone . She saw some nice fish but they weren’t interested…Slow day.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

More snow this year and it almost seems like old times with nighttime temps below 0* and some good snow in the mountains..We really need this moisture. I fished alone on 1/7 and water temp was 48-50*.. There was a nice Mayfly hatch at 1pm and fish were active for a while. On 1/10 it was warm and sunny and I fished with a client and water temp was 46-50* and we saw some spawners..Fair fishing..D&D…On 1/29 I fished with Rita and the trails were a little sloppy from more snow the past few weeks. There were a bunch of other anglers around so we didn’t fish long..Fair on droppers especially Mayfly emerger.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

The only day I fished this month was 12/4..Water was low and clear and 52* at 1pm. Lots of Cutbo spawners but they seemed to have lockjaw..I did get one 18″er and a couple of Browns to 14″ on droppers.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

On 11/5 I fished alone by the Hatchery for a few hours.I saw some big Browns spawning..On 11/17 I fished with Sam and we got into some nice fish. He got 2 Browns,18″ & 20″ and some good residents 12-14″.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

10/21 with Joe and Rita..Conditions excellent but fishing was slow…Best fish Joe’s 14″ Brown..With clients on 10/30 conditions again great, 15/45cfs and 54-60* but fishing slow.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Flows in August were about 50cfs {State Line}but temps got into the high 60*s by mid afternoon and fishing dropped off. Not prime yet. September was excellent with flows about 60cfs and Rita camped at Big Arsenic for 5 days{ 9/25-9/30}and fished up and down a mile or so and caught over 200 fish {guesstimate}. Again D&D combos were the best method to hit the smaller pocket water that holds some nice fish. She got a few Cutbos to 20″ but mostly Browns 13-18″. October was windy on most days which made fishing more difficult but the first half of the month was great on calm days. We got some snow around the middle of the month and it seemed to slow fishing considerably.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Flows remained at 20cfs thru the middle of the month and by the 15th the Browns were actively spawning on the Cita. The Trico hatch continued in the morning and fishing was steady most days with no drop off in the afternoon. We saw a Bald Eagle take a real nice Brown off of a redd. I guess he didn’t know it was all Catch+Release there.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

I fished alone on 9/18 and flow 25/55cfs and 57* at 11am. Water was murky from big rain a few days ago and fishing slow…On 9/23 I fished with Rita, 20/50cfs and 54-62*..Good day but not great.. Water still off-color from big rain.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

The lows were back to a manageable 20cfs early in the month and with cooler temps fishing picked up. There was a nice Trico hatch about 9am most mornings anf fish were taking a Para-Adams #18.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Flows remained the same {30-60cfs}and very low on weekends {10cfs}. The water got murky but not as bad as last year. Low flows combined with fishing pressure made for a poor month on the Costilla. Temperatures were again in the high 60*s on sunny days and also contributed to slow fishing. They shut off the flow on 9/5.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Flows remained at 35cfs for the first week of August and fishing was good on Caddis patterns. On 8/6 flows increased to 60cfs and this was too high to fish in the Public section but was quite good down on the Cita where the water can spread out a little. On 8/12 the flow increased again to 93cfs and wading was impossible in the Public water and a few of the beaver dams in the Quality Water blew out and made the lower river too murky to fish. On 8/20 with the flow reading on the internet at 15cfs I was driving down to the Cita and the flow looked considerably larger than even the 93cfs last week. We fished the Cita all morning and at lunch lots of dirty water came down and ruined our afternoon. It takes 5 hours for water to get from the dam to Ute Park. Flow was up to 150cfs as Raton and Springer were having trouble with their domestic water supplies.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Rita is back from Spain and the fish were glad to see her. We fished on 7/12 and flow was 21/51 and tems 64-66*….She had about 75 hookups, Browns 10-12″ and a few to 14″..Moth-Caddis…D*D.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Flows were a little better than last year {30-60cfs} but with the fishing pressure this stream gets the fish got real spooky in a hurry. We caught a lot of fish but they were mostly small {6-10″} and even in the faster water fishing was slow.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

I didn’t fish here in the first half of the month as flows were low {10cfs} and temps high {high 60*s}. In the last week of July flows were up to 35cfs and fishing improved on Caddis patterns with a cased Caddis dropper. We started using a longer dropper {24″} and that seemed to work well in the afternoon. We got some welcome clouds and rain in the last week of the month also.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

On 7/4 we had a great day on the Hamilton Lease at 140cfs. Wading was tough but we got some nice fish as the Drake hatch started about 10am and seemed to go on all day. We didn’t use a dropper all day and the fish were real busy on top to those big dries {Gr. Drake #10}. On 7/18 we fished the Pinnacles at 110cfs and it was just manageable as to wading and we got some nice fish {mostly Browns} on on Caddis #12 with a Copper John dropper #14.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Fished Conejos area 7/18-7/21/03. Day 1: Conejos river below menkhaven & @ south fork, caught several small browns and 1 cutthroat on EHC, stimulators, and prince nymphs. Fishing slow, water temps getting pretty high, better near south fork than down low. Day 2: Elk Creek (1st and 2nd Meadows). Fishing was tough due to low, crystal clear water. Fish could see you coming a mile away. Hands and Knees in the grass, I was able to get a couple of decent browns on EHC, and small Adams dry flies. It was very cloudy and light rain, the meadows were an amazing sight in this sort of weather…truly breathtaking. Day 3: High Mountain lake, (10,130′ elevation)..I’m keeping the name of the lake to myself…Fishing was EXCELLENT for 11-13″ brookies on bobbers and flies using spin tackle. The fish had amazing colors and hooked lower jaws that stuck out past their upper jaws. The last fish of the night was a 14″ Cutthroat, beautiful and golden, with sparse spots near the tail. ALL IN ALL, A GRAND SLAM, between the 3 fishing locales we caught all 4 species of trout in 1 weekend…another awesome weekend in conejos country.

First day with clear water after the spring runoff first of July Arrived in the early morning below Hwy 17 and the bridge over Conejos 8 am. I say early because the sun does not hit the water till 9am due to the mountains overhead. On first inspection of the water there were no rises occurring, but did notice some browns taking nymphs just below the surface. I inspected the trees and found a good hatch of stone flies hanging around. And a huge population of mosquitoes began forming on the river edge. So, I started with a prince nymph and caught a couple of nice 14 inch browns. By 9:30 small groups of Spinners were overhead and began to see an occasional boil. By 10 am we had huge Stone flies touching the surface. An incredible hatch over 20 fish caught from 12 to 20 inches. I lost so many huge pigs, that I had to redo my tippet 3 times. I Lost 5 flies to some of the bigger fish. By 12:15 the Stones cleared and took an occasional fish on a 16 Blue Dun. The river became very quiet by 1pm. Needless to say I had a soar arm and a depleted fly box. In all, flies with Light grey pattern, medium hackle, and size 16 to 14 did best. Over the next 2 weeks I did well but not as well as that day. Look for the end of the runoff and give the water a few days to clear. Then watch for the big Stone hatch around the first of July.

More Conejos river experiences to come.

Flows were 15-25cfs most of the month and water temps were getting into the mid 60*s by mid afternoon. Fishing was excellent with Stimulator #12 as the Stonefly hatch was in full bloom. On 6/17 a client took a 17″ Brown on the Cita with a dry Stone. In late June flows dropped to around 10cfs and you had to cast long to not spook the fish. Temps were a problem on sunny days in the afternoon.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Again not much of a snowpack this year with minimal runoff and very little water stored in Platoro. Flows were 125cfs in the Pinnacles and 260cfs in Mogote. Tough wading in the Pinnacles but fishing on the Flywater along Hiway #17 was good especially during the Geen Drake hatch from 11am-2pm on most days castin to rising fish. It was only fair early and late.

New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Good numbers of Rainbows caught on power Baits.
Largest Rainbow 15 inches.