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.
New Mexico Fly Fishing Reports
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 07/16/2003
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.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 06/25/2003
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.
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 06/25/2003
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.
Eagle Nest Lake Fly Fishing Report 06/09/2003
Good numbers of Rainbows caught on power Baits.
Largest Rainbow 15 inches.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 05/25/2003
Flows were 23cfs in the last week of the month and temps were good at 53-58*. I saw a few Stoneflies on 5/24 and we got a few on the Stimulator #12 but its not Prime yet.
Rio Grande Fly Fishing Report 04/25/2003
First Caddis spotted in Pilar on 4/2. In April flows were 80-120cfs and fishing was great in the Box thru May. On Good Friday, 4/18, a client got a 21″ Brown on a Prince nymph early in the day and 2 18″ Browns later on Caddis dries. Lots of top water action later in the day and we took a bunch of Browns 13-18″. I didn’t see any noticeable damage to fish from continued low flows and all fish were fat and healthy. Water temps remained in the low 60*s until June and fishing continued excellent.. D&D { Moth and Caddis larva dropper} or a double nymph rig {weighted large nymph with a Caddis dropper} worked well.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 03/25/2003
On 3/3, the first sunny day in aweek, water temp was 51* at 11am and fishing great all day..D&D early and dries later [Caddis]..On 3/6 we fished lower in the canyon and temp was 49* at 10am and fishing was fair with long dry spells…On 3/7 I fished closer to the Hatchery and water temp was 55* at 11am and fishing was excellent all day..Small Prince nyph worked well as a dropper..On 3/13 I had a real good day. Water temp 50-58* ..Lots of 10-12″ Browns..I fell and banged my knee and it got infected which kept me off the stream for a couple of weeks..On 3/31 I fished with a client and fishing was good and there were lots of bugs..Fish weren’t everywhere but there were enough.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 02/25/2003
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 upstream and discovered a friend fishing ahead of me..We fished up together and it was great. Lots of caddis and Mayflies..Fish very active.. Best day so far this year..On 2/24 I fished alone on a cold and windy day..Not many bugs and fishing only fair.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 01/25/2003
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.. On 1/20 I saw some Mayflies and a few spawners but water got muddy in the afternoon and later I drove up above Questa and saw that Molycorp was doing some backhoe work near the stream and causing discolored water in the canyon..On 1/28 we had the best fishing since November…Very good Mayfly hatch and the emerger worked well as a dropper..Browns 10-13″ and a couple of Cutbos 16″..On 1/31 it was not as good as 1/28 but fish were looking up..It slowed later in the day.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 11/25/2002
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 too..On 11/21 flow was 9/39cfs and most of the big Browns are gone back to the bigger water in the Rio..Mostly small fish today..On 11/26 I fished alone and had a good day. Not as many big fish but more in the 12-14″ range than I’ve seen in a while.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 10/25/2002
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 was poor..Reminds me of the old days when those Molycorp pipes used to break and send that bad water into the Red..On 10/21 I fished closer to the Hatchery and flow was 11/41cfs and 62* at 11am…Fishing was still off but better than 10/16.