On 8/2 the flow was 47cfs {State Line} and Rita landed a 22″ Cutbo in the Box that weighed about 6lbs. Water temps were 64-66* and it was cloudy with a light rain. The flows this Fall are lower than I have ever seen and altho fishing was great I am concerned about long term effects on the fish especially the Cutbos which are more sensitive to habitat changes.. Fishing remained great thru Oct and success didn’t seem to depend on pattern or method of fishing. We fished mostly D&D {dry and dropper} this Fall as low flows brought the better fish closer to the surface.Anglers who fished nymphs didn’t do any better and you can’t fish some of the smaller pocket water with those rigs. Fishing pressure was less than last year but still a problem. Croosing over to the west side was again a good idea.
New Mexico Fly Fishing Reports
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 09/25/2002
I only fished the Cita on 9/2 & 9/6 as the Rio Grande turned on early this year. Flows were 20cfs and we had a nice Trico {Para-Adams #18} hatch in the morning. Afternoon fishing picked up as the temps improved.
Rio Costilla Fly Fishing Report 08/25/2002
By August the Resevoir was almost empty and the outflow was was murky with lots of debris in the stream. Water temps got into the high 60*s for the first time in my memory. Fishing was poor and they shut off the flow on 9/4.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 07/25/2002
Rita is back from Spain and we fished on 7/20..Water was a bit off-color from recent rains and 60* at 10am. It got up to 68* mid-afternoon and fishing fell off for a while. It got cloudy later and water cooled a couple of degrees and fishing picked up..Rita got some nice fish. D&D.
Rio Costilla Fly Fishing Report 07/25/2002
Long term drought has drasticly reduced water levels in Costilla Resevoir. Flows in July never got above 30cfs but water was clear and fishing fair thru the month on dry flies {Stimulator-Caddis -PMDs}.Lots of fishing pressure and low flows made for tough fishing.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 07/25/2002
Flows were between 10-20cfs most of the month and I was on the Cita a lot. We got welcome clouds on most days but the temps still crept over 70* a few times. The best fishing was in the morning and up to 2pm and again after 6pm til dark.Caddis was the dry fly this month and as the water temp got over 65* we added a dropper.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 07/25/2002
Flows increased and stayed between 20-40cfs as the downstream farmers neede their irrigation water.. Fishing was greater than I expected this month as maybe the Brown trout are acclimating to the higher temps. Last year when it got up to 68* it was time to quit but this year fishing was fair to 70* with droppers. The fish on the Cita really earned their keep this year as fishing elsewhere was poor.
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 07/25/2002
Flows dropped to 2cfs in early July and the tributaries weren’t adding much flow to the river. No one had seen flows this low and fishing was very poor for those with nowhere else to fish. Flows stayed between 2 and 40cfs all month.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 06/25/2002
Lots of dark clouds and some rain kept water temps from getting totally out of wack. On sunny days water temps got up to 72* {OUCH} and fishing shut down. The Stonefly hatch was right on time on 6/1 and we fished the Philmont on 6/1 & 6/2 with client and between 4 anglers they got 150 fish, all on dries. On 6/1 the flow was 20cfs and clouds kept the temps down..Stonefly action continued good thruout the month.
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 06/25/2002
The Conejos is starting to see the effect of our successive mild, dry winters. Flows were 200 thru the Pinnacles and 300 in Mogote and the Flywater along Hiway #17 was the best area. We fished a Stimulator and a Prince dropper early and late and between 11am and 2pm the fish were really hot on a Green Drake #10. Casting to rising fish repeatedly until they either took or stopped rising. By mid June flows were down to 60cfs and water temps were getting to be a problem later in the day, especially in the lower areas. With low flows and high temps the upper river was more productive and the Pinnacles and above afforded the best angling. By late June flows were down to 40cfs and the temperature problem got worse.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 05/25/2002
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 great dry fly fishing the rest of the day With a size #12 Stimulator without a dropper…I fished again on 5/13 and water was 11/41cfs and was good on Stimulator #12 altho water temps are getting high {64*} and its only mid-May
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 05/25/2002
The last half of the month was good on the Cita and flows were 20-40cfs over that period.. I fished the Cita twice on 5/22 & 5/31 and the Holy Water on 5/28. It can get windy this time of year and that can make casting tough.. Best dry fly action so far was on the Cita on 5/31 at 20cfs.Stimulator#12 and Para-Adams #16. On 5/31 water temps got up to 68* in the afternoon.