River is running at about 350cfs which is excellent for this time of year. The water temperature is still low (about 48 degrees), but the fishing is pretty good.
I landed 5 fish between 14″ and 17″ using Hare’s Ear Rubber Legs and Bead Head Hare’s Ears. Stone Flies Haven’t started to hatch yet, but as they should be on the water in a week or so, as the temperature warms.
Another dry year and when the first Caddis was spotted on 4/6 the flow was 100cfs {State Line}. In April the fishing around Pilar was good from 3pm til dark on Caddis dry #14. Best fishing was sight casting to rising fish. The Box was also excellent in April, May and early June until water temps got into the high 60*s.. On 5/26 I had my best day ever on the Rio Grande and counted 86 hookups, 5 or 6 nice Cutbos {one 20″er that took a dry}and 6 Browns over 17″..The flow was 59cfs and temps 64-66*. Lots of rising fish..I used a Moth with a Caddis larva dropper. We had a few good days in early June also and it is exceedingly rare to be able to fish the Rio Grande at this time of year but maybe not so rare if the drought continues.
I fished the Cita on 4/20 & 4/25 at 42cfs and the temps were 45-55* over the day and on 4/20 and never got over 52* on 4/25. Good fishing was limited to a few hours in the middle of the day. We fished a big dry {doesn’t matter the pattern} and a cased Caddis dropper.
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. I heard a rumor that someone poached a couple of hundred fish from the canyon and was giving them away in Taos. {unconfirmed }..It seems to be better fishing the closer you get to the Hatchery which would tend to support the rumor.
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 don’t think so. I did get a 21″ Cutbo but the resident fish were MIA..On 2/27 fishing was again poor. Not many bugs and fish seemed to be in the deeper runs and not elevating..I hope I don’t have to start fishing with weighted nymphs like the old days.
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 and resident fish were busy for a few hours..I got one 17″ Cutbo and missed 3 others. D&D. On 12/18 not much of a Mayfly hatch but fishing was steady with D&D combo for resident Browns.
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 anyone on this river as even if they don’t catch all the fish they will spook the better ones.
By mid September the flow was about 120cfs {State Line} and clear. Lots of anglers in the Box this year and fish were spooky. We fished a lot with a 2 nymph combo and an indicator {Weighted Stonefly nymph or Cranefly Larva with a Caddis larva dropper 14″ below}.With clients I fished on 9/22, 9/26, 9/27 and 9/29 and fishing was good depending on their skills. We got some nice Cutbos in the Box in the 2nd half of September.. In October water temps were better and fishing picked up but so did the fishing pressure. I’d never seen this many anglers in the Box and crossing to the west side improved the action. In the wilder sections of the Box fishing was excellent on Moth-Caddis Larva D&D combos. There were lots of natural Moths around this year..We had some good rains also and this tended to discolor the water a bit.
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″ Browns…Caddis-Moth and Dropper.
On 9/11, the day of the WTC attack, the flow was 110cfs, the highest flow since July, but fishing was poor as I think clients were disstracted by the events of the day. On 9/15 they shut off the flow and fishing ended for the year.
I fished the Cita with clients on 9/10 and 9/12 at 30cfs and cooler weather and better flows made for good fishing. Most of the action was on dry Caddis {#14} and small Para-Adams {#18}.
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 all day both days.