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 productive.
New Mexico Fly Fishing Reports
Rio Grande Fly Fishing Report 10/25/1999
Flows are higher than the past few years {600-700cfs} but fairly clear. This much water makes it tough fishing and guiding..On 10/12 I fished with a client and we fished streamers along the edges and fishing was fair. We got 6 fish over 16″. The best was a 19″ Brown..No further reports.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 10/25/1999
Browns in the Cimarron spawn thruout the month. This is when you see the bigger fish but often the flows are real low and you end up just disturbing these fish in their reproductive process.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 10/15/1999
Flows and temps have been consistantly good all month and fish are getting very active as they fatten up for the spawn and winter. No spawners yet but excellent top water action with Caddis/Moth.
Rio Costilla Fly Fishing Report 09/25/1999
Good releases continued thru the last week of the month and fishing pressure decreased. This year the Costilla fished well thru September which is rare as they normally cut flows when the irrigation season is over .
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 09/25/1999
Water temps improved this month and on 9/27 & 9/29 we had good days at a flow of 16cfs on #18 Para-Adams. A pretty good Trico hatch in the morning which is what the #18 Adams imitates. Later in the day we used a #12 Moth with a Pheasant Tail {#16} dropper.
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 09/25/1999
In early September flows were back up to 160cfs from Platoro and we fished above the Pinnacles at Trail Creek. Wading was tough at this level and we got most of our fish along the edges on D&D {Moth-Prince}. On 9/16 we fished the Hamilton lease at 160cfs. We got some nice fish from the middle channel which holds fish at this flow. We took fish thruout up to where the South Fork enters the Conejos but the top section was unwadeable as was the Pinnacles. On 9/30 we fished at Trail Creek at 54 cfs and it was great at this flow. We got some nice fish to 17″ on Prince droppers.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 09/15/1999
Cooler weather has improved the temps and fishing has picked up accordingly..Lots of Moths around and trout love them. An oversize caddis pattern #10 works well and can be fished dry or with the usual droppers.
Rio Costilla Fly Fishing Report 08/25/1999
Because of easy access the Costlla gets lots of fishing pressure and by August the fish get picky. They tended to be wary of the large Stonefly patterns they saw so much of in July and tended to go for smaller bugs. PMD patterns {small yellow Mayfly #16} worked well over fussy fish and this hatch comes off in mid-morning. This is a good pattern to use for rising fish and others that have refused other offerings. There were lots of Hoppers around in the meadow sections and we fished Hopper-Dropper combos with good success this month..Later in the day Caddis dry also produced well. There is very little shade in this mostly meadow area and staying late to take advantage of low light conditions is a good idea. Flows were 60-80cfs Mon.-Thurs. but on weekends it dropped to 20cfs and with the weekend pressure fishing was tough.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 08/25/1999
Releases remained low and water temps high. Early and late when water was cooler seemed to be the ticket. Water from the tributaries got low too and didn’t help the downstream flow.
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 08/25/1999
By early August flows from Platoro had dropped to 40-60cfs and the Pinnacles were wadeable for the first time this season. Fishing was good with Caddis or Hoppers on top with a Beadhead dropper {Prince-Copper John #14}. Lots of Browns 13-17″ with an occasional Cutbo to 20″. On 8/4 and 8/16 we fished the Hamilton lease and on the 14th it was slow and we didn’t get a lot of fish but some nice ones. On 8/16 we got over 75 fish thru the lease, mostly Browns and none over 17″. Patterns used were Hoppers. Moths and Caddis with the usual droppers { Caddis emerger-Prince or Copper Johns #14}. Fishing was great in the Pinnacles and above thru the month.
Rio Costilla Fly Fishing Report 07/25/1999
The first half of July was excellent with Stonefly patterns {Stimulator #12}and on low flow days {Fri-Sun.} a dry only worked well and on high flow days {Mon.-Thurs.} we added a dropper {Caddis Larva or Pheasant Tail #16}. Later in July Caddis became the dominant bug especially later in the day. Flows were around 80cfs on high days and 40cfs on low weekends.