Friends and fellow anglers, After a very dry winter we are having a fairly wet spring. A weekly storm has been blessing us with some snow and rain and hopefully that will continue thru April and May. The snopack will be on the lean side but the fire danger will be lessened if this trend continues.

Fishing has been picking up thru March and most resevoirs are in good shape thanks to better conservation by the ranchers and farmers. Fishing should be good at least thru July.

The Caddis Hatch on the Rio Grande has started a bit early this year and the river is running at 250cfs in the Box and 400cfs in Pilar with very good clarity. The fish we have been getting are all healthy and have soft fat bellies. The surface action should pick up any day. There is also a rather prolific BWO hatch and most of the surface activity are on these small [#16] mayflies. This is the earliest I’ve seen Caddis and the best BWO hatch I’ve seen on the Rio in over 30 years.

The Red River has had hatches of Caddis, Stones [small brown] and the usual Mayflies. Fishing has been spotty with the best days being sunny and mild. The top water action here has been good the past 2 weeks.

They just opened the Dam at Eagle Nest so fishing should be on the improve there also. Flows on the Cimarron in dry years are usually pretty good as downstream water users call for their shares. We should be using the Cimarroncita a lot this year. Don’t forget the annual Stonefly Hatch that starts around June 1.

The Rio Grande Cutthroat Restoration Project on the Costilla is still in the public debate stage. It looks like they are going to do it but fishing won’t be effected this year. Discussion on where to put the fish barrier to prevent stocked Rainbos from migrating upstream and what method to use to remove all the fish from the river before restocking with pure Rio Grande Cutts may take a few years. They don’t have much snow in the Costilla drainage but the Resevoir is in fair shape as the water managers have been conserving after the disaster of ’03 when they ran out of water in August. Last year flows never got over 90cfs or under 30cfs during the irrigation season.

We still have access to Culebra Creek in San Luis, Colorado and have been going there a lot this spring. This private fishery fishes best in spring before it gets hammered and again in the Fall after the crowds of Trophy Hunters depart.

My daughter , Rita, is going to be Jon Harp’s top guide this year at Conejos River Anglers. I’ll be able to guide over there too and have access to Jon’s private water. We are expecting the Conejos to fish well early, stoneflies in June and Green Drakes in July.

I hope this finds you all well and I’m looking forward to catching up with you streamside this year.

Tight Lines,
Ed and Rita Adams