New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams

Cimarron River Fly Fishing Reports

The Cimarron flows out of Eagle Nest Lake and is an irrigation impoundment like the Costilla. The releases here are "on demand" so there is no predicting what the flow will be on any given day. Best flows are betwween 15 and 50cfs. Some of the water in Eagle Nest Lake is also owned by the downstream towns of Springer and Raton which uses the water to supplement their domestic water supply. The Cimarron River is a roadside stream with easy access but unlike the Rio Costilla is very brushy. The fish here are mainly Brown trout to 16" and stocked Rainbows. This stream also gets a lot of fishing presure and isn't recommended on weekends.

Conejos River Fly Fishing Reports

The Conejos is the largest tributary to the Rio Grande. It flows out of Platoro Resevoir which at over 10,000' elevation is the highest man made impoundment in the USA. Its flow is augmented by numerous smaller tributaries that drain surrounding areas. This drainage historically gets a lot of snow and rain and runoff often continues into July with the best fishing being usually from early July thru September. Recently with successive mild, dry winters the best fishing has often been in June and July. Low flows and high water temps has made August and September less predictable.

Red River Fly Fishing Reports

The Red River comes off of the backside of Wheeler Peak and flows thru the town of Red River and down the canyon to Questa. Below Questa it enters a 600' gorge at the Red River Fish Hatchery and some large spring join the natural flow and increases the flow by 30cfs. This constant 55* water warms the water and makes for good fishing all year. Above Questa the river is dead because of pollution from the Moly mine but in the canyon fishing is consistanly good for Browns {8-14"} and in the Fall large Browns come up from the Rio Grande to spawn. In December Cutbos do the same and remain in the lower Red until runoff. Best months are February and March and October and November but fishing is good most months when the water is clear.

Rio Costilla Fly Fishing Reports

The Valle Vidal section of the Costilla opens on July 1st to facilitate elk calving in the park. Flows on the Costilla are regulated from Costlla Resevoir for irrigation downstream and unlike other irrigation impoundments they have a schedule of releases. High flows are Monday-Thursday and low flows from Friday-Sunday.. Flows between 30-100cfs are best but high flows have often been higher than 100cfs and low flows less than 30cfs.

Rio Grande Fly Fishing Reports

Historically the Rio Grande fished best in the Fall{September-October} and maybe 2 years out of 10, when runoff was low or later than usual we have the Caddis Hatch which starts in mid to late April. The mild dry winters of the late 90's have made this an almost annual event and we have been seeing the first bugs in the first week of April. In September our summer rains subside and with the end of the irrigation season in Colorado flows stabilize and fishing is the best of the year on the Rio.

New Mexico and Colorado Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams