New Mexico Outdoors Blog
Conejos River Fly Fishing Report 06/25/2000
Flows were 200-400cfs and best fishing was again on the Flywater along Hiway #17 with Stimulator #10 and Geen Drake # 10 dry flies. they hit the dry pretty good in the middle of the day and early and late droppers produced best. On 6/20 the flow was 100cfs from Platoro and fishing the Pinnacles we had a great day { 4 over 17″ and lots of Browns 13-16″}. I lengthened the dropper to 24″ and this seemed to work well.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 05/25/2000
I didn’t fish the Red this month as the fishing on other streams that usually don’t fish this early such as the Rio Grande, Embudo and the Pueblo have been keeping me busy. Th Red is the most consistant stream in my area and this year a lot other opportunities have arisen and the Red almost always fishes well. With the drought I am not optimistic about the later season on the Costlla, Conejos and Cimarron.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 04/25/2000
No runoff again but I only fished the Red once this month on the 23rd and it was excellent. The Caddis hatch on the Rio Grande was the best in years so I spent the month on the big river..See the Rio Grande Archive.
Rio Grande Fly Fishing Report 04/25/2000
First report of Caddis in Pilar on 4/4. Flow was about 200cfs at the State Line which is ideal. The bugs moved upstream faster than in previous years and were all over the Box by 4/9 when I fished in the Wild Rivers area. The flow was 230cfs and not quite clear. We got a few nice Browns to 17″ on a Hares Ear #12 fished as a dropper. The water got murkier late in the day and we picked up a few fish along the edges on dries {Caddis}. In the Box on 4/14 flow was 249cfs and fishing was good from 3pm on dry Caddis #14. Again on 4/21 with the same results…Flows increased after that and ended the spring Caddis event.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 3/25/2000
More warm dry conditions and one of the best Marchs in memory. Resident browns in the 12-14″ range have been very responsive but I haven’t seen as many spawning Cutbos as in the past.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 2/25/2000
I saw the first Caddis on 2/1, the earliest I ever seen seen them on the Red. Its been exceptionally warm and very little precipitation. Fish have been very active on the surface and I have been fishing a straight dry [without a dropper] more this month than in past Februarys.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 1/15/2000
No snow and warm days in the 50*s as the drought continues. Skiers are crying but there have been some good Mayfly hatches on warm days in the afternoon. Best action on Para-Adams #14 and droppers [ Caddis larva & Mayfly emerger]..Cutbos are actively spawning thruout.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 12/15/1999
Some snow and some cold nights [0* 10*].I saw a few Cutbos in the Red in late November but they were really active thru this month and the afternoon Mayfly hatch is the main event for resident fish..Just before Xmas it got very cold [-0*] and fishing got pretty slow except for the odd spawning Cutbo.
Red River Fly Fishing Report 11/15/1999
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.
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.
Cimarron River Fly Fishing Report 07/25/1999
Flows were around 10cfs for most of the month and water temps got up to 70* on sunny days which made for tough fishing. In July the fish switch their attention to Caddis and fishing a dry Caddis early and late when temps were better produced the best results.. Fishing was poor in July with low flows, high temps and lots of pressure.