On 7/1 and 7/2 we fished the Pinnacles at 100cfs from Platoro. This is about the highest flow you can navigate in the Pinnacles but it also keeps out the less adventurous anglers. The fish in this pocket water stretch don’t rise like they do on the lower river and a dropper is essential. You need a large dry that floats well with Beadhead dropper {Prince-Copper John-Caddis emerger}Best fish was a 19″ Cutbo but the main attraction here are Browns 13-17″ and we got a bunch of those. On 7/12 and 7/13 we had fair days at 80cfs that ended early due to the onslaught of summer afternoon monsoon conditions which muddied up the flow. You need to bring rain gear as you are often quite a distance from shelter. Another must have item is mosquito repellant as the bugs get bad especially on dark days. Later in the month flows were down to 30cfs from Platoro and the best fishing was in the Pinnacles and above. Water temps in the lower river were near 70* on suuny days and fishing was poor. . In the Pinnacles and above water temps got into the high 60*s by mid afternoon and fishing predictably slowed down. New Mexico Fly Fishing Guide Ed Adams
