New Mexico Fly Fishing Report Archives
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.
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