Basic Information
Watershed: Red River below the fish hatchery (almost to the
confluence, near "La Junta" of the Rio Grande)
Date: Monday 2/14/12
Time: ~230-530PM
Weather: Mid-30's, cold, mostly cloudy, light snow flurries, partial
sunshine, windy with slight breezes
Water Info: Crystal clear, great visibility, cold, low
Hatch: Small midge hatch in afternoon and into dusk
Directions: from hatchery: NM Road 515 ~ 1.8 miles to Rd 522 south
back to Taos.
Flies: Salmon-colored egg (#14-16), BH brown zebra midge (#18-20) on 6x.
Synopsis
Skied Red River in the AM until about 145pm. Drove to the RR State
Fish Hatchery about ~20 miles from the ski area. Parked in lot below
pond where a sign says "fisherman's access trail." Crossed a small
foot bridge to the opposite (west) side of the river and walked
downstream a good ways on a pretty well marked trail. However there
was some snow and ice, large boulders and loose rock, and brush and
steepness made it hard to follow at times. Lots of nice pools in the
canyon, i think I spooked a lot of fish walking downstream. Would
have been best to use a shorter rod (7-8 foot, 1-3 wt) due to the size
of the stream and all the brush and overhanging vegetation. Picked up
a bunch of rubbish from the streamside, mainly bud light beer cans,
plastic water bottles, and fishing paraphenelia (heavy bait line,
flies stuck in trees, etc). Got flies caught on a submerged log,
pulled it up and found a plethora of insects (hundreds). Most of
which were dark brown/black cased caddis (unhatched), and some small
mayfly nymphs, etc. Most fish were in slower seams of deeper protected
and hard to cast to pools and at the tail-out of runs. Caught and
landed 5-6 small to medium sized trout (3-4 browns and 2 rainbows).
Browns were all 10 inches or less, and 1 stocker (weird shape and
color) maybe 12 inches but slender. This fish was nearly all
grey/light silver, with a disproportionate body consisting of a big
round head and a tapered slim body. I saw this fish and another in a
pool on the opposite bank. Crept up on it and watched them for a
couple minutes without disturbing it. Got on my knees on the bank and
stayed low, and cast from knees in the river to it. Fish hit the egg
hard on the 2nd-3rd cast. Caught a couple of browns in a run below
this also.
Jemez Photos:
Basic Information
Watershed: Jemez Ck below Battleship
Date: Monday 2/6/12
Time: 11-4PM
Weather: Mid-30's, cold, mostly cloudy with light snow flurries
throughout the day
Water Info: Crystal clear, great visibility, cold, low
Hatch: Thick small black midge hatch all day long
Synopsis
Fished Jemez Ck below Battleship with RLR and Jolie. It was a
surprising productive day of winter fishing! Left ABQ about 945am and
made one stop at bakery in Jemez Springs to get coffee and crosaints.
Parked at first major pull-off below Battleship Lot (on the right
"river" side of highway). Some snow (and ice) still present on the
ground and boulders along the banks of the river and in the pull-off.
Temperature was likely in the mid 30's, grey and overcast with brief
moments of sunlight, and a steady snow flurry for most of the
afternoon. Water was cold, glad I decided to wear my waders. Could
have used the fingerless gloves and jacket I left in the car though!
Fish were fairly active most of day: RLR got some immediate action in
the first hole down from the car. Saw a handful of fish feeding on
adult midges on the surface in the shallow calm water behind boulders
or along the bank. Hot Flies: green/yellow chenille egg #14 (as
attractor point fly); dry fly dropper: p. adams #18 and egg or small
midge pattern (black zebra midge #20). No strikes on the egg sucking
leech. Mostly small (long and skinny) brown trout with a few
medium-sized stocked rainbow trout mixed in. The stockers were more
aggressive, larger overall, and occupied the deeper, faster pools.
Together we hooked maybe 8-10 stockers, and landed most of them. This
was the first opportunity to break-in the new Steffen Bros glass rod,
which was really nice. Casts were smooth and fluid in motion, and you
could really feel the fish on the end of your line. Fished about
1/4-1/2 mile stretch of water up to about 200 yards below the
confluence of the East Fork and the Rio San Antonio at Battleship
Campground. Both of us ended our day on stockers caught near the
campground. RLR caught his in the pocket water about 25 yards below
confluence and I caught mine in the pool just above the bridge, as
well as a small brown and a dry strike in the pool just below the
bridge.
Guadalupe
Basic Information
Date: 2/1/11
Time: 12-5PM
River: Lower Guadalupe river ~2-3 miles north of Gilman, NM
Weather: Mid-High 40's, sunny, blue bird day with minimal cloud cover.
Water Info: Crystal clear, great visibility, cold, low: well below
water mark on rocks
Hatch: Not much in the way of bugs. Tiny, sporadic afternoon midge
hatch in the slower moving water
Synopsis
Fished below Gilman Tunnels on the Guad with Jolie for a few hours on
Wednesday afternoon. Weather was nice, warm and sunny. Really pretty
canyon from the red colored walls and up into the Gilman canyon, which
was disgusting from all the trash and pollution, graffiti, and broken
beer bottles. Only saw 2 fish all day, 1 of which was small ~3-4 inch
and not a trout. It was some kind of sucker/baitfish that was
swimming slowly downstream (with the current). The other investigated
my orange "roll on" strike detector in one of the few fishy-looking
deeper pools. Saw a bunch of cattle grazing evidence such as cow
pies, stream bank erosion, and tracks. The river here was very
shallow in most places ~12 inches deep with very few deeper pools and
runs. Its also surrounded by thick (non-native) brush possibly
Russian olive/salt cedar vegetation/trees with sharp points lining the
banks. Tried all methods on the little Scott rod to catch fish: 1)
started out with a dry/dropper, 2) followed by various nymph patterns
in different sizes/colors/and heads, 3) and finally streamers. Fished
maybe 1/4 - 1/2 mile stretch below the tunnels, then climbed out up
the hill through thick brush (cacti, pinon trees, etc) to the road and
walked back to the car which was parked in the big dirt lot near the
Forest Sign. Then tried the canyon below the tunnels for a few
minutes. Some nice looking pools but probably fished out down here.
Gate to Rd 357 was closed but there really wasn't much snow/ice.
Rio Grande
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| Looking upstream 1 |
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| Looking upstream 1 |
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| Nice riffle. No fish! |
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| Upstream 3. From the river. |
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| BWO "blanket-like" hatch. |
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| Close-up. Hard to see though. |
Basic Information
Date: 1/13/11
Time: 1:30-4:30PM
River: Rio Grande river ~3 north of Embudo, NM
Weather: Mid 40's, sunny, crisp and cool.
Water Info: Crystal clear, great visibility, low water: several noticeable inches below high water mark.
Hatch: prolific tiny (#18-20) BWO hatch all afternoon--peaked around 2 pm. Also some medium sized dark colored midges.
Synopsis
Skied Sipapu 1/13/11 (Friday) in the AM from 10-1 with my free lift ticket from the ski swap that was expiring tomorrow. Conditions were poor so I left early to go fishing. Parked in the big parking lot with the 2 boat ramps and outhouses and pick-nick tables. Nobody was there when I arrived about 1:15 but then several trucks came down the hill into the lot. I suited up with my waders, a couple of layers, and loaded my vest with water and snacks and then walked the short distance down river about 25 yards from my car. There is a massive hole here with a rapid coming in at the top with a slight bend in the river over some shallow rocks. It creates a long riffle with a nice deep seam between the fast and slower water that looks like it could hold fish. Adult BWOs were coming off in huge numbers all over the river. They were about a size 18-20 with a small and dark colored body. They hovered close to the surface and had very fast sporadic movement. Despite the plethora of food, I didn't see any fish rising to them. For that matter, I didn't see any fish all afternoon despite some of the clearest water I've ever seen on the Rio any time of year. Then all of a sudden 3 Spanish-speaking guys with spin rods and bait came out of the brush about 5 feet away from me and basically took over the hole. The first guy said hello and walked 10 feet above me to cast his worms in the top of the pool, which I saw planning on working me way up towards. Then another guy came in behind me about 15 feet and immediately launching his spinners across and upstream towards the far bank. All I could here was "splash" from the sound of the weight/lure hitting the water. I was going to storm out of there because I was frustrated but then I wanted to see if they caught anything and they didn't. The guy above me was watching me closely probably because I was a local and I was "fly-fishing" in his hole. I walked upstream about 100 yards and there was another meat fisherman along the bank fishing some good looking riffle water. So I dropped down above him through the thick brambles and dense brush and got my line badly tangled. I had to cut and re-tie because it was a mess. So I switched to some streamers: both size 10 that I tied a purple and black BH bunny leeches. Made a few casts here and waded out a few feet. Then again, like deja-vu the same guy (the one that was above me) snuck in and jumped literally 10 feet ahead of me. He asked if I had had any bites but I said that I hadn't. He said he hadn't had any either any couldn't figure out why. I asked him if they stock the river and he could not understand me. So I asked if they put fish in the river and he still didn't know what I was trying to ask him. So I waved and took off upstream along the bank/trail.
Water Flows: USGS--
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SAN JUAN
Basic Information
Date: 1/16/12-1/17/12
Time: All Day 8-5pm
River: San Juan river Quality water Navajo Dam, NM
Time: All Day 8-5pm
River: San Juan river Quality water Navajo Dam, NM
Weather: Cold, Higher 20's-lower 30's, rain, wind, snow, mostly cloudy.
Water Info: Mostly clear, good visibility 3-4 feet, low water (easily wadable): ~470cfs.
Hatch: not very prolific tiny dark midges and some sporadic BWO hatches. Not much dry fly action, some eating emergers in the afternoon.
Water Info: Mostly clear, good visibility 3-4 feet, low water (easily wadable): ~470cfs.
Hatch: not very prolific tiny dark midges and some sporadic BWO hatches. Not much dry fly action, some eating emergers in the afternoon.
Hot Flies: BH SJ Worm #14 (2-toned: blood red/blight orange); BH egg-sucking (red) bunny leech (natural grey color) #8 with some action; huevos, princess #18, Disco Midges--pearl #20-24; brassie #20-24 various types; red midge larva patterns #18-22
Fish: Majority 95% caught between both of us were rainbows; 5% wild browns. Of the rainbows, maybe 40-50% were wild looking fish while the others were clearly stockers. Above Texas Hole had clearly been recently stocked with tons of eager 6-8" inch trout fry. Also some stockers (silvery with weird-shaped fins and heads) in the 12-14 inch range were caught.
Habitat: Fish were mostly caught in the slower moving deep riffle water with structure.
Map:
Map:
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Left my house at 4:10am Monday morning, woke up at 3:30am. Loaded up car, filled my thermos with coffee and fed Jolie. Got to Ben's house (on Salinas St. in Rio Rancho directly across from the new hospital) about 4:35am. We took his truck and were off about 4:45. He made some breakfast tacos. Drove through some snow just after the Continental DIvide. Talked about fishing all the way up. Got to 1st fly shop below the Sportsman's and got a few flies and talked to the owner about 7:30, his cousin David from Santa Fe was supposed to meet us but was sick. We arrived in the Munoz (parking lot 3) around 7:45, saw some deer up on the ridge and some fresh hail pellets on the ground. Put on 4 layers: undershirt, long sleeve, north face fleece, sweatshirt, long underwear bottoms, sweat pants, thick wool socks, waders, then rain jacket, and wool hat & gloves. Rigged up the 9ft, 5wt TFO rod and lambson reel, with small black bobber, small split shot, 14inch piece of 5x tippet to 1st fly (worm) and 16 in of 5x to 2nd fly (princess). Only car in the lot. Walked down to side channel down well-used path, the ground was frozen and icy in spots.
**Lower flats area (Munoz): 2-3 productive holes in the side channel, had to walk along the river bank and through the river about 250 yards from the parking lot to get to the first hole. Ben and I both caught fish within the first 5 minutes of fishing, we had a double hookup. Then we fished another deep hole in the same side channel with a deep drop-off but didn't catch anything. Last hole of side channel produced 5-6 fish and was just before it met up with the main channel in the bottom of the Lower Flats. Caught several fish in shallow (2-4 feet deep) slow moving riffle water in Lower Flats behind rocks and along seams. Fished up to top of the bend, then walked back down to good hole on main channel. Saw guide boat coming in upstream, and I tried to hold my ground. They floated right over the top of the hole I was clearly fishing even though they had the whole river to navigate. Then pulled in about 10 yards below me and watched e fish: fish-heads guide and 2 clients: a guy and a young kid in cammo. I soon hooked a nice fish near the top of the run and landed it right near their boat, they proceeded to fish the channel just below me. They would drift down and fish the bottom of the long run then paddle up and drift down again. We walked back to the truck in the rain and wind and ate lunch and drove up to the Texas Hole lot and fished to new area. Caught a bunch of fish here and saw a bunch of cars and people here also. A bunch of small stockers were in this area. Fished up to the top of that area then walked back down to the truck along the main channel, saw some fish here but didn't catch any. Went back to Abe' s and got our room, and went to fish-heads cafe across the street for dinner. Tied some leeches that night and drank some Marble IPA and went to bed. It snowed a few inches that night and next morning. Woke up next morning early and packed up and checked out. Ate breakfast, had huevos rancheros at fish-heads and coffee, and ate way too much. Then drove up to the 1st lot below the Dam, we were the first there but then an older guy came with a boat on top of his truck and quickly went down to the river. It was lightly snowing but in the lower 30's, much warmer than yesterday at this time. Rigged up and went down icy path to river. That guy stood in one spot for 3 hours, just above the island in the flats. Ben caught several fish out of the top of the shallow water in a slow riffle not quite in the main channel. But you could see fish following your feet and lining up directly below you eating shit off the bottom that got kicked up. I fished the main channel just above Ben and caught 1 on a small red hot. Then waded and fished up to the Cable Hole? when 2 guys came in a went right above me again and started fishing. I caught a nice Bow right in thr middle of the river about 15 feet across from them and they stood and watched me land it. It ate the worm. The guys then asked me what he ate like I was his friend or something. But I told him anyway because I guess I felt bad for him. Ben hooked a few here but on the far side and didn't land them. Fish seemed bigger up here. I hooked another fish which seemed large, had on for a couple of minutes. It went right for these 2 guys and they had to move downstream to avoid it. But it shook the hook loose and disappeared. Then fished up to the red bouys marking the no trespassing line. There is a decent 30-40 yard stretch or behind an island on the far side creating a side channel. I hooked one in a hole just below the far island as i was casting downstream and wading back to meet Ben, but I wasn't really paying attention, and it got off. Then we walked back down to the Texas Hole along the main river and fished the braided section over again. In the first section just above the Texas Hole there is a large slow moving run with a silty bottom loaded with a mixture of large and small fish. I hooked a few here and also had a bunch following me as as I waded upstream. Just for fun I decided to tie on one of the egg-sucking bunny leeches I tied last night, and immediately had some ferocious strikes. I landed my biggest fish of the trip here, an 18-19 inch fat wild rainbow who didn't fight that hard. Then some guy saw and moved in right behind me.
NMDGF: "The quality water section was stocked with 20,000 6-inch trout last week."
Link to HCA article:
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