I just started fly fishing about a year ago and this is my second major trip. Would highly recommend this area if you haven’t been already. I wish I found more information on the places we decided to fish so I figured I’d share my experience and my limited knowledge in case anyone was interested. Like I said I’m pretty new to this so take my advice with a grain of salt.
First 2 pics are of Cimmaron River which was a tight area with small browns from what we caught. Squirmy worms and San Juan worms had the best success here in our experience. I would not recommend wet wading, it was pretty muddy in a decent amount of areas.
3rd was Costilla creek, this valley was absolutely gorgeous, we had a hard time getting bites out here as we started with worms and switched to multiple different dry patterns but it ended up being the size that made the difference and small size 20-24 midges or similar patterns worked.
4-8 was Rio Grande, specifically we parked at Little Arsenic trail head and went down from there, by far the most difficult part of the trip due to being steep and rocky but well worth it. I wouldn’t recommend if you’re not at least somewhat physically fit. Also have a good pair of hiking shoes/ trail runners or boots that are grippy. We hiked down about 2 miles before we got to a fishable spot and once you get off the trail it’s hard to get back on it from just anywhere, it’s big lava rock, kinda slick, not fun to move down the river but being on top of the big rocks were advantageous to being able to cast above all the grass and shrubs without getting hung up (at least not too much). We had stopped by Dos Amigos fly shop on the way in Angel Fire. Really great guys there and provided us with a lot of good information and recommended big bead head flies (I can’t remember the name of the ones we got from him but scrolling on BigYfly they looked to be similar to hares ear, size 14-16) and told us to not be afraid to fish deep and scrap the bottom that’s where the big ones hang out, also in the faster moving water. We didn’t get anything bigger than 12 inches or so and pretty much caught those in the opposite areas where we were recommended which was fairly close to the banks in the slower stuff but we had great success with the flys provided. I even caught a few of these smallmouth bass on the same fly, I’m not sure what specific kind they are tho as I haven’t caught a bass this color. And all I had to do was strip my line at a decent pace and they would chase and strike.
9-10 was Goose Lake, you need an off road vehicle of some kind to get to it but man what a site when you finally make the 7 mile climb. There’s places to rent SXS for ~$320+ or if you have a Jeep or Tacoma with a small lift and beefy tires you’ll make it up. You pretty much have to wade this one to catch anything as there’s a very long shallow area and then a drop off anywhere from 30-100’ off the bank. I hiked around to the clearing on the backside and was casting straight out towards the middle when I caught that Rainbow, by far the biggest trout I’ve caught so far and it was really exciting. Also on the squirmy worm with 3’ or so to my indicator. This the probably the spot I want to come back to most. I bet there’s some monsters in there.
Last 2 pics are from Cabresto Lake, plenty of Brooke trout in here bitting mainly on elk hair caddis, and we were also recommended woolies here which my friend caught one on, I tried a green wooly but they just chased mine. Best bet is dry flies for this lake, I saw a ton of surface strikes. 14-18 would be the size I’d recommend, darker colored. Cast somewhat close to the bank and you’ll catch the small brooks. A few people had kayaks catching a ton in the middle of the water so if you have that option you’ll have the best luck.
Like I said I’m relatively new to this but I’ve loved every second of it and appreciate the difficulty and reward of fly fishing. Can’t wait to keep traveling and learning and getting better at this sport. I also hope this information helps anyone going to any of these spots!
Posted by BigTexy86