I don't know if any fly anglers out there switch over to ice fishing in the winter, but I'm up for giving it a try on Eagle Nest Lake if the ice gets thick enough this winter.  I'm getting a bit desperate up North.  One advantage of living in Santa Fe last year was that the Chama below Abiquiu was short trip away--not anymore.  I also had winter success on the Jemez proper last January.  I need to get to the Rio Grande, but I want to hike in and truthfully I need to pump myself up for it.  I have to be up for the river royally kicking my butt and humbling me.  But, that's what winter is all about.  After a summer where fishing felt too easy, I need nature to remind me who's the boss. 

I visited family in Albuquerque, and got to do some urban fishing.  I tried the Bernalillo drainage, which I had amazing luck at once upon a time.  No fish this time...

I also got to Tingley Beach, which was fishing pretty well!  They were hitting a size 12 prince nymph 3-4 ft. below an indicator.  I was fishing a beadhead, but I seemed to have more success if I crimped a weight on the line about a 8-12 inches above the nymph.  Back in the day I was in the practice of using tiny nymphs at Tingley, but it seems like the fish are less picky.  All of the ones I caught were between 12-14 inches--saw one big one swimming around.  

Anyway, I hope to have some more interesting fishing tales and advice here soon.  I have a big work commitment that's been holding me back from doing a bigger trip, but soon I'll be free from that!  I promise some better fishing tales/tails in 2019.  I'm excited about the snow we've had so far.  Good snowpack means a better fishing season and fewer forest fires.

Feel free to drop a comment below if you have had some success this winter!  

Well, I promised to update more regularly, but then it got cold!  After the Halloween snow day there was another storm that buried my house in about a foot of snow.  I've still been fishing open water at the Gravel Pit Lakes, but things are icing over and the days are getting short.   It's definitely getting into the slow season.  I'd say get out to the tailwaters for your best chances at success.  Otherwise, it's fly tying season!  I'm working on a couple videos from fishing in Cimarron State Park so watch out for those. 

Hi There Folks,

I apologize for the long break in an update on here!  I also finally uploaded a Youtube video about a week ago. I've had many life changes in the last month.  New job, new home, rural living!  My internet has been very spotty...  
 
Here are some updates:

 In early August I had some good fishing for carp on the Chama just above the stream
entering from Heron Dam.  I'm sure conditions are cooler by now and more conducive to trout, but back in then the water was low and warm, and the sight fishing for carp was a hoot!  I can't wait to do this again next year!  

Conditions on the Pecos are ideal now--maybe a touch high from monsoons but at least that makes for less spooky trout!  In these conditions, a dry-dropper is key.  It's also less crowded, so give it a try.  For the beginner fly angler, I'd recommend getting a few casts into Monastery--it's great practice for hook sets because you will get strikes.  

I got a report from a friend recently that the fishing on the Caldera is still good.  Right now backcountry permits are free.  I don't want to spread the word too much, but get out there and enjoy some amazing fishing and scenery!

I finally got out to Lake Maloya for the first time.  There was great fishing for the stocked rainbows and small perch.  The fish weren't too picky, but seemed to like a darker pheasant tail nymph a couple feet down.  I also caught a few on my top fly.  I can't wait to get out there on a float tube. 

Fawn Lakes was another place I made it out to in the last month (I hadn't been there in a few years).  The fishing was great with a dry-dropper combo.  Even though the fish were rising, most went for the nymph.  

The Cimarron is superb right now.  Again, use a dry-dropper, but if you start to get most of your strikes on the top, switch to just a dry.  It is a brushy river, so having just one fly on there helps to keep you from getting snagged as much. 

I finally hiked up to Middle Fork Lake and it seems completely fished out.  I didn't see a single rise or fish.  That's a shame because I have books that describe amazing fishing there, and the reality is that the lake has been abused.

What else...?  Hopewell Lake should be good.   All of the Jemez should be good with the cooler weather moving in.  

I hope to get out to the San Juan in November and December.  Also, wish me luck because I'm going to go explore Lost Lake tomorrow.  

Check out my Instagram for some new photos @flyfishinggrrl.  Tight lines!

I'm a teacher and at about this time every year I start to feel a sense of urgency.  I must get in more fishing before the school year starts.  I need to get to that new location that I've never been to... I should get in another backpacking trip or two.   There just isn't enough time left.  

I guess I should be thankful that (1) I get a summer break, (2)  that this sense of urgency makes me feel very alive, and (3) fall fishing is great and the rivers will be less crowded.  

Anyway, the fishing report.  Fishing on the Pecos is "combat fishing" right now, even during the week.  If the fish aren't biting, it's because someone already fished your location recently.  I'm not sure how long the fish stay down after being fished, but it's safe to say just move on to other water.   

The Valles Caldera is amazing, as usual.  I think I forgot just how spooky these fish are and my first half hour on the stream was slow because I kept trying to get as close as I would to Pecos trout.  Nope, these trout won't put up with a clumsy angler.  Use the curves of the stream to your advantage.  I like to cast around the curves and listen for a tell-tale splash that indicates a strike.  If it's a straight away stretch (as straight away as this winding stream gets), stay way back and make some longer casts.  DON'T FALSE CAST.  I can't say that enough to folks who are unused to the small streams of New Mexico.  You'll scare the fish before you even put a fly on the water if you're more focused on casting than fishing.  ; )  

I'm getting up to the Chama above El Vado this week, and I'll let you know how it goes.  

Tight lines!

So far it seems like a good monsoon season is in the works!  The forests are open and the fish are feeding!

I got out to the Pecos above Cowles this past week, and it was superb fishing.  I am a creature of habit, and the good ol' stimulator with a prince nymph dropper did the trick.  They fish were hitting both flies at about the same rate.  Most of the fish were smaller browns, as is usual in the Pecos, but the action was nonstop.  The water is low (at least where I was at--it was running off brown lower down in the canyon).  So, it's stealth fishing at its finest.  Be aware of your location.  I saw plenty of fish run from me, and I had some cloud cover helping me out.  

I made a quick stop at Monastery Lake on the way home to maybe harvest a fish, and I took in a good 16 inch rainbow.  I brought him home and got enough meat off to cook up a couple breaded filets.  I've been keeping trout about twice a year nowadays, and I don't have much of a taste for them anymore.  (Other than when I'm camping and they taste like heaven.)  My step-father told me that would happen after I fished enough!

Otherwise, the fishing was rather slow at the lake (could have been that the fish had just been stocked or because of the rains that day?).  A coworker of mine I saw seemed to be doing very well with worms...

A few days later I headed up to the Santa Barbara River.  The water level is perfect for fishing right now, and as usual the scenery is some of my favorite in NM.  Again, the fishing was on fire!  The browns are hungry and feeding right now.  They were hitting the dropper a bit more than the dry, so I'd suggest having a nymph on if you go fishing there.  Often I go with just a dry there, but maybe the cooler monsoonal weather is making them feed more underwater.  

There were new regulations posted--"red chile water"--stating that cutthroats were catch and release only and all other trout had no keep limits!  It would be great to get the native fish back in charge of this stream...but there are so so so so so many brown trout I don't see it being quite possible without severe intervention from Game and Fish.  It would be really hard for me to stomach keeping a bunch of brown trout unless I had a fish fry with a group of friends back down at the campground or something.   

Well, it's not the best fishing season in NM this summer.  Carson National Forest was just closed, and that leaves just a few options for fishing: Rio Grande, Chama, Eagle Nest Lake, San Juan, and a few other areas.  These areas will be crowded and under high fishing pressure.  

On my way back to NM from Wisconsin I got got a quick day of fishing in in Colorado around Leadville.  I think I'll be heading back up there soon this summer!  I think you'll see why in the picture below.  

Stay cool!

I won't be updating you on the fishing in NM for the next  couple of weeks.  I'm heading out on the Ice Age Trail in WI along Lake Michigan for a week of backpacking.  I'm bringing my fly rod and will try my luck up here!  Tight lines and be sure to check out my Youtube channel for video of this journey in a couple of weeks.  

I'm finally getting some fishing in in earnest...as best as I can with my two closest water sheds under forest closure.

I had a great couple days on the Los Pinos about two years ago.  This year it was not the case.  It seemed fished out.  My step-dad and I threw everything at them, hit a lot of water (the bait area, the special trout water).  He caught about three, and I caught one.  The brown he caught was bigger but very beat up looking.  We didn't see fish rising, even with the insane insect activity.  We didn't see fish running.  Either they were full and hunkered down, or more likely this watershed is being mistreated and too many fish are being harvested or otherwise harmed.  

The Rio Grande around Pilar was more typical.  The fish are in there...just sometimes hard to get.  They hit on pheasant tails, hare's ear, and prince nymphs between 12-16.  Fish 'em deep.  I also like to use one splitshot a foot or so above my nymph and sometimes fish a double nymph rig. 

I did get some good entertainment watching rafters fall out of their boats and having water fights, and saw some mountain goats!  

Starting tomorrow, the Santa Fe National Forest, which covers pretty much all of the fishing on the Pecos and Jemez Rivers, will be closed to the public.  It's the right decision--the article below from nmfireinfo.com details just how many campfires were left burning when they weren't even allowed.  It's a miracle there hasn't been a large fire already in this large national forest area.  Stinks that the actions of a few likely hastened this closure, but it is important to protect our resources.  Time to head a little further north for fishing, while you still can.