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Fishing Report  

All of the Fishing Report pictures were taken within the last 4 weeks...

VALLECITOS: The Vallecitos has been fishing really well for the last month or so. The fish have been very hungry and there are lots of them; nothing really big but many to be caught. There have been a few browns in the 15 to 16 inch range but most of the fish are in the 8 to 14 inch size class. They have been hitting super hard and are easy to catch. We even have had a few trips where there was some dry fly action with a dry-dropper setup. The flows have been very fishable and the water, though a little off color, still looks really good.
Picture: Fishing on the Vallecitos in early April.

PECOS: The Pecos is fishing very well throughout. We have had some great trips on both the lower and upper sections. Though the fish aren't very big (usually in the 8 to 12 inch range), our clients have had some days with incredible action and many fish landed. Both rainbows and browns are hitting equally well on smaller nymphs. Great fun! The stream-flow is still very fishable in the 50 cfs (cubic feet per second) range. This may jump up a bit if we get a prolonged warm spell but there isn't a lot of snow left up high so there probably won't be to many days this spring that are blown out from high water conditions.

SAN JUAN: The fishing throughout all of the "Quality Waters" stretch on the San Juan has been very good throughout the spring. Since the end of March, the flows being released out of Navajo Dam have been around 550 cfs (cubic feet per second) but are going to be ramped up to 800 cfs on 4/22. This will make for great float-trips and good wade fishing in the side channels. The fishing is very good with the only issue being windy days. The winds should start to let up as we get into May.
Picture: Fish-on! Late afternoon on the San Juan.

RIO GRANDE: The flows on the Rio have dropped substantially from where they were a month ago (they are holding pretty steadily in the 250 to 300 cfs range) and the river looks great. This being said, the fishing still seems to be a bit fickle. We have had some really good days along with some poor days. If the weather warms up a bit in the next week or so, the fishing should get really good. There are a few caddis showing and the mayflies are starting move in the afternoons. It shouldn't be long before everything breaks loose.

VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE: The Valles Caldera will be opening up for fishing on May 15th this season. We are going to try and get out to the Caldera to go fishing somewhere around May 1st to see how things look. As soon as we have had a chance to go check things out, we'll post a report. Please contact us for more information.

The Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is an approximately 242,455-acre (area of public lands in Taos County, New Mexico, proclaimed as a national monument on March 25, 2013 by President Barack Obama under the provisions of the Antiquities Act. It consists of the Rio Grande Gorge and surrounding lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The monument includes two BLM recreation areas, a portion of the Rio Grande designated as a Wild and Scenic River, and the Red River Wild and Scenic River. The monument includes portions of the Taos Plateau volcanic field, cut by the gorges of the Rio Grande and the Rio San Antonio. Significant volcanic peaks include Cerro de la Olla, Cerro San Antonio and Cerro del Yuta, the tallest at 10,092 ft. The volcanoes and the rhyolite-basalt plateau, as well as the course of the Rio Grande, are the result of spreading along the Rio Grande rift, running from Mexico into Colorado. Large springs, some of them hot, are believed to be the outflow from flooded lava tube systems. Ecosystems vary from willow and cottonwood stands along the rivers to sagebrush plains on the plateau, transitioning to pinon pine in the hills and Douglas-fir in the mountains. The monument provides habitat for a variety of resident and migrant birds. Large mammals include elk, mule deer, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, as well as predators such as cougar, bobcat, river otters, black bears and coyotes. The plateau provides winter range for many of the larger grazing animals.

Permanent protection will ensure the continuation of backcountry fishing, hunting and opportunities for wildlife viewing. Stretches of the rivers within the proposed protected area will continue to be open for anglers to fish. As a permanently protected area, the Bureau of Land Management will manage the landscape in a way that would largely keep it free from energy development, infrastructure and roads that could have otherwise destroyed valuable natural and cultural resources and disturb the backcountry recreation experience of visitors to the area. Thus, the status quo of the lands proposed for monument designation will not be dramatically altered by its protection, but the community will know that that future generations could use and enjoy the area as it exists today.
Picture above: Wild Rivers Area of the Rio Grande Gorge.

Tips & Skills
Keep Your Wading Gear Clean & Safe!

We as anglers often unknowingly carry Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) on our wading and fishing gear when we move from one fishing location to another. The whirling disease parasite (myxobolus cerebralis), New Zealand mud snails and Didymo filamentous algae commonly hitch a ride on a fisherman’s wading shoes, waders and nets. Unfortunately, there is no safe and simple, universal, one-size-fits-all, silver bullet solution for neutralizing these various invasive aquatic flora and fauna  So, what can one do? The most workable solution is to simply inspect, clean, and whenever possible completely dry your fishing gear when moving between fishing locations, especially when moving from waters where ANS are known to be present. Below are few simple steps one can follow.

Check: Before leaving any waters you are fishing in, remove clumps of algae and sediment from your wading gear and fishing equipment.

Clean: Soak and scrub all wading shoes and waders for at least 1 minute in a 2% by volume solution of household bleach or a 5% solution of salt. The cleaning solution should cover all surfaces of the gear that was exposed to the water you were fishing in. Water-absorbent equipment should be soaked to ensure that it is not infected. A soft brush is useful when cleaning the boot seams. If you chose to use a bleach solution to wash your gear, here are some easy formulas/ratios to mix up, which will give you a 2% solution:

1/3 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water
1.6 cups bleach to 5 gallons of water
3.2 cups bleach to 10 gallons of water

Dry: If you thoroughly clean and then completely dry all of your gear for at least 48 hours, even without using a salt or a bleach solution, your gear should be ANS free - but it needs to be completely dry!

If fishermen take just a little extra time to perform these relatively simple tasks, they’ll be doing their part to help prevent the spread of Aquatic Nuisance Species and “Hitchhiking Invaders”. You can find more information on ANS and other methods to protect your gear at either of these websites:
http://www.orvis.com/invasivespecies
http://www.protectyourwaters.net/

For more fly fishing tips and skills, please check out the "Fishing Tips & Skills" page on our website. It is primarily excerpts from the literature we use in the fly fishing classes we give. Hopefully you will find some things that will help to make fishing more fun and enjoyable! Click on the below link to check it out:

FISHING TIPS & SKILLS

Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

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Quinlan Ranch

There are only a few days left open for fishing trips up at the Brazos River Ranch. If you would like to go up to the ranch this year, don't wait too long before making your reservations.