Ed's Fly Fishing Report for Sunday November 2, 2014

Become a Clean Angler! Learn how at  http://cleananglingpledge.org/

San Juan River 357 cfs below Navajo Dam; Good
A steady flow rate and good fishing continues. Like any fishing situation, it pays to be in the right place at the right time. Midges are hatching from 10:00 am till noon and baetis are still hatching in the afternoon below Texas Hole. Black, gray, brown, and olive midge larvae and pupa are the top producers near the dam especially in the mornings.Chocolate and olive have been the best baetis colors. Johnny flash and foam wing emergers are among the favorites. Simon Canyon flashed after a heavy rain that sent a lot of sand into the river. The fishing downstream of Simon Canyon has been affected. The Special Trout Water section is all catch and release and has a two fly only rule. If you see someone in violation, turn them into Game and Fish at 1-800-432-4263. Officers have been checking people for licenses, barbless flies, and the number of flies on your rig! File those barbs or go barbless, as the fines are steep!

Pecos River 32 cfs near Pecos; Fair to Good  
Dry dropper rigs have been the top producers in the morning. Dry fly fishing improves once things warm up although nymphs are still picking up most of the fish. Many of the fish on the lower Pecos are stocked rainbows that seem to take nymphs more than dries; however, some of the browns above Terrero are looking up for small mayflies like blue winged olives. Dark nymphs like oops flies, psycho mays, feeding caddis, and bruised baetis's hung below a buoyant dry work well in the morning and in the deeper runs for most of the day. Please respect the landowners out there and stay out of any private property along the river. 

Rio Grande 280 cfs at Cerro; Slow to Fair: 422 cfs at Pilar; Slow to Fair for trout, Slow for pike, Goood for smallmouth bass
High releases out of Rio Grande Reservoir have ended as well as diversions into the Del Norte Canal as of yesterday. I expect to see at least another 100 cfs to hit the river in another day or so making the river murky. Big dark nymphs and streamers will stand out more in the off color water. Pike fishing is slow. Gauge your success by how many you see, if you got a follow or not,  and of course an eat. Some days you get'em and some days a follow is as good as it gets. Large streamers that move water will still get a pike's attention. Vary your retrieves and change up the color of your flies to see which one gets an eat.

Jemez Mountain Streams  18 cfs above Jemez Pueblo;  Fair to Good
This weekend's storms will affect fishing with colder temps and more limited access if we get a lot of snow. Warmer temps are expected mid-week and fishing should improve. It's bankers hours fishing. Try tying a dropper nymph on like micromays, small HDA Favorites, and Anato-mays, or caddis pupa below a buoyant dry.

Chama River  above the town of Chama;Fair to  Good: 57 cfs above El Vado Reservoir; Fair: 82 cfs below El Vado Dam; Fair to Good: and  92 cfs below Abiquiu Dam;  Slow
The river flowing into El Vado Reservoir is a at a good level. Fishing is spotty with a lot of the fish spending their energy on spawning. Avoid any redds you may encounter. The release below El Vado has been steady over the past few weeks. I like flows of around 150 to 400 cfs below El Vado at Coopers. Streamers, stonefly nymphs and cranefly larvae have been the top flies. The release below Abiquiu has been reduced also matching the release out of El Vado. The river is still murky. The clarity will improve here in a month or so when they change the release out of a higher penstock. Chama River above El Vado and below Abiquiu are Special Trout Waters with reduced bag limits. Please report anyone over harvesting there to New Mexico Game and Fish at 1-800-432-4263.

Cimarron River 22 cfs below Eagle Nest Dam; Fair to Good: 24 cfs at Cimarron; Fair
The release out of Eagle Nest Dam has been steady now for a few weeks. Get it while it's good. This has greatly improved the fishing here although do not expect it top last very long. Once the irrigation need downstream are over for the winter, we won't see fishable flows on the Cimarron until spring. Always check those flows before you go. Avoid the Cimarron when the release out of Eagle Nest dam is below 10 cfs. The fish get really stressed and the available fishing areas are greatly reduced. Scuds, red midge larvae, baetis nymphs, and golden stonefly nymphs, have been reported to be working on the river. Consider fishing lower down on the Cimarron to take advantage of increase in water from tributary flow and better fishing. Nearby Red River over Bobcat Pass is another alternative and is fishing fairly well. .

In Southern Colorado:

Conejos River  30 cfs below Platoro Reservoir; Fair: 98 cfs at Mogote; Fair to Good
I managed to hook a couple of fish on a hopper, but I had a lot more eats below the surface at Mogote. There are very few bugs out. A hopper dropper rig works well in the low water. Medium sized nymphs like #12-14 twenty inchers and tungsten salvations were doing the most work. The road up to meadow section will be closing soon.

Animas River 367 cfs at Durango; Fair to Good
The Animas is a great fall fishery around Durango. This weekend's storms will bring the river up. It will come down in flow and clear up as long as we get clearing weather here by the end of the week.Fishing with streamers and big nymphs like stoneflies with some flash will still get the trout's attention in the softer water just take caution while wading. .    

Arkansas River 142 cfs at Granite; Good: 338 cfs at Salida; Good
The best fishing I am hearing about is in Big Horn Sheep Canyon below Salida. Cool mornings are making the fishing slower upriver. It's banker's hours fishing from Buena Vista up. Some blue winged olive hatches have been occurring near Salida. A big attractor and blue winged olive nymph under an indicator has been the best set up. There are short lived hatches that are also bringing fish to the surface in the afternoons.

It's autumn in New Mexico and water and fishing conditions and water flows can change with the weather! Please CALL the fly shop for the latest in stream flows and water conditions.

For the most current stream flows, see our links page and click on New Mexico Stream Flows.

Please see our home page for more news and upcoming events!

Call us at the shop for conditions on waters not listed here. 888-988-7688 out of Santa Fe or 988-7688 in Santa Fe.

Click on Public Lands Information Center from our links page for a full list of fire restrictions and closures.