Streamflows:

Alamosa River Whitman Fork near Jasper
La Jara Creek at Gallegos Ranch
Los Pinos at Ortiz
Conejos at Platoro Reservoir
Conejos at Mogote
Rio Grande at Wagon Wheel Gap
Rio Grande at Del Norte

Fishing Reports

August 31, 2010 Very interesting days on the water for me the last couple of weeks. There have been times that if I had not had a G String I would have felt naked. Devan has tied it in I think 5 or 6 colors and I have not had the time to fish them all as much as I would like but  wow some days have been crazy to see fish swimming downriver for a bug. Never saw a fish chase a #18 Zebra midge like that. It has obviously not been the "bomb" all the time but now we are seeing how effective other colors are. I could not get them to eat a pink the other day up high but wammo here goes the tan. The other day ORANGE?????????? Today Devan calls me after a day in the Pinnacles fishing every dry and nymph he had and RED?????????????? Anyway today was 46 degrees in the meadow and there was a beautiful BWO hatch in the rain and they wanted the 2 tone before that. Regular rains have kept the river fresh and a very slight twing to the color. Yesterday Troy said he ran into a pod of feeding fish and of all bugs in the world they wanted a #16 Renegade more than any other. All I can say is that for this river you need a box full of bugs and be willing to try some stuff. Sometimes weird stuff. Fish in exposed water have been spooky and presentation  has been a big deal. I have also set up a new leader that has literally changed in a radical way how many fish people break off. We have landed some big fish on 5x and not broken off a single fish. If you need some help with that come in and we will be able to show you how. I will just hint with "BUNGY".  Chironocones, Robin's, G'strings, two tone worms, and #@%$ flies have been the best bugs for the nymphs. Ants, small mayfly patterns, and big attractors better on top.

In the shop for those looking for a rod or reel we are GIVING away a reel with every rod purchased! We are stocked on Sage, Scott, and Ross rods. We also had Scott custom build 10 rods with all of the high tech titanium REC stripper guides, exotic reel seat and cork and make it for us in a 4 piece. It is a moderate fast action rod that is perfect for this river. Comes in a 5 or 6 wt and instead of the 700.00 price tag of the G2 or S4 it is only $425. And yes you can get a free reel with that. On the rod it is customized by Scott to say "CONEJOS CUSTOM"! A gorgeous rod. Ask Devan or myself to show you the rod.

August 18, 2010 Right now it is supposed to be the hottest month of the year and it seems the whole month has been between 72 and 82 for highs. Night time temps are in the high 40's so feels like early September. The flows from Platoro today are 109 and here in Mogote just over 200. Afternoon showers and some clouds lately have kept the water temps from getting to high and fishing on most days has been very good. It has switched from mostly dry fly fishing to dry/dropper and nymph fishing. Ants, bettles, attractors and mayfly patterns have been the most effective surface patterns and the %@&# Fly, Silver Streak, G-String, Jimmy leg, and a few smaller reflective green caddis emergers have been the top flies the past few days. Over the next few months the length of leader, size of tippet, presentation, and the like will be very important.  If you can fish a longer leader you should do better. With the steady rains all of the tribs are fishable some are pretty low like South, Los Pinos, Elk, etc. Seems like alot of the crowds are beginning to thin and pretty soon most of the anglers here will be the more  hard core anglers that know the fall fishing can be fantastic. Cool temps, fall colors, and more solitude will be here soon. Expect with as much water as is in Platoro that the flows should be good thru the end of the season. We will guide thru the early to middle part of November. Cabins to stay open thru early November and the shop, end of October.

August 3, 2010 The last several days we have seen another emergence  of stoneflies and both Devan, Josh and Troy both have all been saying the fishing has been silly. They have all been fishing nymphs but this lower river has been on fire the past few days. Seems like on some sections of the river the fish have made a truce and the small medium and large fish have been sharing feeding lanes. Some nice rains have kept daytime temps from 70 to 85 and also boosted some of the flows. Fish seem to like it.

July 28, 2010 Some days and guides gone by since the last post but plenty of interesting and productive days. Just got off the lower river for a half day and it was much more productive in am. Days with clouds or rain has kept the fishing good on the lower river. The upper river with the cold water coming out of the dam fishing can be productive all day. Flows have come down out of the dam to make the entire upper 20 miles or so very productive and alot of our trips have been on the top half of the river or on the tributaries. Yesterday had the longest guide my recent memory (about 15 miles of hiking) with a couple  of adventurous guys with backpacks. Went high up on one of the tribs that I was a little to hike up because the river was lowish but the fish were happy and eating hard even on a sunny warm day. The higher we got we began to get into wild rainbows and some Rio Grande Cutts. Alot of fun. Mostly attractor dries and some small nymphs underneath. Seems like the Conejos fish with the flows the way they are seem to be looking up. I have seen alot of fish move to a #14 or #16 Neversink Trude, #14 or #16 Goddard caddis, #14pr #16 mahogany, and a grey #14 or #16 mayfly. Up high there are still some drakes so if you go up higher at all you need an assortment of emergers, cripples and adults. Those fish are getting a little wiser so have some extra bugs to try. Some of the tribs are a little low but they have been really good and you dont have to be Lefty Krey to catch them.

July 17, 2010 Yes a little while has passed. We have been on the moving water of Conejos County and what a beautiful office it is. Very little guide brain strain this past week. We have fished from  behind the shop in Mogote to above the Reservoir and for the most part really good fishing. Seems like the Drake  hatch so far has been pretty light when it comes off but the fish seem to be really on them when they are out. So many other bugs up high right now it is confusing at times to figure it out. I have spent  about half of my guide  days in the last week on the tributaries and each time I do they remind why they are worth it. Most of the fish right now have been on the dry. Down low an assortment of attractor dries and up higher smaller stones, drakes, BWO's, red quills, and PMD's. You just need an assortment of bugs so that when you see them you have something close enough to move some  fish. Cripples and emergers behind the dries seems to be really effective. As the water clears and begins to drop the tippet size, presentation, drift, silhouette, movement, and length of leader and whatever else I dont remember right now become more  important. I want to say thanks again to all of you for supporting our guides and fly shop in the middle of nowhere!

July 7, 2010 We get alot of calls right now asking "What are they bitin' on?" and "How's the fishin'?" well that is our job to answer those but after another week guiding it hits me there are a  couple of answers to "How's the fishin'?" Both fantastic and tough. Skill level, whether you are fishing  with a guide or not and which part of the drainage you are fishing in has a huge part in your success. After being out on a few guide trips I have observed that the client fishing with the guide catches about 85% of the fish. I would also say that 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish. If you feel like you are one of the 90 then I would say take a few dollars and split a guide with a buddy and see how this is happening. For almost the entire year starting in late March we have been consistently catching  fish and on average bigger fish. Its just that we are constantly changing where, how, and when to do so. With that said I have been up higher for the most part this week and have run into alot of stones of several varieties as well as sparse hatches of Drakes. Most of the fish we have caught have been on dries. Yesterday a client I was fishing with occasionally deemed a fish to be a "guide fish" because of the difficulty of the cast and had a chance to land a male cutt that was just under 20" on a #6 Salmonfly. He was under a tree in the tree roots and came out and sipped it so slow I almost did not wait long  enough for him to get it. Several days ago I guided down by the shop and ran into a beautiful Drake hatch that lasted a few hours and alot of larger browns ate hard during that time. Alot of fish in some really fast water that day until the hatch dropped off and all of a sudden there were big fish in lazy edges in the shade and they crushed a G String worm for another hour until they vanished at about 3:00. The river is very buggy right now and so just expect good opportunities to land bigger fish on dries.

July 1, 2010 Quick note tonight. Hiked waaaay up one of the tribs today and wow, what an incredible office we have. Gorgeous cutts all day most smaller but plenty of fish in the 13 to 16" range to make it fun and water so crystal clear that they seemed spookier and seemed to be pickier than any cutts should be. On one of the trips yesterday they landed a very impressive brown that was in the 23" range and a fatty on public water. Yesterday I guided the lower river and there were so many mayflies on the water and in the trees next to the river that is was distracting. About 11:30 we had a nice Drake hatch that turned on fish and they ate hard in all types of water. After that we caught fish in soft water on the G String and then is seemed to be over at 2 or 3. Late Late evenings have been good. Frank Smethurst, Devan, Jasmine and Josh went out a few nights ago and twitched dries and caught some really nice browns. Expect the river to be incredibly buggy  for quite a while. Flows are beautiful. Saw Platoro today and was amazed at how full it still is even with all the water being released. Hope to see you all soon. If you are wanting info right away from us or want to make a reservation please call and dont email. Keeping all the plates spinning right now is hard and seems like the email plate is the one that falls the quickest right now.

June 29, 2010 Before I get carried away writing a short blog just wanted to say thank you to all of you for your support. It is good to see all of the familiar faces in the shop and it has been a fun year for that. The fishing, well I have guided alot of places this last week and so some of what I know of the Conejos is from the other guides. I know that yesterday the Drakes were heavy low and the fish were on them hard. Big fish. Got a chance to guide some of the tribs this week and for the most part they were incredible. PMD's and Drakes on the tribs with a few smaller stones around. We have 29 different Drake patterns and it seems sometimes you need more than you should. Fish can be and will get picky. Cripples and emergers behind the adults will soon become more important. In the meadow up high I say BWO's and assorted bigger mahogony's  but not many fish on them on the surface. Expect it to just get buggier up there as well but for the most part the vast majority of the heavy bug activity is a little lower. The Canyon section is fishing pretty incredible but the wading is tough. Almost all of the tribs are at very good levels except the ones at the highest elevation. Those are on the bigger side. Got a chance a couple days ago to see a client hook a very large 20 to 22" male brown  on a PMD on a smaller tributary in a little back eddy. Another client landed a 20" male Snake River Cutt on the Conejos. Very impressive fish. Some of the other guys have seen some very large browns and bows up on stones and drakes this past few days. Lots of fun stories at the end of the day right now and there does not seem to be that many anglers here during the week. Get a chance, fish!

June 24, 2010 Just a quick note here late. I have not seen them myself but I heard late today that there were Drakes on the water today. The Chama and Los Pinos have had nice hatches of Drakes and who knows how many other tribs are seeing the same thing but I would guess they are all buggy with caddis, drakes, goldens, pmd's, and pteronarcys. Nice goal U.S. Soccer, Nice two home runs in the bottom of the ninth for the Rockies against the Red Sox. Ok so I am crossing sports here but it was a great day for fishing and alot of other fun stuff. I will be guiding straight for the next two weeks so I will try and give an update in there somewhere. Bottom line is the flows are just about perfect everywhere and they wont be that way forever with this many bugs on the water. For those beginning to panic may be a little early for that there is alot of water in Platoro and so there will be plenty of water in the Conejos for a while. We do need rain for alot of reasons but my wife reminded me that I say this every year so lets just hope its starts to rain. This year I think we have about 12 different Goldens (dries) and about 25 different Drake patterns. From nymphs to cripples to emergers to adults of every kind. Tomorrow we get a fresh batch of 7 more Salmon flies on top of what we have so we should have whatever you are looking for. Fish are eating adult caddis at night and in the late evening.

June 21, 2010 Seems like a months since the last post but it has been alot of fish netted since the last post. The flows along with alot of  bugs have created some  special moments. The big salmon flies are prolific from about Mogote C.G. to Rocky Mt. Lodge. Goldens from here by the shop up 20 miles or so. Drakes on the Chama and the other tribs are buggy. Expect with the lower flows and warmer temps to see Drakes earlier than normal. Maybe within a week. Of course this is a total guess but seems like everything is happening so fast right now. PMD's on the Los Pinos. Caddis almost everywhere and big stones on most of the river system. If  you are willing to throw some nymphs up higher is really good. Fishing in the first 2/3 of the day seems better on the lower river and almost reverse up high.

June 16, 2010 I have been trying to catch the Salmonflies perfectly on the Conejos now for 15 years and it has only happened twice so far. Well I think right now is 3! Normal flows for this time on the Conejos River are 1250 or so. Right now they are just over 500cfs. The bugs are thick from Antonito to Conejos Ranch and each day we will see them higher. It will only last a week or so before the Goldens begin coming off but expect the Conejos to be loaded with Salmonflies, Goldens, and Caddis over the next two weeks. The tribs right now are getting prime earlier then I thought. The La Jara, Los Pinos, South, Elk, and a host of others are dropping fast. Fish right now are so full of bugs that many of the stomachs are distended. Fish are moving in and out of really shallow slow water to fast rifles to fast runs. Finding them at times has been the hardest part. If you get a chance come and fish one of our lower ranches with a guide or rod fee and see what we are talking about.

New Summer hours starting tomorrow: Monday thru Saturday 7:30 to 6:00. Sundays 7:30 to 2:00. Call us with any questions you may have.

June 11, 2010 It is time to start planning on coming to the Conejos. Two days ago we saw the first of the Salmonfies emerge from the river. The flows are looking great as of this morning the lower river is running 1010cfs and dropping which should provide some great surface action with these giant bugs. The upper river has been holding steady now at 173cfs for a few days now and these fish have moved into a bit faster water in the meadows.

First off the gate to the upper river is now open and the flows have been holding steady at 113cfs for several days now. We have had a few of our guides fishing up on the meadows the past couple of days and they have found a lot of happy fish. We have been finding fish in all types of water from slow seam lines and deep pools to shallow fast riffles. Most of our success has been found fishing a double nymph rig under a clear indicator.  The lower river peaked out around 900cfs the other day but is now on it's way back down and has gone from a dirty brown to that happy green that we all love to see his time of year. We are starting to see some Skwala shucks along the banks here on the lower river but as of yet the adults are far and few between. With all of that said this is a great time of year to be on the river to really get to experience the Conejos in the early season. If you are on your way to the river been sure to stop by the shop for some coffee and to see our newly expanded fly selection.

Well we had a great turn out for our events this year. I hope that everyone who joined us for the event had a great time and we look forward to next years events. Also we want to say thank you to all of the people who helped out with the events this year, your support means a lot to us. Here are the final results of the tourny.

2010 Superfly AM Edition Results

1st B. Moran and E. Troudt 104 Points
2nd B. Herrera and L. Sanchez 103 Points
3rd P. Blankenship and D. Blankenship 101 Points
4th R. Scott and S. Montano 99 Points
5th R. Darnell and B. Darnell 98 Points
6th D. Drinnen and C. Coontz 95 Points
7th R. Ruybalid and E. Ruybalid 89 Points
8th P. Downey and J. Downey 87 Points
9th C. Dupuy and R. Long 86.5 Points
10th N. Miles and D. Miles 86 Points

Congratulations  to our top ten teams we had a couple of days of hard fishing and great fisherman working the water hard for every fish landed.

Our Big Fish rod winners for each day were:

Friday: Bo Herrera with an 20 inch Rainbow
Saturday: Pat Blankenship with an 19.5 inch Rainbow
Sunday: Rob Scott with an 18 inch Rainbow

2010 Superfly Pro Edition Results

1st V. Homer and R. Olney 103 Points

2nd M. Sexton and J. Arnold 95 Points

3rd R. Kolanida and P. Knackendoffel 92.5 Points

4th J. Harp and D. Ence 88 Points

5th A. Narjanja and L. Egan 83 Points

6th J. Knight and C. Galvan 82 Points

7th M. Silva and T. Meier 78 Points

8th C. Jackson and J. Davis 76.5 Points

9th J. Karefky and T. Thieson 75.5 Points

10th R. Scott and E. Adams 72 Points

Our Big Fish Rod Winners for each day were:

Saturday: Jerry Arnold with a 24 inch Rainbow

Sunday: Chris Jackson with a 20 inch Rainbow

Thank you again to everyone who came out and participated in this years event.

*****If you have not checked out the new webcam on the Conejos on our home page and the new weather page they are awesome! Garth Olsen was the one that set that up and has been kind enough to allow us to use it. Just amazing. It is located about 22 miles upriver from the shop but a great picture of what "it" looks like here from day to day! The last several days and the forecast for the next few days is for heavy wind. I would say that you will be able to be much more effective if you fish a 6 rather than a 4 or 5. If you need help with one call us but if you have one bring it in case it blows.

Superfly start dates and update: The following is the start dates for the amateurs. We also just had a cancellation in the cabins for both events so any of you needing lodging please call. Note to all Superfliers - Bring digital camera, net (we have a bunch)we will provide you with a tape and scoresheet,  the shop when you arrive will have about 600 fly bins full of flies. For those wanting help with a selection for the event be happy to put together a Superfly batch for you.

Friday Teams: #2 Long, #3 Herrera, #4 R. Lewis, #5 A. Lewis, #6 P. Downey, #14 W. Vette #15 B. Silver, #16 J. Arterburn #18 Darnell #19 Stone #24 Moran #23 Martin (pending)

Saturday Teams: #1 Zundel #7 Gentry #8 Blankenship #9 Drinnen #10 E. Wade #12 C. Webb #13 J. Kramer #11 Ruybalid #20 Dupuy #21 Miles #25 Hayden #26 Day

Team Martin/Kuchta please call us, we did not see which day you are preferring to start. We will qualify at least 17 teams to sunday.

We will also tweak fishing times this year to allow for possible very cold nights. Fish from 9:30 to 5:00. Registration to begin at 7:45. Dinner to follow on saturday and sunday. Casting competion will be saturday after each event. We will also modify the draw. If you draw your first day out of the top 5 tier (as subjectively decided by a panel late at night) you will not fish out of that same Top 5 tier again for sunday should you draw one. This will give every one a chance to fish one and since this year the champion will be decided by the composite of both fishing days it will make it as fair as we can.

Devan, Jasmine and I made a few casts after work today (on public water) and I ribbed Devan that I wanted 4 fish hooked before he was rigged and I just about did it. Hooked three fish and one that blew the rig up. All browns that I saw. The big one??? The downside? Well thats the only 4 fish I hooked in the short time I fished.  Anyway as cold as a day as it was the fish are starting to eat. I think finding them and what type of water they are in will be one of the biggest challenges for the Fly. Water should be clear and cold for the event and it looks like another week that will not get hot. If any of you have a health issue that would prevent you walking through some snow please contact us before the event. We will pre-draw a beat for you, not neccesarily a better beat just an easy beat.

Superfly Update: Good news for you amateurs at this moment. We have more beats then we need for each of the first two days so instead of half of the teams making it thru each day we will probably advance about 60 or 65% of the teams to sunday. Still no guarantee but a better chance none the less. I will post the amateur  start days in the next day or two so if you did not request a day on the entry you will know soon. The Guide version should be full in the next few days please dont send an entry in unless you call. It may be full. There is also a chance the gate to the upper river will open just before the Guide Event and that will create room for more teams but they will not tell us much ahead for us to plan. Weather will determine how quickly the road bed dries over the next few weeks. As we speak we are preparing the shop for a new year and seeing the new bugs has been alot of fun and we look forward to making some casts and seeing  you all again.

March 30, 2010 Beautiful warm weather has finally come to the Conejos! At a time when we should  be working the hardest is the time when we are wanting to screw around the most! Anyway fished on Sunday and got my first Conejos fish out of the way. A gorgeous football shaped bow full of eggs ate a Jimmy Leg (The new Pat's - Sorry but it is America and even the Pat's can be updated even though it was a great bug! ) You will here us talk about the Jimmy Leg alot but it is simply a Pat's with more exotic legs and a thorax with a bend to more closely resemble the real thing. Anyway its just a Patty! Still plenty of snow getting to the river but once on the river no problems and it fished good for a while in the afternoon. I kept wanting to throw a streamer and felt like they wanted it but kept nymphing. Fished look healthy and fat which is hard to believe after such a cold snowy winter. Superfly Update: I will release in the next day or so the starting dates for the am teams. I will post it here. There is still room in the am event and the pro event has room for 1 more team. Looks like the Conejos is going to get some pretty famous anglers showing up to test themselves against the worthy Conejos. Four or five members of the US Fly Fishing Team including the captain will be here with teams. A good test for the local guides here and any others that want to fish against the best. Should be alot of fun and maybe we might learn something. How much am I willing to spend on myself in a Calcutta with all of those guys coming? ? ? = LESS! The shop will begin regular hours on April 1. Tues - Sat 8:00 to 4:00 Sunday 8:00 to 1:00 until June when we will go 7 days a week with longer hours 7:00 to 6:00. Sundays 7:30 to 2:30. Please call us for any questions you may have. Looking forward to spending another trout season with all of you.

March 20, 2010 After a week in the sun in Tucson I feel ready to work, guide, and fish again. Amazing how a little sun and heat after a coooooold winter can help. If all goes according to plan we plan on opening the shop and cabins April 1. Superfly has 24 teams in the Am's and about  15 in the guide event at this time so still room. I went to the river today and thought I might bend the rod a little but wow, alot of snow still. Fortunately most of it was hard enough to walk on but when I sank in it was up to my @$%#! I started string the rod up high off of the river and looked down and saw a verrrrrry large brown sitting in about 2 feet of water just below me but by the time I had my flies tied on and looked back he had vanished. Anyway in about an hour I did not land my first fish of the year and think I will give it a week before I head back out. If you are desperate it is fishable but do yourself a favor and give it a bit. Most of the fish I saw were not actively feeding and they are spending windows of their day feeding but it is limited. Please feel free to call us for more info. 719 376 5660

March 11, 2010 It is slowly beginning to feel like spring here in the Southern San Juan Mts. and the below zero bite of winter has slowly almost unnoticably vanished. The river is beginning to appear from beneath the snow and ice and our world here is slowly thawing. With that said there is still a lot of snow and snowpack for this drainage looks very good. If I had to take a guess the end of March or early April we should start to see some good fishing here on the lower river. Entries for the Superfly have slowed and there are still some spots left for both events. If any of you are checking in here for the first time looking for Superfly information you are welcome to call or just send in the entry and we can connect later. If you are interested in the Carte Blanche club or buying a membership to a large section of the lower river please contact us there are several options available to you for the first time.  The shop and cabins will open April 1 and we look forward to seeing you all again. 719 376 5660 or for the week of March 12 to 19 719 250 7122. For those planning or hoping for spring fishing and are not that familiar with the Conejos it is a great spring river. Even during runoff there is about 4 miles of water below Platoro that has some incredible fishing in late April, May, and June when other fisheries will be pounding with chocolate like water. The other option here will be some incredible pike/carp fishing in the rivers just east of us. Spring is a great time for that and for those willing to fish outside the box a little wow, what a great time. I can tell you this that when me and guides have time off we are no longer just trout fishing. We have been chasing big pike, carp, and trout just east of us. In the last several years I have only seen one other angler on the river when we have been out exploring.

March 2, 2010 Hey this sounds crazy to say but we are going to be catching fish soon!!!!!!!!!! The weather is scheduled mild for the next weeks or so and expect to start seeing some of the thick ice disappear. A couple of years ago I caught a fish on March 7 this year that might be dreaming but a couple of weeks we should be making some casts. The shop and cabins will open April 1. We should be doing some guide trips before that. For those interested in the Superfly please get those entries in. There is still some room in both events.

February 11, 2010 We are going to tweak eligibility for the Guide event. For the teams that were paired together last year that were guide/amateur teams we are going to "grandfather" in their eligibility. There are several teams that are really close and after chewing on it overnight I think they should be allowed to stay together.  This event for many is a big deal to get together catch up and enjoy some fishing. Hope this puts a smile on a few of you.

February 10, 2010 A couple things on the Superfly. Registration is open so if you need an entry please email me. Some teams that are amateurs are wanting to fish in the guide event and I understand this for scheduling purposes or the challenge but we split them and I'm sorry if this affects some of you. The am event is for ams and the guide event for guides/industry personel/ and competive anglers (prof. events/U.S. Fly Fishing Team etc.) We had lots of discussion over this and I know there is not a perfect answer but we decided to keep them totally separate. If you are looking for a partner I will begin to post people and their numbers of anglers looking for a partner. Roy Lamb 806-220-4342 needs partner for am event.

If you are interested in  the Carte Blanche Membership for 2010 we have 2 left read below for more info or call the shop number 719-376-5660. If any of you would like to volunteer during either event we could sure use you.

February 8, 2010 Seems like were now cruising fast towards flowing water again and fish eating bugs.  Even though it is still about 14 degrees out this am and snowing feels like spring is fast approaching. Maybe its all this talk of the Superfly is skewing my reality.  Anyway the Superfly is officially open for registration. I sent out several hundred emails during the Super Bowl and if you did not get one please send me an email. info@conejosriveranglers.com and I will get you one. I also hope to have downloadable entry forms on the home page very soon.

Jan 27, 2010 Well here you go my friends the dates for the 10' Superfly. April 9-11 for the amateurs. April 17-18 for the pros. I will officially open registration in 10 days or so and there will be a downloadable entry on the home page. The format will be very similar for the am's. This year we will have a composite score to determine the winner instead of resetting the scores to 0 on the last day. For the pro event  it will  be only two days and the draw will be spit in two. You fish out of one "tier' of beats on one day the other "tier" the last. 44 teams for the am's and 22 teams for the pros.  Please do not send an entry in unless you know that the weather and flows could be anything. We have had perfect weather and last year Tyler Johnston and I  walked 20 minutes thru very deep snow to get to the river! ( I had the uppermost beat) And it was in the 20's and 30's all day. (75 points may I add of bad weather! We hooked about 40 fish our last 3 hours) There will be casting competitions, a band, lots of good food and good prizes and swag.  About 3000.00  from your entries will go directly to the Conejos Habitat Project. If any of you would like to come and volunteer for either weekend we will need some help for both. It will also be fun for any of you that are close to come and watch the pros go to work on the Conejos. I know I love watching great anglers at work and I always seem to learn something. Please if you want in get your entries in quickly I think the amateur event may fill up in a matter of days.

There are 2 Carte Blance Club Memberships left for those that really want to take advantage of all that we do and all that Conejos County has to offer in terms of fishing. Read the bottom section of the Dec 28 post to read more. 

My knee after being an ugly swollen bleeder for  almost 3 days is looking and working more like a real knee so we'll just hope it continues to go that way. Should be back  on the golf course and water really soon. It was zero or below this am but I can almost smell spring coming. Cant wait to get out there and make some casts, swings, and take some mt. bike rides. Thanks to alot of you who sent cigars, dvd's, and emails while my leg was sticking up in the air. What a cool bunch of people you all are!

Jan 1, 2010 Happy New Year to all of you! Whether you are rubbing nickels this day or chartering a jet we have one thing  in common - The love of the outdoors and fish. A truly beautiful thing. Make time this year to feed your soul.  Looking forward to seeing you all. The Harps

December 28, 2009 The last post of 09' should simply say "Thank You, to all of you"! In tough times with alot of people straining from alot of different sides we survived thanks to all of your support. It was a good year for the fish. It was a good year for the habitat project to continue to gain momentum, $'s, and actual work done.  It was a fun year for the guides as well as myself and I really enjoyed being on the water with many of you. Happy New Year to all of you and dont wait to long to catch that first fish of the year. I am already trying to figure out where that will be!  I will be having a knee surgery in a week and when the dust settles from that and the vicoden all gone I will be posting the dates and the information  for the 2010 Superfly. I can tell you this that there will be an event for amateurs only and a weekend for the pros in April. With all of the pros coming I can tell you that Devan and I will have the gloves off and fishing our *&%$'s off between good cigars! For 2010 there will be new rod fee properties, new rods and gear in the shop, new fishing clubl memberships available with more water than we ever have had.  More in a couple weeks!

$$$ Some of you may know but in years past we have hosted trips to Southern Patagonia. The trips were spectacular but on the pricey side. The Lodge and fishing and experience are truly special. The trips when I started going were $4795 for a week. This year because of the economy the price was dropped to $3995. Right now because there are still some spots left you can go for $2995!  That is an incredible price for this lodge and private fishing. The website if you would like to check it out is www.patagoniadream.com  This last year they built a couple of smaller lodges at remote locations about 1.5 hours from the lodge for those that want to fish a drainage that is further away from the lodge without having to drive back and forth each day. You have the option of taking part of your week and spending a couple of days "out" . You are still cooked for and pampered but you have your own cabin overlooking one of the most spectacular views you will ever see, in the heart of Patagonia. Most of the fishing is not that technical and is a place where even a beginner can be very successful. Places like New Zealand are unique and dramatic etc etc but require you to make extremely long casts with long leaders to very few fish and can quickly turn a fishing vacation into a tough blow to the ego and a long trip for alot  of frustration. Anyway it is a very special place for so many reasons but now for the price. If you are interested in some info on this please call and I can answer most of your questions. This is the lodge I had a 20 fish over 20" in the Simpson River day! There are several species of salmon in the rivers there as  well for those of you wanting to catch a King or a Silver or whatever!

***Just had the new Southwest Fly Fishing arrive and they did an article on the Conejos. Also the new (oct/nov) Fly Rod and Reel has an article written by John Gierach  about the Conejos, Luke, he  and I that is a very creative piece of writing. He spent a week with us a couple of years ago and he wrote a couple of pieces for a  local newspaper so the feature article suprised us but it was fun to have my fly fishing literary idol here and write such an eclectic fun piece. More gorgeous  weather and fish eating so  I  am continuing to fish even though I  am the only one (and Troy). The pike are next!

***2010 Conejos Carte Blanche Club - For those of you wanting to budget some dollars for next year here is the nuts and bolts information for the 2010 Conejos Carte Blanche Club. This membership gives you access to all we provide. Unlimited guides for the year, cabins, flies, food and beverages for the year on guide trips, membership to all of the private leases, and maybe one of the best benefits is the fact that at the end of  the year your fishing should reach a new level. In addition you will be guaranteed entry into the Superfly which will fill very quickly this year. You can consider it a private fly fishing school.  You can consider it a great way to learn the drainage here but the bottom line is it is about what you would pay for a week at a lodge in Chile or Alaska without the airfare. Price for the year is $4677. Cost to bring a guest on a guide is $70. No additional cost for their lodging. You can break payments into 2 installments. We will only accept 5 members. If you are anything like me if I am a member at the golf course I will use it alot and guilt free, if each time I have to pay for a cart and green fee and balls and lunch I wont go much just because I dont like constantly reaching into my pocket. This is a fun way to budget some dollars and go enjoy it.  For more details give us a call.

November 12, 2009 Did a guide trip a couple of days ago with a never ever and  even he caught fish! On days where the water temps bump fish are eating hard. Most days water temps are reaching 42 degrees or so but the fish now are in almost complete solitude. I will try a few more times to land one of the fish I have seen in the 25 to 30" that have been haunting me. Some days you can tell yourself "OK today I am not even going to make a cast until I see a really large fish to cast to!" Well a couple of hours later I had only seen a few fish and they were not large and my timeframe for screwing around was coming to an end fast and I end up making a few casts to some of the smaller fish and land a few fat healthy fish in the 14" to 17" range and end the day never making "that cast". Later in the day Tr0y tells me they came out after I left!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That he had hooked a couple fish in the 24 or 25" range!! Yahhhhh! Anyway today it is snowing and cold and maybe a day when a guy should be out there but a Ski Parka with thick gloves may be required which begs you at 43 to ask is "Maybe another cup of coffee and actually working today would b a better call???!" Anyway the Culebra, Wild Trout Waters of the Rio, the Red, The Taos, and Pike just east of us are on the agenda for the next month. Thursday Frank Smethurst and Cody are coming from Scott rods and  Frank is dying to put his new Boulder Boat Works boat in the water and float the Rio just east of us for big Pike. As always he never listens to me about not enough water or maybe there is a better section. So you can bet we will be out there flailing 8 weight rods around on thursday and as usual having a great time and hoping I was wrong!

FYI Troy and I just got done catching up a few minutes ago and he told me he had his top 3 all time day on the Conejos a few days ago. About 75 fish up high almost all over 14" some alot bigger. Long leader to an attractor dry to a  #18 zebra. 90% zebra. Just goes to show you even at 7 cfs a good cast goes along way. The day I guided there were alot of fish in the deep runs. Good casts would have done the same thing down here.

November 3, 2009 The beautiful October that never showed up is now here. Spent some time up high today and the fish were eating hard. Some very large fish now exposed by the lower water and relaxed by the absense of people are showing themselves. The long range weather looks great and the water temps that were so low last week are now bumping nicely. The high water temp today was 43.1 and the high temp was 62. Cant make a November any better than that. Some fish eating dries but mostly nymphing and expect to fish some small midge stuff behind an attractor bigger nymph. As long as the weather stays nice and the water temps dont drop back to 33 for long time it will be good. Very weird to feel like you and Troy and maybe another or so have an entire drainage to yourself. The Pike fishing in this weather is also very good so a few options.

November Guide Trips - I will be running a special for November for a very cheap package deal on a Full day Guide, 1 night in the cabin, and flies. 2 Anglers $325. 1 Angler $285.  We do have some room in the cabins between hunting seasons so give us a call and book the guide. If you want multiple guide trips just double the price. You basically get a free cabin rental with the guide and free flies. We also have some crazy deals on some new rods to end the season so if you are curious let us know. We are also excited for next year for many reasons but we will be radically increasing our inventory of flies. We will be carrying only the best flies from Umpqua, Rainy's, Soliltude, Montana Fly, and Iydlwilde. A new custom fly bin is being built and should be fun to fill.

2010 Conejos Superfly - I get emails and calls on the Superfly and I am leaning towards a 2 weekend event. One for amateurs and one for the pros. We would make it a 2 day weekend with fewer teams and no cut to make. All the teams would get to fish both days.  The score would be a composite score for the weekend to declare a winner so as to balance out the chance of a tough beat. I think that would choose the winners more fairly. The bad thing  about the format is the number of teams would go from 50 to 25 per event. Be happy to hear everyones opinion. We will not take any entries until probably Feb so please do not try and get in yet. Dates are not determined but will be approx the same as years past, mid April. 

October 18, 2009 Ok so Rocktober came and went. The beautiful weather is not and flows are still up. Expect some great fishing in the next few weeks. Unfortunately and I hope this does not inconvenience anyone the shop will be closed monday and tuesday. We will be filming a segment of the movie we are working on. Devan and I edged out the rest of the guides in the GuideFly last week and we had a great day being out on the water tying our own knots. Devan and I hooked 22 fish in the first run of the day and the fishing for the first 2 hours was crazy. Fish ate purple worms and stonefly nymphs. It was dark and snowing and we started at 10:00 and it lasted until 12:00. After that it got clear and windy and we worked hard the rest of the day for fish but either way it was fun. The cabins will have availability again in a couple of days so if you need to get one last fix in do it. As long as the weather does not get to cold at night like in the low teens the water will warm to the point of making fish very active for parts of the day. We have also continued to see, hook and hear of very large fish. As soon as the water drops expect to see more of them and I will be out there in early November looking for them myself. See more details below on fishing and fall  closeouts.

Rocktober 9, 2009 Short add to below. Found some bugs that had some magic to them today. Flows bumped up as well as the lower river is now at a pretty choice 168 cfs. Biot Stone was magic today. Fish in deeper runs. Water color slightly colored. The lake at Platoro is turning over putting some color and dendritis (JUNK) in the water and as those of you who know often makes the Conejos a little more friendly to fish. Saw a few pictures of an angler this morning that landed in a day a 24" mutant brown with a huge girth and a bow that was maybe 26 or so that was obsene. Very impressive and makes going to the river with a fly that much more interesting. Read below for more details.

Rocktober 5, 2009 Here in Colorado we Rockie fans are hoping it is Rocktober, regardless this wednesday night you can bet we will be stuck in front of the tube. Flows have come up to about 80 out of the reservoir and that should be a good thing. The bad thing is the moon. Some say it does not matter much but I can track some of my worst trips of the year and the other guides will chime in that it does matter. Today was tough. If the river was chalked full of Rainbow's  that just like to gorge than maybe not but Browns are a different animal. We spent the last half hour arguing if the spawn was mostly done  and I can say there was no aggreement. Not that it would have mattered because we are not sure. Some have some have not yet would be my guess. I will say that there are alot of nice browns of all sizes in the tribs right now. Another interesting story is that last week there were a  couple of professional photographers here fishing and taking pictures and were in the Pinnacles late and found a bluff overlooking a big hole and located a very large brown about 25" eating hard in a nice foam line and were having fun just watching when a  much larger brown about 28" pushed the other brown out of his feeding position. They were dumbfounded and had a great time watching the hogs spend the last minutes of daylight eating hard. There are not that many but there are dozens of very large fish that would  be trophies on any continent. Degree of difficulty to hook and land = off the charts. We have been trying for a while to catch some very large fish that we have located and it is hard to even get your rod in the air to make a cast. I have asked many a client out of jest what do large browns hate more than anything? My answer - Anything out of the ordinary. Well the larger they get the more keen they become at knowing what out of the ordinary is.

We apolige but the shop will be closed on the 7th. Probobly to late to help you but Troy had a death in the family and I will be covering his trip.

FALL CLOSEOUTS: We will be selling all of our demo waders, rods and reels at crazy prices so give us a call if you want to get started for cheap or get some good backup gear for cheap. Alot of the  other gear in the shop is being closed out so buy some early Christmas gifts at great prices.

October Hours: Closed tuesday the 13th for the 1st Annual GUIDEFLY. The battle of the guides. Superfly format and followed up with some Ribeyes and libations. Monday thru Saturday 7:30 to 3:00. Sunday 7:30 to 12:00. Retail Store closes for the season October 22. Cabins and guides will close November 6.  Thank you for helping us have a great season.

October 1, 2009 Hate to get to dramatic but the colors right now are just incredible. Some heavy rain and snow up high have freshened up the rivers and tribs and fishing has been really good. Guided Bo Herrera a couple of days ago and he put  a hurtin' on the fish. Alot of fun to watch and I was mostly just net man. Anyway add a nice cigar, a Sam Adams and the fall colors and it does not get much better. Fished mostly dry/dropper setups and the Ruby in a #18 was magic. BWO's and attractor patterns have been good bringing fish up. The forecasted high temps this next week are 60 to 71 and  should bring in some  more good fishing. Fish will be on reds soon so please  steer clear of those. One more month to go on the Conejos of good fishing so dont sit in the office to long or it will be gone for another 6! months! Ouch! It is also priime pike time east of us so another option that will be good into November.

September 14, 2009 If it has  not hit you already I will help. The chance to catch fish in Conejos Co. is running short, about 45 more days of fishing still to do this season but if you can now is a great time for so many reasons to get out. Cool fresh air, almost no one is here, fall colors and the chance to move some big fish in the most easy to get around in flows of the year. Ok there is my sales pitch for your fall and I'm done. The fishing has been all over the place. Last week got a chance to fish the Pinnacles and the memories of years past at this time of year with the flows the way they were made me more than excited to get in there. Well when the dust settled that day it was some of the worst fishing of the year. Perfect weather, flows, clarity, bugs, everything but the big fish were either gone or hiding. On Sunday afternoon took the kids "hiking" and got them building a "Fort" next to the river of course next to a nice run and I had just happened to have a 9' 3 weight with a 12' leader and some flies arleady ready and hooked more fish in 20 minutes of fishing then the entire day in the Pinnacles?!!??! This was on the most overfished section of the lower river. Go figure. A really nice rain the last few days has freshened things up and look for more Blue Wings to pop over the next few weeks. My best bugs have been BWO patterns both dry and nymphs, yesterday the worm was back on but that may or may not last based on the rain. I will say this and it is a generalization but 90% true. I here two stories in the shop. #1 Had a great day learned alot, stuck some big fish (fished with guide) 2. Had a tuff day hooked a few but never figured it out(fished alone) .  There are alot of reasons that can make a day bad. Many we are in control of but without knowing what those are its hard to change. I watch alot of anglers on the river and 90% of them I can tell right away that they are going to have a tough day.  When people come into our shop we try to help each person with whatever questions they have and do our best to keep them in the right flies, right length and diameter of leaders, etc. but it is impossible to go A to Z in the shop. Some people do try and get a guide trip in the shop and have a 100 questions and if we have time answer those but even with all 100 answered the story often comes back as some of those tips helped but I stlll did not do great. I understand that guides are expensive, for years I slept in my car or on the ground and split gas with guys to get on the water to fish and fish with ugly flies or my own ugly flies and  I was a long way from Umpqua flies, Sage rods, rod fees, and guides. However if you can split a guide with a buddy it is not to bad and if you are with the right guide will change how you fish forever. For those of you who really dont care about how many how big or how period  part of me envies you and you may be ahead of the curve. I will say that I do love the fact that 99% of my fishing days have no score!

August 27, 2009 Flows dropped dramatically this week out of the reservoir and that has made every mile of the Conejos fishable. And it has fished good this week for me and the other guides. The Chironocone and some dries has been my hero the past several days. Expect the dry fly fishing to get one or two notches better with the drop in the flows. Also expect them to get that much  spookier as well. Go to 6x to your dry if you have to and lengthen the leader and improve the presentation. But if you do there are a lot of nice fish to be caught right now. I saw a fish just under 24" eat a big dry yesterday on a soft edge that was pretty awesome. August was wonderful with mild temps and expect more of the same in September. Incredible number of exoskelatons on the rocks upriver. I have seen a few adults during the day but mostly I understand they are nocturnal, we are trying to find out more about this stone.

August 19, 2009 My personal best guide day of the year! Great young guys dying to learn and listen and they crushed the lower river. Probobly hooked 60 to 70 fish today and it was fun to watch. Fish were in fast water eating stonefly nymphs till about 1:00 and then added a FB PT #18 and they ate that till the guys were tired. For a few hours the big fish were out and we landed nothing but 14 to 19.5" trout mostly browns in the am. There were tons of stonefly exoskelotons on the rocks and a few adults but these adults are mostly nocturnal so dont expect to see many during the day. We did throw a few dries and did see some fish eat them for the short time we threw them but mostly fish were looking for the nymph. Flows were dropped a couple of days ago and that should make wading easier for all up and down the river. We somehow go lucky and never got the really hot days of August and that has helped fishing and kept the temps freindly for the fish.

We are running a rod deal now. Simple - buy a rod get a free reel. If you are looking to get something special give us a call.

August 13? Devan is making some improvement and is supposed to make an appearance in the shop tomorrow. It appears that it is an extremely rare case of Colorado Tick Fever?! Only 10 cases ever reported here but still to early to be sure.

The fishing has been interesting. Some great stuff and big fish landed and plenty of the usual Conejos where are they? Or I dont think there are any fish in the river stuff. It does seem that the fish have begun to look up again and we had a good couple days with dry flies. Meadow had a beautiful BWO hatch this am and down low Randy and his group stuck alot of fish on Trudes on top and #18 Zebras below. If you are fishing eeeeaarly you are doing yourself a huge favor (I just felt a hateful vibration from the trout for saying that).  If you go fishing at 2:00 on these bright hot days and wonder whats going on, dont. Its tough at that time. The flows were bumped up to 319 out of Platoro and that should make the meadow and low river fish really well. No problem of high temps and stressed out August fish here so good news for the trout. Fishing the Pinnacles or the Canyon water until the flow is lowered should not be done. To high. Fish the tribs which are good right now even if some are a little low or the upper or lower river. It has been alot of fun to see some lunkers hooked lately. We wondered if there were any that survived winter because we did not see many in the spring and during the Superfly. A young boy fishing with Randy today made the book of 20's by landing a pig that could have been measured in pounds and not inches. Congratulations. Will see if I can get his name later but plenty have been breaking that mark. Another angler landed 6 over 20 in a day. Tomorrow we will try it all over and Devan claims he is tying the flies tonight that they wont be able to help themselves!!!!! We'll see!

Pike fishing should be insane but cant talk anyone into going. Flows are as good as they ever will. In the morning the talk about pike on the guide goes something like this. A couple of guys from Tulsa walk in and  a hot bright day on the Conejos is about to unfold. Guys wanna do something a little different and catch some monster pike in the river just east of us, got the gear ready to go? And an immediate "NAH"!  I think I will keep asking because someone is going to get lucky! Anyway I dont blame all of you for wanting  to catch some trout it has been a beautiful summer and the fish are happy. (Part of the day!)

I must say that this group of guides we have working is a group I am very proud of. They have taken a river that is a very difficult mature brown trout river and done a great job  of figuring it out. So many anglers will take a vacation here and not ask about flies, hire guides, etc and have a very poor experience or finally come in at the end of their trip and take a guide out. We are here to help and there is a small group of very good guides that know the backcountry and the Conejos better than any I have seen or heard in the past. In our shop I have a collection of Jim Fulton flies and many of that time will tell you these are all you need to catch fish. I would have loved to spend a day with Jim and ask a 100 questions that I will never get answered but looking at the simplicity of the flies is amazing. Did the fish suddenly after thousands of years get smart  in 30 years? I know not many in that day ever had a chance to get smart.  A Carribou, Mosquito, Adams, H&L, and I dont know. When I see a 20" brown being caught in August on a #18 JuJuB Midge emerger in heavy water I know that whatever we thought we had figured out 20 years ago was not fully true.  Maybe they are getting smarter or maybe there was so much fishing here that no one had to fish the Conejos in August when there were so many tribs to fish. I do know that at some point machismo and ignorance must be replaced by perspective and wisdow. Elk Creek for example and others I wont mention used to have alot and very large fish. Today machismo and ignorance has ruined many sections.  I am not naive enough to think that we will ever really figure out the Conejos but we have gotten better at figuring out that moment and after all that is all we really have! Enjoy the last 80+ days of the season!

August 6, 2009 First things first here. Devan Ence who is such a big part of the team here is very sick. He has been in the hospital for a while with a very low white blood cell and platelet count. After a gazillion tests we are still not sure what is wrong but we are hoping it is the Rocky Mt. Spotted Tick Fever which is not good but better then the other options. He is out of the hospital now and home but not out of the woods yet. He will be out of commision for a while and a month out  from his wedding is a tough time. Your prayers and support will mean alot. If you want to send some money you can mail it to the shop and write it to his name.

Now to the fishing. Seems like the fish on the upper river get fatter and fatter by the day. Brown trout with incredible girth are impressive. The Drake hatch seems like the longest in history. We have seen Drakes below  Platoro for weeks, how long will they last I dont know but amazing. There has been other mayflies popping to fill the gap of the smaller Drake hatch. Nymphing on the lower river still very good. Had the chance to fish with the head guide at Wolf Creek Anglers and the owner Mike McCormick last night for a little bit and since these guys hang out with the guys of the US Fly Fishing Team so much I wanted to see the new Czech and French nymphing techniques first hand. Very interesting and I had a chance to watch up close for a while. The browns on the Conejos River much not have the same appreciation for the Czech nymphs as other fish but I can see why it is so effective.  A little Zen like and maybe difficult for some to catch on but I will take what I can from this method and add it to what we do already to make it more effective. We did stick some very large browns just before we left but only when we cut the Czech nymphs off.

July 28, 2009 Sorry for the long delay, we had a problem with my laptop here and the small band of brothers here on the Conejos has been going long and hard each day. Fishing results on the Conejos as many of you know varies  from angler to angler. All I can say is when Devan's girlfriend, Jasmine comes in and lands 25 fish in the evening I cant keep listening to the moans.  Of course it can be hard but Jasmine has been killing them nymphing this week. The meadow up high has had alot of Drakes this week and at times the fish dont care. Very disturbing to  see that many Drakes go by untouched and at the same time catching fish on a size 20 RS2????? Yesterday there were two Drake hatches in the meadow and the first was an hour and nice and heavy and very few fish on them . Later in the afternoon in a nice rain another and it was light but the fish were all over them. Big heavy fish on dries for a short time. Another fish on a Drake nymph straightened out a #12 nymph hook and reminded us that most of the fish are normal but not all. The tribs up high have been fantastic. La Jara has slowed down on the hot days but still good. Los Pinos low and spooky. We seem to be in a trend of nice cool afternoon showers which is a must to keep the afternoon fishing going. If it is hot and sunny and 3:00 you are probobly best taking a long break.  Fish seem to be eating June bugs or beetles now on the lower river but could they be filling up at night on June bugs? Rubber leg Prince in a 16 has been the best bug on the lower river as well as a small Pats. Caddis, PMD's, Drakes, and a few straggling Goldens on the upper river. If you wont spend a chunk of your day with some lead in really fast water you will not likely see the big fish.

July 5, 2009 D-RAKES! They are here. PMD's are also prevalent right now and at times the fish seem to prefer them  Maybe they taste better? Whatever the flavor it is buggy and fish are looking up. We had a guide trip on friday that hooked about 50 fish a piece on dries including a 22" male brown. We did not see really big fish all year long until the last few days. Another group landed a 27.5" Male bow about 7 or 8 pounds. Drakes are up atleast into the Menkhaven area and prolific in some sections others spotty. Flows of 500 on the lower river have made it somewhere between spectacular and good. Tribs have Drakes as well and almost anywhere people are fishing right now is good. Devan and I took turns yesterday making some casts and getting a chance to throw dries and so again today we will sneak out a bit to endulge. You should as well. Please know that if you are a catch and release fisherman and crushing fish and still using a barb?! If you will leave them in the water and not on rocks or sitting in your net you do them a huge favor. They may swim away but you have burned there gills and they will die slowly or be impaired for no reason!

June 30, 2009 Ok were back online here in Conejos County! Flows cut in half on the upper river and water clarity and bug life is pointing towards what we were  hoping for. Almost all of the tribs look great and fishing from Elk to the La Jara has been very good this week. Alot of fish on the dry on the tribs. Reports of big Cutts and Browns  hooked and sometimes landed on the tribs the past few days. Expect to see Drakes on the lower river very soon, the caddis and Goldens are already in full swing.

June 29, 2009 The last week here was one of the wettest in the high country we have had in a long time. It looks like we are finally in a drying out trend and they just dropped the releases from 750 to 394 this morning. By tomorrow the lower river will be back to a more reasonable and clear level. Lots of Goldens on the lower river. Water clarity has already returned and we should expect to see some dry fly fishing when the flow adjustment hits the lower river. Clouds of caddis and a few PMD's out. The tribs are already seeing Green Drakes and a host of other bug activity and most of the fish are being caught on dries. Fish are fat and some large fish being caught in the smaller water. Seems like some of the fish in the Pinnacles area have taken refuge in the feeder streams so expect to catch some larger than average fish in smaller water. The streams up around 10,000 feet and above are still to big so fish the lower tributaries. I have never seen releases as high as they were last week and amazingly if you fish extremely early below the dam the fish are eating hard, the problem is that there stomachs are so gorged by 10:00 or 11:00 that it ends early.  The fish are in amazing condition and as fat a brown trout as you will catch in moving water (meadow fish). Fish a 6 weight with plenty of weight. If you catch it on a descending release it might be tough. On a level or rising release very good. I was just told this morning that the flows will be left high for a while and 30 minutes later I check the releases and they drop it 350 cfs so it is impossible to know even if they told us.

June 19, 2009 The big bugs have sputtered seemingly haphazardly on the lower river and the fishing reports have varied wildly the last few days. The exception is the tribs which have been good to fantastic. Very good dry fly fishing on most of the tributaries and the Conejos has had a couple of days that have been very good on top but today was not one of those for some bizzare Conejos type reason. The outrageous caddis hatch has begun alongside the big bugs and fish have suprisingly been eating some small stuff alongside the Salmon/Willow/Pteronarcys. Golden Stones and caddis emergers have been some of the best nymphs.  The Salmonfly the best dry. Expect it to get buggier and buggier each day and the fish will begin to look up more and more each day. Great time to be here. Still nymphing in the meadow but our guide trips up there have been good to great.

June 10, 2009 The mass exodus of Pteronarcys (GIANT BUGS) began last  night and we now have big orange bugs flying around and should really change how we fish on the Conejos and births the beginning of the end for the Thingamabobber for a while. The other tribs are experiencing a more active bug life as well and should open up alot of water for us to fish. The flows continue to dip right now and with storage at Platoro as high as I have ever seen it expect flows out of Platoro to be in the 200 to 400 range for a while which will make the meadow a great place to fish and the lower river with all the stoneflies  the place to be for throwing dries. Releases today Platoro 220, Lower River 800, Los Pinos 200, La Jara perfect! Expect the next couple of weeks to be stellar in alot of areas. Guides still have availality and the cabins still have some slots. Hope you can make it to throw one of the biggest dries of all! 

*We just posted a couple of new blogs on the CRA Blogspot, check those out.

*We still have a couple of memberships available for the private ranches. $1050 and includes a guide trip and no additonal rod fees for yourself or guests! No Brainer if you fish here much.

June 7, 2009 Plenty of changing conditions to try and keep up with here in Conejos County.  Some good some not. The flows have been increased out of Platoro to about 350 cfs which bodes well for fishing up really high but the Pinnacles and canyon sections are off the grid for a while. The Lower River is high but we should see adult salmonfies  beginning in about a week and that should change everything. Hopefully the lower river willl continue to taper down and we will be able to fish the adult salmonflies for the first time in a while. Los Pinos is now back on (284 CFS) and the La Jara (48), Elk Creek, Lake Fork, and alot of other smaller tribs are now looking good and are loaded with fish. I am heading out now to drive alot and take  a look myself at the different rivers to see if we have big bugs flying around anywhere. I suspect La Jara and the Los Pinos have adult stones flying around. For those looking for solitude this is going to be a fantastic couple of weeks. We have room in the cabins and there will be very few people here.

May 28, 2009 Wow the lower Conejos is now under 900 with excellent water clarity by the end of May?! Not sure what to take of that but for now it is good. No longer neccesary to drive all the way up unless you want a gorgeous drive. Flows out of the dam continue to be around 50 cfs and fishing on the entire upper river system is good. Stoneflies on the lower river with a #16 Hares ear or SJ Worm are a great option. The upper river sllightly different but fish some midge / annelid patterns close to the dam. The La Jara and Lake Fork are perfect right now and expect the Los Pinos to look good very soon. We still have 2 memberships available for the private ranches. If you are interested give us a call. Sanchez, Trujillo Meadows, and La Jara Reservoir as well as the hike in lakes are great right now. Try something different and check them out.

May 19, 2009 With the Rio Grande at 5000 cfs and other rivers cookin' the Conejos is plodding along at 40 cfs out of Platoro Reservoir and creating some incredible fishing in the first 10 miles downstream. We have hooked alot of fish this last week and it should continue to stay good all May. Even if the water releases are raised dramatically it will only make the Meadow that much better. Right now it is on the spooky side and those fishing downriver are doing better. One of our good customers landed a 24" brown a few days ago along with alot of other smaller fish. There are fish beginning to look up in the flat water sections of the Meadow and those looking for a challenge give it a shot. The La Jara right now is very good and the gate to the lower section will open the thursday before Memorial Day which I guess is in a few days. 5x and 6x with long leaders in the meadow. The pocket water below atleast 4x flouro. I have been doing will on the tungsten worm, the @&%# fly, #16 RL Hares ear, #10 Pats, big red annelids, and some bigger dark Copper Johns. I also think that the Los Pinos will be back on the grid in a few weeks. The Lake Fork will also be open for good fishing very soon. Most of the high mountain lakes will be good, now.  This next 8 or 10 days have some cooler weather and expect the lower river to gain some clarity and give a chance for those fishine edges to catch fish consistently. Early June for you planners should be good on the Conejos, Los Pinos, La Jara, Elk, and the Lake Fork. No crowds and the chance at bigger fish should make it worth the trip.

May 12, 2009 Looks like summer is here early on the Conejos and water today  is almost 2000 cfs of runoff in the lower river. The upper river, well, God knows how epic the fishing has been for those lonely fish up high. Releases have continued at 39 cfs below the dam of crystal clear water and I can tell you that the fish are stuffed up in the meadow and the canyon just below it. Rumor has it that today, tomorrow, the next day or the next day the gate will open up and give us another option for fishing.  Again  with the wind, bigger water, and bigger fish those waving a  6  weight will have a more enjoyable day. So when it opens fish the canyon with 4x flouro a Tunsten Worm with some red in it and assorted stonefly nymphs. For those wanting the challenge of the meadow you may have to go to 5x and 6x if it stays at 39 and be very stealthy in your approach. we will have to experiiment a little to see what are the most effective bugs. Last may red was a big deal, we'll see. But if you are wanting to plan some fishing during runoff it does not get alot better than May up high. The La Jara and Los Pinos will also mellow by the end of the month and should start to get good. The CDOW should have the La Jara State Wildlife area open soon and that will be very good early. For those wanting their fishing expericence to be transformed there are a couple of options. There are still 2 private lease memberships available for $1050 and include a guided fishing trip. The other is the Conejos Cart Blanche. Everything we do cabins, guides, food,shuttles,  leases, flies, discounts is free to the members. Price $4950. Call and talk to Jon for more details. The Conejos Habitat Project got a couple more friends this last week and got large contributions from Jerry Arnold and the Conejos County Tourism Board. Thank You!

April 30, 2009 Well the dust has settled from this years Superfly and we are looking forward to the next chapter. We have been fishing and exploring some different sections of the river and for the most part fishing has been very good. The lower river right now is pretty big (750 cfs) and off color. The higher you go the clearer the water and we hope to see the upper gate open soon. Releases are still very low, about 15 cfs so I can only imagine how good the upper river is at this time. Fish eating Stonefly nymphs and alot of SJ worms for us. Streamers have also moved a nice number of fish. The tungsten 2 tone red/tan worm has been a hero alot of days. At this time I have 2 spots left for the private fishing memberships to the private ranches. Please call us for info.

Superfly/Conejos Habitat Project Mini Update: First of all whether you like it or not but all these goverment billions flying in every direction may be headed for Conejos County and the CHP! A $250,000 grant has been written and if funded will go directly to the project! We will not know for a month or two but if that happens the timeline will most likely be moved up and the size and scope of the project will exponentially change. Additionally Jerry Arnold who fished with Mike Sexton (Finishing 2nd) of the US Fly Fishing team has written a check for $5000 for the project! The Superfly raised about $3500. A grant from Patagonia adds $1000. The Conejos County Tourism Board is voting to see how much of a commitment they will make but expect a nice contribution from them. The CDOW has purchased and stockpiled rocks. TU is still heavily on board and will be a critical partner in this whole process. There are many others and alot more going on but not enough time to put it all down.

Reid and Brian Darnell two brothers won the 2009 Superfly. These are great guys and I have had the priveledge of fishing with both of them and they are alot of fun and obviously can flat fish! Congratulations to them! We will post the rest of the results and photos in future posts. We are also working on a blog page that will have alot more snippets and photos.

The trip I took last November for Potamoi Media Group may have resulted in two line class IGFA World Records for Brown trout. Both fish were filmed from start to finish and will be on the movie to be released this fall. One for myself and one for Devan. This morning Devan showed up with more photos from a day of fishing holding fish of a lifetime fish one after the other! He spent a day on the Taylor and landed fish in the 5 to 14 lb range to about 28"! Outrageous! I would not believe it if I had not flipped through them myself. Expect some fantastic fishing in May up high on the river!

April 15, 2008 It looks as if the fish and not the Chamber of Commerce have ordered up the weather for the weekend. Be sure to bring some fleece for the weekend especially friday and saturday. Several things regarding the Superfly that are very important. Please read the next several paragraphs below carefully. If you or a teamate has a bad leg, heart or other please let us know. We will pre-draw those beats so that you will  not be forced to have to walk very far. Some of the beats such as RMAC require 1.5 miles of walking to get to the beat so please if  you have  an issue at all please call us. Registration is from 7:30 to 8:00 each morning. You will draw beats, pick up some swag, get shirts or jackets, and be given some instructions for the morning. A film crew will be here this year and will probobly wire you up for a part of your day and be on the river filming.  Fishing starts at 9:00 am ends at 4:30 each day. We have tweaked a couple of teams as far as their starting day. Please check the names over and 1. Make sure you are there. 2. Make sure that works. 3. Be prepared to on your off day to fish elsewhere if you are going to fish.

April 14, 2008 New computer here so maybe we are back on plane! Beautiful day melting alot of snow today flows at 158 cfs. Warmest water temps of the year today hitting 52.8 degrees and should tell the fish and bugs it is time to wake up even harder. I have edited the teams below so feel free to check those out. There may be some more minor changes but we will qualify 12 teams daily. Because of FS #250 being soaked today and closing the hole upper river we are working hard to get some extra private ranches in the game for the event. Fish have still not spread out evenly so should be an interesting event. We are doing our best to make every beat a beat that could win a rod or win the tournament.  But it is to big a puzzle to put together perfectly. We look forward to having you all here.

April 8, 2009 Well since this is a fishing report I will give it a run. Although writing a fishing report for the Conejos  feels like predicting what might catch my wifes eye at the mall tomorrow! I will say that we are seeing Skala nymphs getting ready to become flying insects and with any luck that will happen for the Superfly. Dry fly fishing at the FLY?! Anyway cool nights have kept the flows low and mostly very clear and fishing has been good to really good at times. Fish are  healthy and are eating alot of stonefly nymphs. Still there will be times of the day that they are definately looking for the midge. Forest Service Road #250 is still closed and could open up in the next couple of weeks. The shop is open from 8:00 to 4:30 tues thru sat. 8:00 to 1:00 on sundays thru May. Cabins open this weekend. We also have 2 spots left on the private leases available. These ranches offer incredible fishing, larger fish and solitude. No rod fees for you or your guests. Call us for info.

Superfly Info: Today there are about 50 teams We have had a couple of cancellations so we have room for 2 teams.   Alot of private water again this year and alot of Sage rods, reels, waders, clothing and stuff to give away. This year there will be a casting competition at Conejos Ranch at 6:00 on Saturday. Entry is $10 which goes towards the Habitat Project. Accuracy rings from 20', 35', and 50'. Rods provided. If you are in the tournament you are not allowed to fish the river except on the day or days you are designated to fish. If you want to fish go pike fishing or walk or Mt Bike upriver of the event.

Here are your start dates for the qualifying round:

Friday :                                                                                                        

1. Joe Haak 2. Eric Pauly 3. Joe Karefky 4. Reid Darnell 5. Paul Downey 6. Bob Silver 7. Jon Harp 8. Mike Marcos 9. Ross Long 10. Dan Pass 11. Rod Ruybalid 12. Mike Sexton 13. Tom Loftus 14. Steve Carrol 15. Steve Stone 16. Sam Lambie 17. John Taylor 18. Rick Mai 19. Bill DeCamp 20. Isaac Dean 21. Brad Shuster 22. Rob Scott 23. Pat Blankenship 24. Bo Herrerra   25. Leo Sanchez

Saturday:

1. Kyle Beasle  2. Ben Caserez  3. Rob Childerston  4. Molly Childerston  5. Brad Lingbeck 6. Devan Ence   Bob Howell 8. Johnny Caldwell  9. Chad Snow  10. Reed Gillis  11. Bill Long  12. Matt Peralta 13. Kay Watkins (fri/sat start?) 14. Matt Vander Neut 15. Troy Smith 16. Jesse Haller 17. Conor Feeney 18. Jarrett Sasser 19. Rob Alshie  20. Brooks Gentry  21. Tim Thiesson  22. Ed L'Heureux 23. Marcos Silva 24. FlyWater 25. Dan Snow

*if these days wont work for you call me I will do my best

March 23, 2009 The flows this past week have come up nicely and there is a little bit of slate color to the water making fishing much easier. Fish are eating hard and stonefly patterns seem to be on the top of the list. It is still early and it should just get better over the next several weeks but just know that the fish are eating hard now and if you have to get a fix early its happening now. Bring a 6 weight because there has been some days with wind.  Fish are also eating earlier in the day then you would expect.  So far we have not gotten to the river to early and as much as that does not make sense dont be afraid to put on a jacket and go earlier in the day. Please be very carefull with the fish. After a long winter you should land them quickly (use heavy tippet in the off color water), pinch the barb, and do not keep them out of the water for more then a few seconds.

Superfly - Today we had 3 teams cancel and so we have not added back 2 there is room for 1 more team. If you are interested please call. We will open the cabins April 1 as well as the shop.

March 9, 2009 Just a quick update here. Please read the post on the 5th for more info. Rob Scott of Albuq talked me into fishing  in a blizzard on saturday and with heavy snow and 23 degrees not even a good dominacan could  make my fingers stop stinging and wondering what golf weather in Sante Fe was like that day!!! Anyway we caught fish but icing and frozen body parts kept our venture short. All nymphing with longish leaders 5x flouro and just a Pat's for me. Rob caught some fish on some smaller PT's as well. For those of you that would like a link to a great webcam Garth Olsen has one I hope he does not mind me giving it out but it will give you a great picture of what the river is like "now". http://www.gartholson.net/horca/conejoswebcam.php 

We have 3 more memberships available for the private ranches. Please call me for more details on that. Shop opens in a few weeks and the cabins late march so we look forward to seeing you all again soon. The river is fishable in places but still to early to be good just yet. Late March should see a dramatic improvement. Anyone who would like to sponsor some prizes for the Superfly please contact me. For those that already have I thank you.

Conejos Habitat Project Update: I spent a day with the guys at FlyWater in Pueblo this last week and they are going to come alongside us and provide some expertise, leadership and manpower.  They have spent years dealing with all of the agencies and helping coordinate projects like this.  Depending on the final commitment of the local TU chapter we hope to have raised around 20 to 30k after this years Superfly. These funds will exponentially increase when the matching grants and other entities add there dollars to ours. Many 4 to 1. So your donations will go along way. If you want to write a check that is tax deductable you can send it to us but write it to TU- Conejos Habitat Project. By helping us with the prizes for the Superfly you can furthur increase what we are able to raise during the Superfly.

March 5, 2009 Well I cant say its the first fish caught in the Conejos this year but it most probobly was! A few days ago I could not take it anymore so with all the open water here behind the shop I loaded up the dogs (yes we added a new black lab pup!) and headed upriver. A few miles up river and suddenly many sections of the river were still frozen over and the further I drove the more ice I saw. My spirits were being chilled with each mile till I came to the Fly Water and saw open water by the corrals.  I wadered up and waded thru 2 to 3 feet of soft snow to get to the river and 10 casts later my first fish was an 18" Male Brown in beautiful shape! Very nice and of course he ate a Pat's! Bodi (the pup) entralled with his first view of the river came over to see the fish and stood on a piece of overhanging ice and of course it broke off and he took his first official 34 degree swim! No complaining though so I guess the breeder actually sold us a lab! Well see if he can come close to the bar set by his 12 year old brother Luke.

For those wanting to fish expect to nymph. I would double nymph with 5x flouro longish leaders and go a stonefly to a small midge or baetis pattern. Find a section of clear water and realize they are spooky. The first fish I saw was in 3' of water and still spooked from 30'. The better fishing will still be a few weeks away but if you have to get a fix you can do it. Devan Ence has spent the winter tying for the shop so we will be introducing some of his creative patterns for the first time this summer.

For those curious about the Superfly please do not send in an entry unless you call me first. We are now hovering around full. It will depend what the USFS does with the upper gate but if they open it prior we will open the tournament up for 10 more teams. We will not know this until the week or so before the tournament so if you are flexible at all we will probobly get you in this way. Looking forward to warmer and fishier days and having all of you back. The shop will begin official hours April 1. 8:00 to 4:30 for April and May Tuesday thru Sunday. *Sunday close at 12:00. Closed Mondays. Cabins will open the end of March. Feel free to call us for reservatons. For those looking for a new pair of waders for the upcoming year we still have some Patagonia waders at 40% off mostly Medium and XL.

February 12, 2009 The Conejos River at this time has a thin ribbon of moving water down its center and that reminds me that spring is close. Gets me fired up and also some courage to survive a bit more winter. Snowpack is about 118% which bodes well for another year of growing big trout and another great fall with water to wave a stick in. Nightime temps have been very mild this winter compared to last (only around 0 at night!) and so the icepack on the river is much thinner and with normal temps in early March we should see ice off the river in early to mid March. Expect some decent fishing by the end of March and lasting all spring. Thats right even during runoff we had some  incredible days for large fish (the biggest of the year on average) up close to the dam. My best days last year were when they were releasing an incredible amount of water and the big fish stacked up in the flat water of the meadow below Platoro and gorged.

Superfly has about 40 teams in so if you are expecting to get in this years version please dont wait. We have 3 more spots for the membership to the private fishing access. Please call for the details on that. Anyone need help with lodging or anything else for the FLY please call us.

We also have a few Sage rods leftover from the fall. Until we open I will give you a premium fly reel with fly line and backing if  you purchase one at retail. Sage ZXL and Z-Axis in 4 weights 9' or 8'6". Saves you about $275.

January 22, 2009 Well you asked for it, its here! Registration for the 4th Annual Superfly is open. I have put an info sheet on the home page as well as a downloadable entry form. Price is about the same as last year (we added some more swag). I will also be sending an email out to all of you  later today with some more detailed information as to what is happening here. Winter so far has been beautiful and have had the time to hike and snowshoe amongst the "big" animals here. There is a decent snowpack but it is Jan. so I am not going to get to amped about that just yet! Looking forward to smelling spring again and enjoying some longer warmer days as I'm sure all of you are. We are only able to take 50 teams for the Fly so if you are interested please get the entry in soon. I will not do a press release for several weeks which will give all you "insiders" a fair chance to reserve your spot. There are about 3 memberships still available for the private water here  on the Conejos.

January 7, 2009 Happy New Year to all of you! I know that Devan and I and the rest of our team miss the pulse that all of you help create around here when fish are eating. We so appreciate all of you and for helping us despite a weird economy to have a great 2008. The pulse here is different now! The shop is now an indoor golf driving range and weight lifting room!!!  Devan is trying to finish a 634 dozen fly order for us this winter so if he comes back with a hunch in his back and his eyes buggy you know why!

Snowpack looks good! Superfly April 17-19 I will send out an email with entry forms in 2 weeks. Fished the San Juan last week and that was fun, cold, and some good fishing. There are 4 memberships left. Details below or call me. Looks like with this economy the fish will have another chance for more solitude. Especially the backcountry fish. Oh how I would love to be hiking up one of the drainages here with a 3 weight in hand and a handful of dries right now! Spring will come I can almost smell it already and we will be ready. I love winter fishing but after fishing for a couple of hours with no feeling in your fingers or toes a little warmth sounds pretty good. Oh I love and hate the snowshoes!

I hope that all of you this year make a real conscious effort with where you spend your money. If we dont the businesses we want to stick around will be gone! There are so many local businesses here in the valley that are creative, customer service oriented, and fun to have here that are hurting. We need these types of businesses to survive. The gift shop, microbrewery/rest. , burrito stop, fly shop, etc add such color to our world and help make  our lives rich. I know most of us have budgets but fear and hording will only make our world get worse. And we will wake up from this mess and realize what we lost. Just my 2 cents only here but something to think about.

December 8, 2008 Enjoying a very mild early winter here and have had a chance to fish a little. Mostly the Rio Grande but there have been several days that the Conejos was "calling" but I did not respond!  The last couple of nights have had cloud cover and very mild timps and much of the ice is gone. Tempting to get back out there!. Lots of little tidbits here so you may have to wade throught the ones that matter to you.

First of all Andreas Novak has come on board and is helping create a hornets nest about the streamflow issue.  This could be a long drawn out project but we are going to do our best to get the right people working on it for the long term health of the river.

 Secondly I would like to thank those of you who have given so generously to the Conejos Habitat Project. That means alot to me and energizes me to continue my work here!!! Please for the rest of you I ask for your help on behalf of the fish and the next generation of kids that will reap the fruits of your investment. Send checks to Trout Unlimited c/o Conejos Habitat Project, P.O. Box 503, Alamosa, CO 81101.  

Thirdly, I have had people asking me about the dates of this years Superfly. April 17-19! We hope to have another great event and want you there. We will not be accepting applications til the end of January. If you want in and have not gotten emails from us before please send me an email and I will be sure you get sent all the details. 

 Fourthly, we have some demos and inventory we are closing out at pretty crazy prices. TFO Rods 1/2 price, Galvan Torque T-5 reel demo w/5 line $200,  Ross Evolution 1.5 Copper with brand new 5 Sharkskin demo $260, Sage 2540 and 2550 limited edition green reels with like newlines demos $200, Scott S4 4 piece rod fished once $385, Scott Rods new 35% off, Ross Rhythm 1 reel new (3 and 4 weight) 35%off,  Lamson Litespeed 1.5 w/ 5 line $185, for those of you looking at new rods I will give you a premium reel with the purchase of any new Sage ZXL, Z-Axis, or VT-2, Patagonia waders new 40% off, Sage 2550 and 2540 reels new 30% off. Call me with any of your questions. We will ship it immediately and have it there by Christmas.

5.  We will be selling 8 memberships to the private leases for around $850. The existing members will be given first swing at those but there will probobly be a few left and if you are interested please call us. Members have access to these private waters with no additional charge per visit or any charges for your guests. New membership cost is $1050 and includes a full day guided fishing trip on the leases to help you get to know the water, boundaries, and get the inside scoop on the fishing.

6. John Blanchard  who is an artist from Sante Fe and has a gift with fish and water color has donated about 10 paintings to help raise money for the Conejos Habitat Project. You can choose between Brook, Brown and Cutthroat trout. Price is $75 per painting. Size is about 14" x 10".  Thank you John, I am having one of yours being framed as we speak.  

7.  I will be making a presentation tomorrow to the Conejos County Tourism Board to ask for a large donation to the Project and I think they will be very supportive. I will keep you all posted.

Here is the link to the Potamoi website if you would like to see a few of the fish we photographed on the trip. I warn you they are obscene!!! www.potamoimediagroup.com Scroll to the bottom of the Photo gallery page.

November 15, 2008 Back from New York and PA had a good trip. We will post some photos on the Potomoi Media Group website soon and I think we will do some here as well. Without getting carried away talking about it I caught several Browns in the 16 lb range as well as Steelhead in the same ballpark. We also fished some rivers that made "home" seem like heaven! The number of people fishing some of these rivers is enough to fritz your mind. Anyway very warm week ahead here and there should be some good fishing here on the Conejos, maybe the Los Pinos  in New Mexico and the Pike and Brown trout fishing on the Rio is still very good. Thank you to those that have made very gererous donations to the Conejos Habitat Project. For those that have not done so yet on behalf of the fish please do so. Still alot of browns are trapped and will die without rescue in some side channels. Had some freinds while we were gone out saving some more but if you have the time please give me a call and I can send you in the right direction. We will be out again this weekend. Some of the fish are really nice 20" ;lus fish most are around 16".  

Ocotber 22, 2008 Lots of fun to walk up the river right now ans see some very large fish. They are catchable and I had a couple guys today that hooked some really large fish. Rainbow Warriors, Cones, and KF midges were the best flies. Light tippets, longish leaders, and good presentations help. Nicer weather on the way so expect some good fishing in the days to come. We are still catching somre large to very large Pik,e in the Rio as well as some carp and browns.Shop will stop regular hours October 29.

Some Crazy Deals on rods, reels , waders, and boots. Simms L2 Goretex Rental waders $120, Simms Freestone Rental boots $20,  Lamson Radius 2.0 Reel new $100.00, new Scott S4 9'4 wt $250 off, Scott S4 as new 9'5 weight $400, Patagonia Guide model waders rentals$150,  TFO Rods Half off! Lamson Litespeed 1.5 lightly used with Rio Gold 5 line $210, Patagonia vests and jackets 40% off!  Call for details on glasses and other items. Flies Buy three dozen get 2 dozen free!

Please I ask each of you that fish this river and care about its future, make a donation to the Conejos Habitat Project!It is tax deductable and will make a huge difference in the future of the river. Details and address  below.We spent  saturday and sunday  (Troy Smith, Rob Scott, Kari and my kids chasing big browns that had been trapped by the sudden drop in flows in little side channels.  There are many more to be saved if any of you have the time. you will need a cooler and some nets. Call me and I can help youwith where they are trapped.

October 18, 2008 Water low clear and beautiful. Fish eating as many dries as they are nymphs for us and due to the water levels the water heats much quicker now than it was when the levels were up. Lots of fish on the reds on the lower river upper river if you ever want to walk up the river and see how many big fish are really in this river it is alot of fun. Griffiths gnats, red quills, BWO's and small midge patterns are the tick 

October 10, 2008 A few updatates and tidbits of info. The account with Trout Unlimited is set up for tax deductable dontations. I will be doing a presentation in Alamosa October 28 regarding the project and asking for there time, influence, expertise and money. I ask each of you to make a dontation to something worthwhile and in the end each of you will be able to enjoy. Send checks to Trout Unlimited c/o Conejos Habitat Project, P.O. Box 503, Alamosa, CO 81101.

This late fall Devan Ence, Paul Nogueira, and myself will begin filming a fly fishing movie that will be produced in the summer of 09' and entered in the film festival at the trade show in  Denver in August. Devan already has his first monster landed last night. A 22 lb 10 oz. I will be flying out to Pennsylvania at the end of the month to join the filming. We will start again in the spring in Utah. If you would like to see some photos of the pike we caught last week and the brown Devan landed last night google Potamoi Media Group and scroll to the bottom of the photo gallery.

Shop deals: 30% off all glasses, Patagonia waders and boots, clothing, TFO rods, Sage 2500 reels, Sage Fli rods, Scott rods (we have the new Scott S4 rods in stock). Also we have a few demo items for sale. Sage Xi2 8 wt 9' - Retail $675 Cost $400. (like new), Scott S4 9' 6 wt 4 pc Retail $675 Cost $395 Scott S4 9' 5 wt. Fished once Retail $675 $400. Lamson Litespeed 1.5 w/ Rio Gold 5 wt line $210, Sage 2550 Reel in Limited Edition  Green w/ new 6 weight line $260, Sage 2540 green w/ Rio gold WF4 fly line $240.

 September 30, 2008 I know this is supposed to be a fishing reportbut the fall colors are nothing short of breathtaking, with that said we are catching fish on on streamers, nymphs, and dries. Water releases out of Platoro are supposed to be up until the 15th of October and at that time they will be lowered to do some repairs to the dam. The Browns are definately in the pre spawn mode and some of the bigger browns are in the small tribs looking like whales caught in the wrong bay. Fish seem to be eating alot of small nymphs and smaller adult mayflies. Hoppers are moving fish especially on the edges and along cutbanks and structure. Dark streamers medium to large have at times been great and moving big fish. Water is low and clear and so that opens the door to fish being more surface conscious and I think that throwing small BWO adults should move some fish even large fish will move for the adults. The Hofer Rainbows were stocked last week. Say a prayer for the little guys that they would be able to survive predation, 30 below 0 winters, and that theire brains would kick in sooner than later.

Conejos Habitat Project Update: The Trout Unlimited Chapter in Alamosa has set up a special account for the project that is a tax deductable donation. I will post the details and address in the next day or so. I ask all of you to make a big swing at this. The Superfly, CRA, TU, USFS are all involved. I would like to see us raise 80 to 100K to do this. There is a very large matching funds grant thru the Fishing is Fun grant so the more we raise it exponentially increases our leverage. I have also talked to Rod Ruybalid of the CCOW and he is woking on getting a similar but smaller project done on the Flywater below Menkhaven. This project will not require private fund raising but will make a big difference in the future fishing on that stretch of river. What CRA would like to do is take $100 of every premium rod we sell and donate it to the TU account. (Actually you would write 2 checks, one for TU for 100.00 and the balance to CRA. This deal will be good thru the 09' Superfly.) What better excuse do you need to buy a fun new toy, get a little write off and help make a river you love a better place.

Year end Closeouts: We will starting immediately be blowing out all of our demo rods, rental rods, rental waders, boots, etc. As most of you know we get rid of all rental and demo gear each year so that we fish and rent only the newest gear so this gear is lightly used and is priced at blowout prices. Shipping is $10 per shipment. Example some of the deals, Patagonia Guide Model waders Retail $350 sale for $160. TFO Rod/Reel/Line outfits $75, Demo Sage Z-Axis rods $395, Simms L2 Waders used $125. There are alot of items so please call with your interest. These will go very quickly so please use the phone to call.

September 5, 2008 The river now feels like a stadium that was full and now is empty. Very few of us out there and I'm sure the fish appreciate it after the "long" weekend! River fished ok for us today but not great, still caught most fish in truly fast water. Devan  guided 25 miles below myself today and had the same luck in the big water. We did see some nice fish in some soft water and got some fish to eat some adult stonefly patterns. We aslo fished some braids with dry flies and as long as you could make a good long cast fish ate a variety of offerings. Water levels back up a bit both on the Conejos and most of the tributaries. Yesterday we fished for Cutts and Brookies and that was off the charts almost all dries with the exception of the plunge pools where we went deep. I have always heard from many that the Conejos fish and trout in general will eat alot of different patterns if you hit them in the head with it and for the most part I have agreed with that but for me there is no question that when a 20" trout in fast water skips the first fly (in a double nymph rig) and eats the #20 black midge larvae or emerger 90% of the time something is up. They either just taste better which is not my theory but John Gierach's or they are really dealed in at times. I also think that when they get tuned into stonefly nymphs (and at times they have been) that they eat more like rooting ant eaters. We landed a 17" Bow today that had his snout raw and bloody. I have seen several browns that look similar like they have been rooting thru the shallows for stones. The number of casings on the rocks on the lease this week has been incredible. Not an adult to be seen, I believe that this batch of stones is nocturnal but they are big, atleast a #10. The adults hide in the foliage of the streambanks during the day so it does not seem to be a big deal with the dries but fish are eating the nymph. Picked up a log out the river today and it must of had 1000 midges on it, all very dark in about a #20! See the report below for a great rod deal for those of you thinking about a quality new tool. 5x to dries. 4x Flouro to nymphs. If you are nymphing and are not catching fish, GET THE SPLIT SHOT OUT! Before you go to alot of other theories make sure you are hitting them in the head. Another thought is go out with Troy Smith or  Devan Ence, these guys are great nymphers and if you want to learn it and see a trout stream from a different perspective theres my 2 cents. They in many ways are part of totally rewriting how the Conejos is fished. With that said of course some of the old ways will always catch fish but I have permanently changed how I fish and guide just by trying to take cues from the bait dunkers, the spin casters, stomach contents of trout, and these young trout bums.

August 26, 2008 Just thought I would point out to you if you have not noticed that "summer" never really arrived here. Yesterday I was wearing fleece and a rain coat for part of the day and the fish have truly enjoyed the cool weather with some  clouds. Fishing on the Conejos my last several trips has been really good. BWO's and assorted other mayflies seem to sputter off daily and in enough numbers for the fish to key in on some adults in the right water. The fish are still in some very fast water and at the head of shelfs and deep runs. Red or red and tan worms have been great as well as small mayfly patterns and small midge larvae and emergers. Water levels out of the dam seem to be holding under 100 and the lower river about 200 so for all that thought the flows ealier looked to high if you saw it now you would drooool! Also the lower the water goes the better the fishing on the surface will get. I saw in the last few days several fish that would have been measured in pounds taking adults in slack water. Gorgeous rainbows seem to continue there happy existence in the area anywhere close to the Pinnacles even rumors of bows up in the Flats which is the first time I have ever heard of them in that area. The gas prices have continued to keep the river from being "busy" so it should be a great fall to be outside on the Conejos. Starting September 1 we will be giving a $175 dollar credit on a reel  with the purchase of any premium rod! So if you are looking for a  new rod for less it is a good opportunity to step up! I also saw the Sage prices for next year and they will all go up another $20! Shipping is free and no tax out of state. We have almost all the Lamson, Sage, Galvan, and Ross reels in stock.

August 20, 2008  Yes we have been on the water alot lately and I'm sorry for not giving regular reports for all. Yesterday I guided just upriver from the Pinnacles and had an incredible day. Mostly nymphing with green Chironocones #16 and Pats Rubber legs #10. We did see some BWO's coming off sporadically thru some spitting clouds and hooked some really nice Browns on #18 Ex Body BWO's. The Tribs continue to be good to great. The water levels are dropping and will make dry flies easier to feed on  so even if you are not seeing fish activlely surface feeding just believe that they will eat your offering. I would say mayflies and ants and beetles will be your best bet. If you can give bigger attractor patterns movement and really make them float well you can "trigger" them to eat. Use weight  and get your bugs down when nymphing. I see people all the time complaining about the tough fishing and then I see the rig they are using.  Shallow with no spit shot and a big indicator. Just not going to happen if you are trying to get to the big fish in the fast water. The crowds are almost non existent right now so I know the fish are cheering for the price of gas to go even higher.  60% of the fish hooked yesterday were wild rainbows of all sizes! Fun to see and they were brightly colored gorgeous fish. Dont let to many excuses keep you from standing in some clear cold water!

August 1, 2008 The Conejos is now in the process of giving up another great year of fishing. Of course each day is different but the upper river right now is producing alot of mayflies. Many fish over 20" continue almost every day to gorge on the adults and emergers. The lower river fishes well in the am and on cooler afternoons but on hot bluebird days is a bear. The tribs are on fire right now. Almost every one except the Los Pinos which is still fishing but has cooled off. Lower river fish terrestrials and double nymph rigs the Canyon above expect to see an  array of bugs including the Drake. Flows were dropped yesterday to 165 cfs and that makes all of that water up higher a great level to fish. 9' or 10' leaders to 5x in the Flats by Platoro will help and be prepared to fish some emergers and other creative stuff because alot of them have been stung by fake feathers a time or two. Another thought sure to cause many arguments and I will not engage in but I would say that if you are a catch and release fisherman which most of you claim to be then get a forceps and pinch the barbs! The damage done by barbs is totally uneccessary and if the fish of the Conejos will continue to look like perfect unmarked fish that we are all so happy to see then we as a group need to use fishing methods that will allow them long term health. One more thought about the Flats, everybody and their dog wants to fish it but if you dont fish alot it can be a very tough place to catch fish. You will do much better in pocket water and much better on some of the tributaries and will have a less frustrating and more productive day. I know the seduction of the wide open meadow with no trees etc but those big fish can be a pain. Also if you see a violation please do something about it! Get their license number, take a photo, call and report it to the CDOW Officer - Rod Ruybalid 719 580 6362.  In addition I always will go and tell them that they are breaking the rules and ask them nicely to stop. I also tell them that I am going to the payphone to report them. Lets face it the chance of the CDOW Officer being right there is not so high so if the river abusers know that thay are being watched it makes a huge difference. Here is the simple truth. There are to many of you and to  many of me  and to few of them for us to not shift from being users to stewards! My grandfather shot or killed every thing he could. That was the prevailing attitude of the day, well a couple of billion babies later mankind must change. This generation! 

July 21 Our small team of fisherman have been very busy so I apologize for the lack of reports. Flows on almost every tributary and the Conejos are almost perfect. Drakes continue to sputter off daily on the upper river and even the tribs. The lower river with the full moon and warmer days has been more moody but for those hitting the fish in the head with a good presentation fishing continues to be good. Expect the fishing to slow on hot sunny afternoons but the group that fished the lower river with us yesterday was into fish all day including nice fish. Caught an 18" Cutt on the upper river a few days ago that had shoulders and teeth, a very impressive fish. Yesterday guided one of the upper tributaries that had fewer fish but some very large fish, mostly browns but some larger rainbows as well . I spotted but we did not catch browns to 23" or so that were very very spooky but actively feeding. Lots of Drakes and stones of almost every variety. Hot sunny afternoon shut things down about 2:30 but alot of fun prior. Expect the fishing in the high country  to just get better on the high mountain water and the upper Conejos to continue to be a bug factory. Meadows below Platoro have been hit pretty hard and fish are tought most days. Fly water has fished really well the last few weeks, expect that to continue for certain parts of the day. I would fish it starting really early until it got hot or the bugs slowed down. PMD's, caddis, yellow sallies, and assorted mayflies. The old Chironocone is now heading back into all of the guides boxes and expect the fish to look more and more at small midge offerings.  

July 5, 2008 Sorry for the delay we have been on the water and fairly busy this week. The Conejos this am is right at 700 cfs and looks great. Drakes were sputtering off yesterday at around their usual time of just before high noon and we had a great couple of hours throwing a #10 Meaty Drake and they ate that with no hesitation. Green Drake nymphs before the hatch seemed to be the best bugs. Hatch was light but that should change day by day. Still alot of caddis in the air and the Goldens and Salmon flies are up higher Flows in the meadow are still perfect for nymph fishing but expect some bugs to pop up there very soon as well if not already. No good reports from there in 6 days. Still the flows up in the high country are very pushy and probobly not ready for a fly yet.  

June 25, 2008 All the flows on the river headed towards much better. Water  clarity good everywhere. Large caddis hatches, salmon flies, and goldens starting on the lower river. Upper river very good nymphing with occasional fish taking the dry, expect all that to change very soon. Just seems like the river is about to burst with bug life and expect the fish to match the activity level of the bugs. Still mostly nymph fishing below the dam on very small midge and mayfly insects. Water flows at this time are 140 cfs at Platoro and about 900 at Mogote. The nymph fishing has been very predictable and very good on the lower with mostly stonefly nymphs. The dry fly fishing has been sporadic but we are seeing more and more fish each day looking up. Great week of weather on tap with mild daytime temps (80 or so) should continue to cook up more bugs.

June 21, 2008 Upper river has been dropped dramatically the last 2 days and expect it to stay lower for a while. Lower has gone from 1830 to 1200 in three days so expect it to clear up some and begin to fish much better. Salmonflies seem to be just on the lower river at this point and expect with the lower flows for fish to begin looking to the surface. A very nice caddis hatch around Sheep Creek today was the first real hatch of the year, expect the caddis to get very heavy over the next 10 days or so. Goldens should be out very soon. The next story if told to me I probobly would not believe so feel free to do the same, however it is true. I was fishing the upper river today around the Pinnacles in some beautiful water and only a couple of small fish were digging my chile so I put on a #16 Rainbow Warrior to just see if that might help. I immediately ran into some nicer fish, one was very heavy and after some help with a 6 weight and some heavy tippet I threw my rod on the bank and netted the fish. 23" and about 5 lbs! A beautiful unmarked perfect female Rainbow. She was tired and so I found  some still water next to a deep undercut bank and very slowly put her in it. She was motionless and so I decided how long it would take for her to go back to the current. After 10 minutes I decided it might be a nice time to burn a nice Dominican and I waited. After another 5 minutes she swam away. I decided to not be in a hurry and just relax.  I did not relax long, to my astonishment my rod was slowly being pulled off the bank. My flies had been dangling in the water and there was something very large  on the end, it was the same Bow! Landed twice on the same fly!  

June 19,2008 I guess all that was heard from the last report was the lower river was "big and angry"! There is knowone here! Today had the opportunity of fishing with Bill DeCamp of Kansas and we fished up high for a half day and spent 2 hours trying to find where the fish were. The next 3 hours was mayhem in every way. I have never seen fish hold in a torrent but they were absolutely stuffed in the raging current. It was hard to get myself to even cast into the heavy heavy water but when we did it was magic. The big fish you dont often see had there nose to the raceway and were very aggressive. Lower river is still big but I think it will loose its mustard soon. There continue to be large Salmonflies crawling out at night and expect to see them around for 6 to 10 days. Goldens and caddis should start soon and hopefully the Drakes will take their time. The new report from the NRCS  says that the snowpack has been dramatically reduced with the dry warm weather so dont expect to see this monster runoff to last for that long. As soon as we get some clouds, cooler weather or the snowfields start to loose there steam the lower river will mellow out and should be really good and buggy. 

*For those of you that dont like our slant our views or our report dont send me an email! Please read someone elses reports, there is plenty of other stuff to read online! 

June 17, 2008 Salmon flies crawling out in droves, lower river big and angry, upper river clear and fishable, warm weather driving the higher water, expect it to stay bigger for a few days. Filmed and chased the emergence last night and Devan and Troy both hooked big fish on big streamers. Guided the lower river yesterday at 1700 cfs (cant believe I did that) still caught fish. Big stones. Guided on one of the tribs today and had a great day.  Bars emergers, sparkle RS2's, and Chironocones best bugs last 2 days up high. Expect to see some huge adult stones fliying around the next 10 days or so. The fish will still be taking some adults on the edges even in the big water. The river should begin working its way down but for those wanting to do something fun get some huge dries and go to work on the edges. 6 weight time! For those on guide trips we will have one for you, for those shopping rods just buy the 6! The 6 yesterday in the wind was the difference between having a good day and flailing!

June 11, 2008 No rant today just nuts and bolts. I have been guiding every day but one for a while and the water clarity on the Conejos has gotten very good on the lower river. Decided to guide lower instead of upper yesterday due to the fact that I had some first timers and the water clarity might mask some casting. Water level about 1280 cfs and slightly tea colored fished really well. Stonefly nymphs and wine/tan tungsten worms were the ticket. A nice brown took a #10 R.L.Royal stimmy. Upper river water levels are perfect and crystal clear. Time to tune up your presentation again in the clear water. I am seeing browns spook from 60' if approached to boldly. Saturday Rob Scott of Albuquerque landed and photod a Rainbow that was about 5 lbs maybe 22 or 23"! A male with a big kype and beautiful colors ate a #12 golden stone on the upper river. Rob also landed and hooked plenty other fish in the 17 to 20" range. A fun day from start to finish. Of  course bribing your guide with a couple of Macanudo's always helps him find an extra honey hole or two! Here is my tip for all of you regardless of your casting ability, Buy a 6 weight! It has been breezy here at atimes and we are also fishing heavy tippet in heavy water for heavy fish. All jobs that 4 and 5 weights do not do so well. Best Cheap 6 weight = TFO Professional ($150). Best pricey 6 = Sage Z-Axis. ($675) Almost every guide trip I do atleast one 6 comes along (on the main river) and it has made a big difference in casting, mending,  and landing fish. It looks like we are going to have the big stones crawling out soon. They are congrigating on the edges en mass at this time. Nymph fishing is excellent with stoneflies especially on the lower river.

June 6, 2008

*Simms sent us our preseason and oopsidentally embroidered them with the 08 Superfly logo. We are selling all of these for 50% off.  Shipping is $5.00. Superlfy Hats $7.00.  About 4000 new flies in yesterday that should be fun and give the fish something  they have not seen. We are also custom tying some more Conejos specific paterns in our shop. Devan Ence is quite the fly creator so if you want a little coaching at the vise he will be happy to help if he has the time.  

Flows way down today after a couple of cooler days. (2400 cfs at Mogote to 1400 or so. Platoro 585 to 260) Very fishable levels on the upper river. Water clarity very good. Lower river water clarity much improved but still off which of course to the fish does not matter. Troy Smith one of our young half crazed guides went into the Pinnacles today  and saw and caught some very large Rainbows. Where have those fish come from I have no idea but we are seeing Rainbows of all sizes some very large thru that area. One of them would have been 24" or so with an enormous girth. Still it seems like the browns own the meadow and the Bows hang out in the canyon below. For those planning some fishing expect to see this river at a very fishable level for the Stonefly hatch. The lower elevation streams will clear and fish first and then the Conejos. All the while the upper river should fish. Those of you waiting for it to get "good" in the middle of July I undererstand but just know that June is going to give up alot of big fish. One of our members took a first timer to our upper lease and landed 14 fish from 16" to 23".  The water was very  high  while he was here but these fish are gorging even in the big water. The only water that I think will be off the grid for a while longer is the high elevation streams.

Another small note. In the past I have gotten a little to specific about exactly where we are fishing on some of the smaller streams. Not only  do we now see multiple fisherman on the same waters (where in the past I had not seen a fisherman in 10years) we are doing guide trips on but the quality of the fishing has gone down. . For this reason I am not going to be describing exactly where we are as frequently. When I began guiding for Randy Keys many years ago I only knew that he was guiding some place differently then I. After a few years he began to show me some of the amazing gems that were here. Each was done with a whisper. We never talked openly about some of these places and I can honestly  say that I caught and watched many Cutthroats in high mountain streams over 20", some way over. Today I get calls all the time wanting coordinates and explicit directions to each of them. Guys with GPS units stuck in backpacks on guide trips go home and make blogs on some of the most special trout waters left and post them for the world to visit with nothing vested but a GPS unit.  Today I have not seen a Cutt over 20" for several years. Is that why I changed my whole life to live next to a wild country I love to give directions to every honey hole I have taken years to find?  To divulge information that I was entrusted with? It would be one thing if I was disclosing that info to like minded fisherman but there are over 400 people a day that read the page! I hope that you all will understand and those of you I have taken to some our honey holes I enjoyed showing them to you and helping you all learn and get better. I just have to find a balance between feeling like a steward and owning a business in this age of information. I also ask each of you to be a steward of such a special place. If you see violations you can confront them as I do and/or document it. License plates, digital photo etc can be sent to Rod Ruybalid the CDOW officer here. 719 588-6362. He will  mail citations to people if we have the info to do so. I will be writing more about the Conejos Habitat Project here and soon asking for your tax deductable donation. Last week we met with the different organizations involved and it went really well.

*Note to Self:  Pinch your barbs, if you net a fish leave the net (fish) in the water while you search for your camera, wet your hands, never drag a fish on the rocks or mud. Why do we see this all the time? At some point your paradigm of the outdoors and the resource has to change. It seems very simple: There are to many of me and to many  of you for us to continue the same kill everything mentality that was handed to us. It has been very encouraging to know that this younger generation is getting it. I dont know a fish killer under 35 years old. That is amazing to me. Of course I think there are streams that need a few Brookies whacked! ( I can think of several streams in this area that if I had a hankerin' for a trout I would not miss a beat) But at some point "MACHO" needs to morph from dragging the  carcass home to the little lady to prove your manhood to something with a little more wisdom and perspective.  My father was Cherokee and somehow he knew that all of these things were special and that taking a life was something that should involve much thougth and was a spiritual experience of sorts. Our relatoinship to energy, animals, people, and the ground must now take on a different dimension due to the fact of the exponential growth of man. I know that I want my grandkids  to be able to throw a line on one of Grandpa's  old Sage's and see a trout come up and eat.  

May 27, 2008  The Conejos even on the lower river looks great. Water clarity on the lower river is very good and the upper river is crystal clear water levels have dropped from 2100 cfs to 890 or so today.  Releases have dropped from 550 to 189 today and it could not be at a better level. On the decending water levels below the dam can make fishing togh at times. I like it when it is coming up or is somewhat steady. I would be suprised to see the water levels come down any furthur for a while but we should haved some more off the charts fishing up high in the next couple of weeks and there will be no fisherman here for about three weeks. Is runoff over? No! There is still plenty of snow up high but the recent cool nights and coolish days up high have slowed it down.  Just know that the next wave of warm air will get things cooking again but looks like we will fish right thru it  on the upper river. Expect the La Jara to get better and better and the Los Pinos should drop and clear early as well so we should be throwing stonefly patterns (dries) on boths streams in the next couple of weeks. High mountain lakes should get very very good.  Carp fishing, Pike fishing, Splake fishing, Trout fishing is all about to happen! Do yourself a favor and take out a great guide on your next fishing trip and take your fishing to the next level. Figuring this whole fly fishing thing out on your own can be tough. 

May 19, 2008 Well we had a little epic before it got hot this last couple of days but this morning the Conejos is cookin'! Expect the flows to head towards 2000 cfs soon. With the warm week ahead expect big water for a while. We had some guys up below the dam yesterday till late in the big water and I will be curious if those fish are stacked up on the edges or are uncatchable at this level. Today we are headed up to catch the Splake and Cutts at La Jara Reservoir with the fish finder. Flows on the La Jara are already headed towards fishable so expect a report on that stream soon. Also expect the Los Pinos to drop and clear early. The snowpack has plummeted the last 3 months from about 190 to 115 % so I dont think we will have the extended runoff thru June which puts the big stonefly hatch bag on the table. Two months ago I was cancelling fly orders for the big hatch today looks like we will need them. For those planning expect the flows on the La Jara to get good early, maybe a week or so for the La Jara and by  early June on the Los Pinos. The Conejos will fish well early up high but the lower river may be big until the 10th or 15th of June. The high country streams late June. We normally see a nice stonefly hatch on the Los Pinos and the Stones on the Conejos normally are out on the banks starting June 14th.

May 15, 2008 More incredible fishing on the upper river, today the flows were dropped again to 189 and it has been somewhere between good and incredible this week up higher. Wednesday we hiked up the Lake Fork which is home to pure Rio Grande Cutts. The fishing for brown trout and some to 16" was really good just below Rock Lake so we thought that by the time we got to the Cutthroat water above Rock it should be bordering easy! Not so. Tough fishing periiod in the meadow until we put a Pizza bet on it and 2 minutes later Devan was hooked up to a nice Rio Grande and won a SLV Pizza! He said "never make a food bet with a poor hungry fishiing guide"! We continued on to Big Lake and proceeded to hook over a 100 fish in about an hour and a half. All Rio Grande Cutts all incredible to see. They were fat and healthy. The fishing was so good no one would pick up the video camera. Our hands were so numb after the spree that we built a stick fire to warm up before the trek back but we had to leave Devan at the lake casting my 4 weight Scott G2 after we realized that when he said "Ok, this is my last fish" he was lying!  Just a great afternoon and alot of fun. Lake Fork is a gorgeous stream and looking forward to going back when the bugs are flying and the water warmer.

May 12, 2008 Flows have come down, water clarity much better on lower river, water clear coming out of dam, fishing is fair to good on the lower river, good to excellent on the upper. Fishing on our upper lease has been fantastic for big fish. Please read below for a more detailed report.

May 9, 2008 Possibly one of the most unlikely "epic" days happened yesterday! The water is off color and high but the fish just killed flies yesterday on the upper river. Devan Ence and Troy Smith got enough "big fish" photos to stack a fish diary for months. Multiple fish over 20" and about half bows and half browns and lots of wild rainbows in all sizes from 9" to 22". Two fish straightened out hooks fishing 3x flouro and were never seen. We will post some of them on the site next week. The visit to the Arkansas was less then epic and we arrived hoping for sputtering rain clouds and clear water but it was big and chocolatey! We stuck the tungsten worm (+chart. copper john) to em' and caught alot of fish but most fish were 6" to 12" which made us wish we had gone upriver on the Conejos. I will say that as far as a spring dry fly river it does not get much better. Later in the day we ran into 30 minutes of great BWO action and 30 minutes of caddis action on the surface which was alot of fun.  Been so long since I threw just one dry fly that it took some time to get rid of the rugged nymph/streamer cast.  As far as fishing here on the Conejos goes our upper Hamilton Ranch and the Meadows is the place to be. The lower river is big. If the releases will top out right now we will continue to have some great fishing. Not a soul fishing - amazing!

May 7, 2008 Short line to be added with May 6.  We were posting the Hamilton Property this afternoon just below the Pinnacles and it was running pretty hard  but we had snuck the rods in so we made a few casts. Hour and a half  later we had landed about 15 browns  "14 to "19" and were pretty amazed. The worm and Rainbow Warrior were the  ticket. Water was off color but in the right water the fish were stacked up and gorging. Water flow out of Platoro 168cfs. Headed to the Arkansa tomorrow to throw some dries. Weather looks just bad enough for BWO's!

May 6, 2008 Had a chance to fish with Troy Smith, one of our younger guides yesterday and we were both excited to fish the Tailwater section of the river below the dam for the first time this year. Always some aprehension as to how the big browns wintered, but after a few hours is was obvious that all is well.  The browns look good and some very fat already, water level was perfect at 138 cfs and not a car or person in site! A big nervous coyote watched us for a while with seeming envy while he watched Troy land several nice browns.  Midge patterns and worm clusters were the ticket. Alot of fish were in soft water and back eddies. Troy and I both reflected on our best days of in the meadow and both agreed that rising water and even high water were great times. Expect plenty of both in the weeks to come so if you are looking at the lower river thinking it is to high just realize that at this time the flows are perfect for fishing up high. We did a guide trip on saturday and both clients got into some large fish both browns and rainbows on the uper river. Pleae read the April 23 report for better advice on the lower river. With the lower river at 800 cfs we will be floating and throwing big streamers and doing some dredging but even at that level it should fish good. Once it gets over 1000 it will get tough for a while.

***We had two fisherman who had "reserved " a spot on our private water memberships and not actually follow thru so we still have 2 spots available. Please call for info. Price is $800 per year.

April 28, 2008 Water levels have come down a bit and are around 450CFS which is a good flow and fishing has stayed good on the lower river. Fishing up high at this point is still not very good. (Above RMAC). Atleast the reports I am getting have all been ugly. The lower river however is still fishing really well. Please read below for a more detailed description of flies and methods.

April 23, 2008 Water is creeping up but I have had the opportunity to fish a little almost every day this last week and it has been fair to very good. Water temps in the afternoon to about 48 degrees have been plenty good enough to get some fish active. Water level at Mogote is about 450cfs which is still a great fishing level. With the upcoming weather staying nice and around  60 degrees for daytime temps spring fishing weather will not get better and will keep the runoff from continuing to escalate to quickly. Expect flows to be stable for a while longer if the releases stay low from Platoro remain low. Of course the fish are spending a chunk of their day in some softish water I found almost all of my fish yesterday in some pretty heavy deep water. A dry dropper is a great way to fish the soft water now and you will have to switch to some heavy setups with big stoneflies and trailing a SJ Worm for the deeper pockets and runds. Best flies at this time are a tungsten Golden Stone, #6 Pat's Rubber Leg, SJ Tungsten Worm, and big dark streamers.  Expect the dirtier the water the better the worm and streamer  will fish. Use a little red or pink in the worms and the ones with a tungsten bead we have here make fishing a dropper worm really simple.  This is also a time when you can expect to see fish chase some streamers. The big fish love the off color water and they will come out from the cutbank and from underneath their rock to feed. The fish I have been catching have all been on the nice to "big" side.  Dont bring your San Juan tippet here I have been using 3x almost exclusively.  #4 to #8 Stoneflies. Big streamers (dark). Also remember a couple of things. Sheep Creek ( in the fly water) pumps alot of dirty water into the river so fish above it if you dont like the color. Also the Conejos is a tailwater and the further up the river you fish the clearer the water you will find.  The other thing I have learned the last several years here is that the off color water here can fish as good or better then clear water especially for most amateur fisherman.  Now if it is high and raging and muddy off course not but right now it is a brownish  green with plenty of visiblity. If you have not fished the river much - Use a guide! So many different experiences being had here this spring, plenty of complaining and plenty of fisherman saying wow! The wow's are from guide trips or very experienced fisherman.  Here is somthing that will make it easier for you to come. We will give away the lodging at half price for all fisherman coming with guide trips thru May.  ***Fished an hour in the evening after I wrote the report and the streamer was the ticket. Big  Black and Heavy! Also I am shocked that none of you are fishing. The river is empty, the guides are tying flies, fishing, fixing trucks, chasing girls and whatever else guides do  with time on their hands.  If you are within a quick shot of the river get in the car with  a buddy and come and have lodging, lunch, and a guide for $175 a day! 

April 17, 2008 Early morning cold and snow has given way to a gorgeous day close to 50 degrees. Water flows remain in the perfect range and the water color is tea colored. There are a few sporadic rising fish and with the warmer weather headed our way expect to see some adult Skwala stoneflies around in heavier numbers. Depending on the weather nymphing will continue to be the m ost productive methed. Heavier rods and tippets are a great choice right now. Dry dropper rigs are a great choice in the softer water and if the weather is bad enough big dark streamers have been great. Dont miss this window of good fishing before it gets bigger. Also for those of you wanting to make fishing plans during April, May and early June when water will be very large everywhere remember this. This year we will be guiding for Splake and Cutthroat trout on La Jara Reservoir which is a spectacular setting and large fish. Also we will be doing guide trips for Pike and large Carp on Sanchez Res. The other thing people forget is that the Conejos is a tailwater and so there is always clear water up high. If the lower river gets to big they will drop flows to make it safer downstream and make for some incredible fishing in May and June.

Superfly Update: Very brief update on the Fly. Great weekend, perfect flows, and over 25 fish over 20" landed. Josh Buchanan and Eric Pauly scored 75 points on the lower river and beat the Harps by a point. There were a couple of teams that decided that the rules did not apply to them and so the final standings will be ammended and they will not be allowed entry back in the event. As many pro teams as showed up the amateurs did great and had 4 of the top 10 spots! Good work. All in all a great time and fun parties highlighted by Christof Brownel playing with crazy style and passion. He had the pretty hopped up the whole night. Also Gary Oldham had his partner not make it so his wife filled in for him and caught her first fish ever on a fly rod on the first day and qualified for sunday with a first timer. Hats off to them

April 19, 2008 Still some great water flows on the river and some bigger fish landed. Mostly nymphing.

April 10, 2008 Well the Superfly starts in a few hours and good luck to all. We still have a couple of spots open due to some last minute cancellations. Please call the shop early or late to get in. The water board has agreed to leave the flows perfect for us for the weekend so we look forward to a great weekend of parties and fishing. Bad time to come this weekend for public fishing. All start days are posted below for participants.

***For fishing info please scan below for fishing reports

Superfly Update and Info:

Looking forward to having all of you here soon. Of course we are cheering the current conditions on but life is in a constant state of change so I would expect the river to elevate some by next week. Fishing has been good here for mostly nice to very large fish this past 10 days. Mostly nymphing some streamer fishing and we have recently seen sporadic rising later in the day. The Swala's that we have seen in the spring in past years could pop up soon and that could make the weekend interesting. The following are important times, info, and tips for the coming event.

April 10 9:00 - 12:00 Frank Smethurst will be giving an onstream presentation on "Tournament Fishing". He claims he will hold nothing back and have a handout for you as well as breakdown the river piece by piece and show you flies, techniques, and strategies that have made him one of the most successfull tournament fisherman alive. Cost is $30. Please call us to reserve a spot.

April 11 9:00 - 4:30 First wave. Checkin 7:30 to 8:00. Scoresheets to shop by 5:30. Most fisherman will be required to be "escorted" to their beat to prevent confusion. Top 13 or 14 teams will qualify. Draw beat. Pick up a tee shirt (Free), Pick up Simms fishing shirt (free), buy Superfly hats 1 = $15, 2 for $20. Pick up tape measure (free) Pick up scoresheet.

April 12 9:00 - 4:30 Second Wave. Same checkin and details as above

April 12 4:30 to 9:30 Cocktails, food, movies, prizes, and live music at Conejos River Anglers.

April 13 9:00 to 4:30 Championship Round. Check in 7:30 to 8:00. Deliver scoresheets to Conejos Ranch by 5:30. Cocktails, Food, and awards at Conejos Ranch starting at 4:45.

Michael White from Simms will be here for all three days giving away swag and answering any question you may have. He is a very talented fisherman and a very knowledgable guy. Take advantage of him being here.

Some thoughts for you as you plan.

1. There is snow on the ground on the upper river and if you have any health conditions that would make it tough walking thru some snow we need to know now so that we can pre draw a beat for you that will be less physically challenging.

2. It can be windy in the spring here so bring a 6 or 7 weight if you have one. This will make a huge difference in your enjoyment. If you need one call us.

3. A wading stick would be a great choice even for the younger guys.

4. Integrity is one thing we will insist on. Anyone that is fishing two at a time or not mashing barbs or fishing outside their beat will be disqualified immediately. No questions no admittance to future Superfly's etc. This event is a logistical mindbender and alot of work so your honesty and integrity will help make it special. There will be "marshals" out every day watching groups fish and we will do our best to help you and we will also be checking teams.

5. Every team is required to have a digital camera to document the biggest fish of each participant.

6. Please do not argue with landowners. We have done our best to contact every landowner on the river but there may be someone with a small stretch that we did not know about and if that landowner confronts you just find out where there boundary is and move.

7. Be prepared with your flies and your gear. It is the San Juan Mountains so the weather could do anything. The flows could change. The fish might want stonefly nymphs one day streamer the next eggs the next adult Swala's the next.

8. We have stocked the shop with alot of different (20) stonefly nymph patterns so just know that as you plan as well as two dozen different streamer patterns.

9. I have two professional guides that already have spots reserved that have had partners cancel on them and need an amateur partner. If you are interested please call us.

10. The party on saturday is outside and will get cool after sunset. Wear warmer clothes. We will have bonfires and cocktails but it may still be cool.

11. For your start day please see the list below.

If you are interested in signing up for the Frank Smethurst Clinic please call us to reserve a spot.

Thank You
Jon R. Harp

April 1, 2008 With the Colorado Rockies first win safely under their NLCS belt I can turn my head back to coaching fly fishing! Here is my thought for all of you - Buy a 6 weight rod! I used to not think that a real trout fisherman would use such a cumbersome heavy tool but after guiding and fishing for over a year alot with the new tool I must say that it is so much better for so many situations. For example- Every day for the next two months of big water! Your life will be made so much better and you will look like you know what you are doing more often. Wind, weight, streamers, mending, distance, etc. The new rods still have great tips to keep tippets safe and a bend in your rod but you will never get a better tip from me. And by the way the new Sage Z-Axis is as close to perfect as I have ever fished. I wanted so badly to fall in love with my new Scott S4 6 in Chile and I brought the Sage along for my guests but the Sage was so good I fished it every day I could! Good Luck! Please read reports below for fishing and Superfly updates.

OK I cant help myself, one more thought! All the talk and thought of doomsday flooding and high water think of this. The Conejos is a tailwater! If the lower river is dangerous they are not going release alot of water to make it more so. I think there is going to be some great fishing up high on the river in the meadow. We will either be fishing Pike or Carp at Sanchez Reservoir, Splake and Trout in La Jara Reservoir or fishing for big browns below the dam. So cheer up, lots of fishing before the lower river melows out in late June!

*For those interested in a taste of what our trip to Chilean Patagonia was like here is a link to just one set of photos for one guest for one week- Kasey Ratliff. I loved some of his shots and he did a great job on the fish. I had the opportunity to fish with he and his dad a few days and we had a great time. The last week we were there we saw an incredible number of large fish. I mean fishing by the pound!!! Our first few days at the lodge was warm windy and fish were spooky so it was not all gravy fishing but overall very special. I have some shots of the week that I will post later of some brown trout that are obsenely fat from a freestone river. http://www.flickr.com/gp/23095120@N06/k1FMb4

Here are the start days for the Superfly:

2008 Conejos Superfly Team List

April 11-13

Team # Name Qualifying Day

1. Bill Decamp / Shawn Hart S
2. Kyle Beasley / Lee Wellford S
3. Steve Carrol F
4. Jeff Banagas / Wayne Suggs F
5. Dough Unruh / Alan Buckman F
6. Eric Pauly / Josh Buchanan F
7. Pat Blakenship / David Blankenship F
8. Pins and Fins S
9. Micheal Carrol / Ben Casarez S
10. Gary Oldham / Scott Gaskill S
11. Bob Silver / Jeff Arterburn F
12. Bill Long / Dave Ballantin Team Lexus S
13. Rob Childerston / Brain English F
14. Doug Pinto / Rich Edgington S
15. Dustin Dean / Casey Dupuy S
16. August Delarrue / Jeff Porter S
17. Dave Spradlin / Mark McVay S
18. Dave Katalinas / Chris Webb S
19. Paul Downy / Jesse Downey F
20. Bo Herrerra / Leonard Sanchez F
21. Jerome Gallegos/ Leo Sanchez F
22. Sam Lambie / Jason Laut S
23. Jon Harp / Kari Harp F
24. Frank Smethurst / Dave Barkley S
25. Micheal White / Tyler Johnston S
26. Ed Adams F
27. Rita Adams F
28. Randy Keys Calen Keys S
29. Troy Smith / Marcos F
30. Kim Ratliff / Kasey Ratliff F
31. Devan Ence / Brain Turner S
32. Nick Williams / Ton Loftus S
33. Bob Childerston/ Molly Pass F
34. Rod Ruybalid / Ernie Ruybalid F
35. Jeremy Coe F
36. Reid Darnell S
37. Ed L’ heurex / JP Martinez F
38. Rob Scott / Richard Burrows F
39. Harper Simons / Rodney Simons F
40. Isaac Dean / Louie Gonzalez S
41. Mike Marcos / Mat Vander Nuet S
42. Steve Kirk F
43. Joe Kerefky F
44. Tim Theison F
45. Dean Spraracco S
46. Bob Velasco / Gary Knapp S
47. Mo Kirwan / Bill Bush S
48. Mo Kirwan Sr. / Henery Kirwan S
49. Ross Long 50. Colin Taylor / Ryan Herbert S
50. Lynn Willard

If you have any questions or need help with any changes call us. There are also several more teams entered that are not on the list. If you are Steven Kirk we do not have an entry for you and we need a call immediately if you want in.

March 31, 2008 Water clarity is off right now. Despite that the fish are eating. Daytime temps are in the 50's and 60's most days. I had a guy bang on the door yesterday for more big streamers. He was taking some of his last pants from a big fish that had broken him off on 3X tippet and he was going back looking for more. Dont expect to see gin clear water this spring unless we get a real cool streak. To much lower elevation snow slowly melting to let it get to clear. Please read below for more detail.

March 26, 2008 Well I am home from two and a half weeks of fishing in Southern Chile and it feels great to be home. More on that another time but it was many things. Sometimes fantastic sometimes dissappointing but all together unforgetable. I had my best day of fishing of my life and that day on the Rio Simpson will either make me find another hobby or continue to search for fish like that. I just took a short walk on the Conejos and the water clarity is good, not gin. Water flows are perfect for this time of year. Water temps are very low and I would imagine making the feeding window very short. The first rumors of landed fish are history and so I know that someone is catching fish. Deep nymphing techniques will be the norm for a while to come. If we get some normal weather expect a nice 3 to 4 week window of fishing before runoff. The snow pack since March 3 has come down about 20% with the mild dry weather so with a little luck the monster runoff everyone has been talking about will not be as severe, even now it is to early to really know what to expect. If I had a chance to fish this afternoon my first flies I would tie on in order would be a #8 Pat's Rubber Leg (brown), #16 Chironocone, #16 Pheasant tail, #18 Tungsten Zebra midge. Fishing two at a time. At this time there a couple of memberships still available for tow large ranches on the Conejos. We will only have 6 to 8 members so this is a very limited club. Please contact me for details. Call Jon at 719 376 5660. From now on the fishing reports will come much more regular and I will look forward to seeing each of you again this season. When I get caught up I plan on doing a little blog on the trip to Patagonia for those curious.

***Conejos Superfly Update - Yesterday we got access to another 5 miles of private water which will open up the tournament to another 8 teams. Already three of those are gone this morning but if you are interested please contact us immediately.

February 26, 2008 The Superfly is now full and then some. The snowpack after a few weeks of dryer weather has dropped about 17% and we hope to see that trend continue. There is now a section of exposed water on the Conejos that will begin to grow rapidly over the next couple of weeks. Expect to be catching fish toward the end of March. The shop will begin regular hours April 1 as well as the cabins will be open so expect a real nice window of fishing from late March well into April. For those that are interested in being a part of an annual membership to access 2 large ranches on the Conejos we have 4 memperships available. The annual cost is $800 which allows you unlimited access to the ranches with no rod fees for you or your guests. We will only have 8 members this year so it is a very small group. Call us for details.

February 5, 2008 We have now had what feels like a months worth of hard and heavy snow. There are drifts of snow close to us that are 12' high. There is atleast twice that further into the mountains. We are now faced with a tough decision for the Superfly. For those entered expect an email from me in the next 10 days. We are talking to the water board and studying historical data from similar years but we will likely move the event up one or two weeks and will not be able to take more than about 40 teams. We were so hoping to let more of you in but these incredible storms this early are putting a damper on that possibility. I know that moving this will mess up alot of plans but I do not want to be here trying to hold this event giving out life jackets.

January 31, 2008 There are 35 teams now registered for the Superfly. Please if you are wanting in move quickly. Alot of snow and very cold temps right now. Snowpack off the charts. Fished Pueblo with a couple of friends last weekend and truly enjoyed the town the lodging and food. Unfortunately the bait dunkers have made a potentially great place to fish a graveyard.

January 9, 2008 Happy New Year to all you trout bums! We are at 140% snowpack and looks like the trout get another year of great water. The past several weeks I have been bombed with emails and calls about the 2008 Superfly. I was not wanting to get started on that quite yet but with all the interest here are the details. If you would like to download an entry click on Superfly on the home page and download the printable entry on that page. The amount shown on that form is incorrect. Cost per entrant is $175. Only completed and paid entries will be accepted. If you dont have a partner no problem, plenty of time to deal with that. We have 2 spots left for Chile March 8 - 15.

Well, it could wait no longer. The 3rd. Annual Conejos Superfly is on the way. April 25 thru 27. Similar format to last year except we are giving the weekend
a purpose. I have been speaking with TU and other agencies about the need for some habitat work to be done on the Conejos. Well the Conejos Habitat Project was birthed and we at Conejos River Anglers will be spending alot of our time and focus on making the Conejos a better place for a trout to live.
A large part of your entry fee will go directly to the project. TU will also be contributing a large chunk of money towards the project. Basically what we will do each year is pick a one to two mile stretch of the Conejos (that is public) that needs additional homes for trout and improve that section. Each year you will be able to come and fish the "new" section and see it come to life. I know that this will sound expensive to many of you but it is the only way for us to get some real traction and dive into a project with some money to get it done. I have looked at the prices of similar events and we are a fraction of almost any other event out there. Please know that you are being involved in something special and unique the likes of which the Conejos has never seen. We would like to see about $40,000 raised this year thru the Superfly, donations, USFS, and TU.

A couple of other changes to level the playing field. No double professional teams allowed. Additionally any team with an industry professional or guide will not draw from the top 3 beats. We want to make this as fair as possible. Right now we are over 140% of average snowpack so it looks like the trout will have another great year to swim but it could impact the weekend depending on weather and releases. Do not register for this event if you are assuming all will be perfect. We schedule this event with alot of variables in mind and hope to get it right but there are no guarantees and it could be tough fishing. With the high snowpack we are only going to accept 40 teams. In April we will know if we are able to accept 20 additional teams. Only teams with paid completed entries will be put on the list. If you have questions you are welcome to call me if not fill out the attached entry and mail it. I think it is going to fill very very fast.

With your entry you will get the following. Access to some of the best and unfished ranches and properties of the Conejos. A choice of custom logod Simms shirts, Two catered parties, Movie night with beverages and live music, prizes from numerous manufacturers including custom Sage and Scott rods, swag, and the satisfaction that you donated $60 to $80 towards the Conejos Habitat Project. You will also have the choice of "off day" excursions including Pike, Carp, and Trout fishing.

Thank You, Jon Harp

Conejos River Anglers 34591 HWY 17 Mogote, CO 81120 719-376-5660 info@conejosriveranglers.com

December 6, 2007 Hello to all of you out there in this ever so shrinking world! The forecast here on the Conejos has snowflake icons for days and days and so the future of the fish brightens with each additional icon. About 20 percent of the river is frozen over now and I have not felt inclined to see if I could fool anymore fish this year. Sometimes you just know when you have caught your last fish of the year on a river. It was almost audible this year and I must say that I had a smile when I left the river. It was so good to us this year and I can only hope the trout have a good winter. While they are living in their semi frozen world I will be doing what I can to make sure that their future is brighter. So many issues need to be addressed here. I am not going to try and tackle all of them but chip away at the most obvious and the ones we stand to make the most traction. I will be contacting each of you to let you know how you can be involved. For starters wer are looking at the water around Conejos C.G. for a large habitat improvent project. The work will be done to look as naturally as possible but wil be designed to provide more wintering lies and create habitat that will offer more "homes" for trout of all sizes.

Spent a couple of days on the San Juan last week with Rod Ruybalid (the local CDOW officer here) and had a great albeit wet and cold time. I thought I had packed plenty of bugs that would be small enough but the first day the midges below the dam were about a size #28!!!! And the fish were not looking for my #24 offerings. Eventually I dug deep enough and found some miniscule midges and we were off to the races. The big fish straightened the hook or pulled the hook out. Rain the whole next day and we had a beautiful baetis hatch for a couple hours in the early afternoon. Of course we were ready to go back before the tent dried out. We thought the wives may not be up to 2 a week trips so expect to see us there in another week or so. Also the water below Pueblo Reservoir, the Arkansa is fishing really good right now and if you get a chance talk to the guys at Arkanglers in Pueblo and go fish it.

New Simms Boots remaining: Freestone Felt w/ studs 7,8,12,13. $60 Freestone Boots w/ felt size 7,8,9,10 $45, Guide Model Aquastealth w/studs size 8 Retail $160 on sale for $60! Used Simms Freestone boots $25, One pair of rental waders left. Simms L2 in XL $100. New L2 Goretex waders XL and MK Retail $250 on sale for $170.

November 14, 2007 Another outrageous week of weather on the way and expect to see the fish continue to take advantage of some bonus feed time. We are experiencing weather that we would normally see in late September and if I could find a way to skip work in every way right now I would because the big fish of the river have been forced from their snags and cutbanks and are holding in the deep pools. Some of the best guide trips I have had all year have been in the last couple weeks. Not a great time for beginners but alot of fun to sightcast to large fish. Please read the October 29th post for an update on future plans for the river here. We still have a few sizes left on waders and good selection for boots. Most rods will be discounted a few more weeks.

November 3, 2007 Seems like the mild weather just keeps coming our way and the fish continue to gorge. After watching casts all summer (some of them not so good!) I have been making some myself. Kari and I hiked the notch trail to Elk Creek and then hiked well into Second Meadows and the fish were as spooky as ever. 13' leader to 6x flouro and long casts brought about a dozen fish to hand in about 2 hours but I spooked alot of fish. Did not see the really big fish out but saw alot of fish in the 14 to 18" range. Back in the pocket water below the meadow there were alot of Rainbows some of them larger fish. I have no idea where these fish came from. Fished the Conejos on the 31st and it was realy good landed about 30 fish while spending some time with a friend getting him going. Amazingly Pat's Rubber Leg caught most of the fish. Water temps 37 to 43 degrees and I will say without question that it was much better at 37 degrees then when it had warmed up. Very strange. Fish were not on streamers but egg patterns, Barrs emerger's, and Pats Rubber Leg. Soft water almost every fish. If I had the time I know the La Jara is on right now as well as some sections of the Los Pinos. Please take a moment to read the info below.

October 29, 2007 I wanted to take a minute to share some thoughts and vision I have had for the Conejos and also pass along some more information about what is happening here.
First of all I want to thank all of you for a great year. The Superfly was alot of fun and a great time but the whole time I felt like it needed to be more than just about fun. This next
years event I would like to see morph into a more purposeful time and I will share some of my vision later. Of course we will do whatever we can to continue to throw some great parties
and make the fishing the best we can.

First of all a brief fishing report. The flows at the dam have been kept higher than normal and the fish have just been stacked in the flats. So many good guide trips and big fish it has been alot of fun. Regardless
of the weather the fish have been gorging themselves. Tan San Juan Worm, #18 Baetis patterns, and Midge nymphs have been the most effective. Just before dark a couple of days ago the fish went crazy for the worm and
it was a special time. Most fish 14" to 20". I fished downriver from there in the canyon a few days ago and caught some gorgeous fat fish. Weather has been incredible for the most part and the river has been deserted for weeks.
Down lower on the river a #10 Pat's Rubber leg to a #18 red zebra or red Chironocone has been deadly. Expect to see some great fishing in the Wild Rivers in N.M. and big Pike being caught on the Rio Grande.

Secondly, we have a few spots left for our trip to Chile. There is some room for the week of March 8 and the week of March 15th. We are taking a great group of people down and should be alot of fun. I will be there making
sure everyone is having the experience they dreamed of. . Cost is $4250 and if you need some more eye candy go to www.patagoniadream.com It is one of the premier lodges in Patagonia and I think I caught about 300
fish in a week last year most on a dry fly. I also caught salmon in the 50 lb range. The experience at the lodge is truly special, dont miss the chance to go.

Lastly, I have shifted my thoughts the last few months to finding a way to make the Conejos a better river. I will not be focusing on marketing, talks, travel etc. but to raising money to create habitat on the river.
After seeing the dramatic change in fish biomass and size of fish in the project Trout Unlimited did below the dam and seeing other projects make such a marked difference I would like to commit to choosing a 1 or so of
river each year and creating fish habitat. Habitat that provides wintering lies, better holding and feeding lanes, and habitat for large fish. I will be turning the Superfly into one avenue to raise this money. I will also be asking
each one of you for money as tax deductable contributions. Additionally I just met with the USFS and Trout Unlimited to ask for their money, support, and expertise. TU has promised us their 2008 Embrace a Stream money
which is around $20,000. The USFS has also promised to cut some red tape and provide some funds as well. Each year I would like for all of you to come and see a completed section. This will all be done on public lands and will
be available to all of you to fish. It will be a legacy we can leave to our kids and be able to enjoy ourselves for years. In 5 or 10 years when someone asks me where they should fish on the river I want to be able to say
"ANYWHERE, Its all good!" RIght now we are selecting which section and details. I will keep you all posted with the details. It looks like the 2008 Conejos Superfly will be the last weekend in April. A few small rules changes
but the format will remain the same. First of all no Double pro teams. Second, professional guides will not be allowed to fish 6 or 8 of the private beats. Industry professionals will be welcome just not allowed to fish together.

August 30, 2007 Yesterday was one of those days that remind you of why you fish. I actually got to fish all alone yesterday for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The cool smell of fall was in the air and the river just looked so beautiful. I took the luxury of a free pass that I had been offered of fishing some private water and the Sage Z Axis 4 weight with a Ross San Miguel seemed perfect.Some thunderheads boomed in the distance but it was 70 degrees and perfect as I staired into my fly boxes waiting for the right bug to look at me just right. None did so a Dave's Hopper, Peacock stone and a Chironocone ended up on the end of 12' of 5x leader. I began catching fish right away and landed 10 or so smaller fish in an hour or so and was being lulled in to some lax fishing when a large fish ate a nymph and within five seconds had screamed up the river and broken me off. I'm not sure if any profanities were audible but I heard them. I caught a nice big brown that was so old he was sitting in some real soft shallow water and was in plain veiw and took a #8 Royal Stimmy on the first cast. Last night Devan Ence and myself ended up talking fishing to long and decided we should throw mice patterns and away we went. Fished below RMAC and when we got to the river it looked like white chocolate, ouch. We fished anyway with the coyotes howling all around and elk barking in the trees but no fish landed, it was special nonetheless. For those planning trips just come and be ready to change where and how you fish but it has been pretty good. Lower river seems to be coming alive again.

***FYI For those of you mad at us for soliciting the article in American Angler, we didn't! We were given a call informing us that they were doing a feature article on he Conejos and called at various times for info. I have not read or seen the article but it is in the fall issue of American Angler if you are curious. I must warn you , I heard they got a little flowery on me so I apologixe in advance. They also came here and scoured the maps and fished themselves. We have never contacted a magazine for a story. This would boost our business but also bring more people here and so we have declined to go that route.

August 23, 2007 This past week we have seen some very mediocre days and today from nowhere some of the biggest browns we have seen all year are sitting in the feeding lanes gorging on assorted nymphs. Stonefly patterns seem to be the most effective but the Chironocone, Hares Ears and others caught fish. I had the opportunity to have John Gierach here with us this week and got a chance to fish with him a few days and throw some exotic bamboo rods and catch some Cutts, which is off course why he came to visit. Fished upper La Jara with him today and saw some very large browns and caught some nice fish. The monsters seemed to elude us but we did get several of them to open their mouths however no nice photos other than John and Luke! Water was extremely low. (4.9 cfs). All of the streams right now are low and clear but have enough water for some great fishing. I have sight casted to most of the fish we have cught this week and that gives an extra dimension of fun to be able to see your target and get instant feedback on you form. We have had highs in the upper 70's and some great weather this week and expect to see this pattern hold out for a little longer. The Conejos has a slight discoloration right now from the releases from Platoro. The water in the Res looks almost pea green so the releases of 111 cfs are adding a little color to the river. I can only expect that this gives the angler a little edge and allows us to get a litle closer to our quarry. We are catching some fish on attractors and twitching hoppers but most of the fish are being hooked on nymphs on the bottom. We are continuing to see large stonefly casings on the rocks and we have yet to see an adult. I can only surmise that the adults are nocturnal and we are missing out on skating large stimmy's at night. I have also seen fish move to streamers and so I think you should come and expect the best and be ready for having to dig into your box of tools and find one that works. 9 to 10" leaders to 4x for nymphing. 9' 3x for streamers, 9' to 11' leaders to 5x for dries on flat water. Rumor has it the new American Angler is out and has featured the Conejos in one of its articles, if you get a chance pick one up. I have not read it but I hope it does the river justice and does not bring in to many people. And for the record we had no idea that they were planning an article here until the editor called us and asked us for some help with the article.

August 14, 2007 Historically we are supposed to be in the hottest month of the year now and instead we have been having highs in the upper 70's and low 80's with afternoon showers and the lower river normally taboo in august has given us some great fishing. I got a chance to fish it for a few hours on saturday and it was borderiung fantastic. Fished with two other guides and caught two fish over 21", one on a streamer and one on a stonefly nymph. We should have pictures of them in the shop later this week. The upper river was a bit more difficult yesterday and most of our fish came on caddis adults or dredging fast runs with stonefly nymphs with a zebra midge trailer. Flows now are 143 from the dam at Platoro, 288 on the lower river, 18.3 Los Pinos, 6.8 La Jara, flows on the upper streams are perfect most days based on the weather. The other observation I have made before is that the incredible few hours I had on saturday was in murky water. I had someone leave cut their trip short last week because they saw the water did not look perfect. Well they missed some incredible fishing. I had one of the best hours of streamer fishing I have ever had in the water that was not "perfect". Brown #8 Tungsten Conehead Bugger was the best bet with alot of extra weight.

August 6, 2007 Well the longest Green Drake hatch in history is coming to a close and the start of beautiful summer rains is here. We are still seeing Drakes in the meadow around Platoro and even some of the small streams are still spitting out some Drakes but mid summer is now here and the flows that were once crashing low on many small streams are now full of water and the fish seem to be very happy about it all. For those of you that are hot at home our highs have been from the high 60's to low 80's! ( Had to rub that in a little!) We have for the most part switched to small terrestrials, attractors, and assorted mayflies as our primary dries and when the rain comes we are dropping the tungsten beaded dual color San Juan Worm as a dropper or using it in a double nymph rig as the trailer fly behind a larger stonefly nymph. Streamers have also been a good call at times in the off color water. Right now on many days you can pick the color of water you want to dive into. But you must realize that the off color water is your friend and gives you an advantage with these normally very visual spooky fish. We all love the crystal clear water but if I had to pick which water I would guide in with clients that were not good casters I would pick the off color every time. There are good reports coming from virtually every stream in the area and we are also seeing more wild rainbows in the river of all sizes then we have in many years. The Lower River is still as Conejos as ever and has been Jeckle and Hyde on us. I fished it yesterday for a few minutes in chocolate milk and landed two fish and hooked three others so even if you think they cant see - WRONG! I saw a few fish eating dries in a back eddie in the muddy water. Dont be bashful with the size of your dry, we have seen alot of fish eating big red humpies in good fast water and pocket water over the entire river. A great time to be hear and fishing and it looks like all the rain we are having is setting up a long and beautiful fall. My other thoughts are for those that want to save money and never hire a guide. I did this for many years and my knowledge and growth were stunted immeasurably. If you split a guide fee with a buddy you are looking at $150! I can say that most of the fisherman that fish this river by themselves leave and go spread the rumor around that it is a beautiful place but very few fish or the fishing there is not good at all. The fisherman that fish with a good guide leave better fisherman and add alot of tools to their box and catch alot more fish. I would say that investing in your self is just something you should always do and that means reading, practicing, listening, taking a casting class, hiring a guide, etc. RIght now we have what I think are the best collection of guides that the Conejos has ever seen. Randy Keys, Paul White, Ed Adams, RIta Adams, Devan Ence, Bob Howell, Kim Ratliff, and myself Jon Harp. Over 115 years of guiding experience between the lot and well worth a day with each of them. We also have permits for all of the State leases, State Trust Lands, BLM, and USFS as well as five private properties we use to try and make your experience here a solitary one.

July 18, 2007 Upper Conejos River is still cranking out mayflies including Drakes. Fish have been very selective even in the fast water and it has amazed me at their ability to decipher shapes, colors and sizes so quickly. The lower river has become more of a caddis, assorted mayflies, attractor patterns, and ant river. For those wanting to nymph soft hackle caddis patterns and even some stonefly nymphs have been effective. Swinging caddis emergers on the lower river is also a technique that should be give a chance if you are not moving fish the way you would like. Fish can be in some incredibly fast water at this time of the year and when they move into it it is important to have that dropper hit them right in the face. You may see pmd'S, mahogonys, assorted drakes, yellow sallies, and assorted caddis. Writing a report at this time is a little bewildering because of the diversity of the flows, weather and fishing. You have to have more than a Cabela's "Mayfly Assortment" in your box and be able to "find" where the fish are holding. The flows are allegedly going to be dropped from Platoro which will make the upper river a fantastic place to fish. Expect to have that area contiunue to pump out bugs. Elk Creek has had a beautiful drake hatch all week and has fished very well. Los Pinos very low, La Jara low but still great, South Fork low with some larger very spooky fish. Upper streams all very good right now.

July 7, 2007 Well the Conejos River is "alive". I dont know what adjectives to use for the fishing right now other than we have had some electric fishing. Drakes, Caddis, Goldens, Mahogonys, PMD's, have made for some impressive fishing. I cant ever remember a time when there have been so many big fish rumors and big fish actually landed. Still alot of water in the upper river but those that have braved it have seen some large aggressive fish. All of the streams are as good as they will get this year. If you have the chance to come and fish this is the time.

June 30, 2007 The fish of the Conejos river are finally switching to some smaller food items which has made for some better dry fly fishing and extended feeding periods. Fish are now officially on the caddis and we are continuing to fish green drakes for small periods of the day. Expect heavier hatches soon. Still alot of stoneflies of numerous varieties around and fish eating them. Big water in the upper river and flows on the lower river just about perfect. Expect to see some higher flows out of Platoro for a while with them augmenting the flows to the lower river for irrigation purposes. At this time I would officially call all of the high mountains "open" for fishing. South, Middle, Elk, North, Adams, La Jara, Los Pinos, etc are all just about perfect. Expect to see mayfies almost everywhere you go up high and have assorted stonefly adults as well. IF you have not fished the backcountry here you are missing the highlight of Conejos County. It will be worth the guide fee alone just to see some of the spectacular scenery and the Cutthroats. Expect great fishing this month! We have just added alot of fly patterns that have been ordered for the fishing in this area as well as having some of the local guides tie some local favoritets that we cant find anywhere else.

June 23, 2007 Very brief report today please read below for a more comprehensive. Well today I saw the impossible! Someone caught a 20" 4.5 lb Brook trout out of the Conejos. To top that an 8 lb 26+" Brown. To beat that in the middle of Conejos C.G.! They brought the fish to the shop (yes they were fish killers in every sense) and I got some photos and I volunteered to clean the rest of their fish and I found heavy caddis larvae and case caddis as well as green drake nymphs and golden stonefly nymphs. These fish were taken on the upper river where there has been less adult bugs so not to suprising to not see many adults but full stomachs. By the way the Conejos needs stewards and not users. The Conejos needs fisherman willing to crimp barbs, pick up trash, insist other fishedrman are playing by the rules, and putting there money where their mouth is. We are now looking for a section of the river that needs habitat work and we will begin to raise money to get this done. The project just below Platoro Reservoir proves to me that incredible habit makes permanent homes for fish and is one great way to imporove our fisheries. Unfortunately the meadow below Platoro is home to plenty subhuman fisherman trying to cheat the system and whack the *&%# out of the fish there. By the way there is only one DOW officer for the entire area and he is unable to patrol the whole river system but what I can tell you is that if you get there license plate detailed description of what you observed he will prosecute every case. I go up to them and point a digital camera at them and the car and license plate and then deliver the info to the CDOW. With almost 400 fisherman a day reading this report I think we need to use that to help make the rivers here better. The word is getting out on the Conejos and so the future will bring more fisherman but we can use that to put pressure to do some positive things for the fish. Please feel free to email us and give us your 2 cents. One day in the future I will ask for all of your help to make this happen and you will get warm fuzzies when you come and fish what you have been a part of I know I will. I would love to see the DOW and USFS make the fly water here and the first 4 miles below Platoro catch and release barbleses hook fishing and go ahead and finish the habitat work needed to make it one some of the best fishing anyone could dream of. This is all possible.

June 21, 2007 Sorry for the lapse, technology took a backseat to some serious work and fishing for a few days. Additionally writing reports about the Conejos sometimes feels like I am predicting the ways of a woman. We have seen a large variety recently and right now have an absolute blanket caddis hatch as well as large numbers of adult and nymphal golden stones. We have also seen the first Green Drakes of the year and the fish did not miss a beat. There are also adult Salmon flies still emerging above HORCA. With all that said there is so much food in the water column that the fish are not in the feeding lanes all day nor has the fishing been cookie cutter. There have been some really difficult fishing at times. The low low river has been by far the better fishing the last week with fish eating dry flies consistently. The most productve dries have been Golden Stonefly patterns, Salmon fly patterns, and Drakes. Best nymphs have been #12 tungsten golden stones, #12 Green Drakes, #16 and #18 caddis emergers and soft hackles, #8 and #10 twenty inchers, etc. Today we were fortunate to have Don Putterbaugh (Sorry for the spelling Don) the legend of the Arkansas and the owner of Arkanglers Rod Patch. Hayden Mellsop showed up as well to give these fish a challenge. Don and Rod fished with one of our guides, Rita Adams and landed (on public water) a 23" and 20" inch brown along with many others. The Los Pinos is in perfect condition and a great choice as well as the La Jara. The South Fork and Elk Creek should also be added to the list. The high country will be on the radar soon. As far as future fishing the flows are now headed towards perfect and the PMD's, Drakes, and stones will be in high gear and the dry fly fishing should just get better and better. I would say if you are headed out to this river have some tools in your box and be prepared for what you will see on the stretch of water you are fishing. With flies and strategies to help you solve the puzzle. This is a great time to be on the water with a good guide, I can t tell you how many times I hear fisherman describe their difficult day while the same fisherman with the guides are staring at big fish photos, talking about how much they learned and generally having exponential better fishing. If you want some easier fishing situations there is plenty of that here just fish one of the other streams here or fish the pocket water of the Conejos for fish that have to react quicker to food. I floated 16 miles yesterday and saw 3 fisherman the entire day! Wow.

June 11, 2007 Well all the talk and wagers ( we all lost our $5 to Paul White) on when the big stones will arrive is now offically over. The last three nights have seen a good number of the big bugs crawling out on rocks from about 11:00 am until late late from just behind the shop here up to Mogote C.G. Devan and I spent a considerable amount of time that we should have been sleeping filming and photographing the bugs crawling out of the river. I am not sure how intelligent that sounds but I cant believe very much. I feel like I have been going to all night parties with no beer or music and hungover as can be. We will expect to see an increase in numbers and a progression up the river. It is on. The official start of summer dry fly fishing. While flows are still pushy the runoff should begin to loose its steam very soon and make way for some really quality dry fly fising with bugs almost the size of humming birds. For those that fished on the very lower reaches of the Conejos the fish have been eating the dries. With some very large browns landed. Up river from Mogote C.G. expect to see big bugs in the next coupple of days. Alot of the bigger fish hooked in the last couple of days have been right on the edges. Dont be bashful with the size of tippet. Come in and see some of the best stonefly patterns we have fished so far including a new egg layer Pteronarcys that is fantastic.

June 9, 2007 The fishing on the Conejos River has just taken another nice jump. Flows and water clarity from top to bottom are very good and fish are eating alot of stonefly nymphs both goldens and the bigger Pteronarcys. Another item in their diet during these higher water periods is the WWWWWOOORRRRMMM. Like it or not it is a great option for a trailer nymph (ok not nymph but "food item trailer") 9' to 11' leaders to 3x or 4x flourocarbon for nymphing and the same leaders to 4x for the dry dropper crowd. Very soon the dry will become a preferred food item. Also the Los Pinos is now hitting its 40 days of glory as well as the La Jara. Already low water on the La Jara. Good reports from Trujillo Meadows Reservoir, Platoro Res as well as La Jara Res. 36 cfs from Platoro. 650 cfs on the lower Conejos. 260 cfs Los Pinos. Warmer weather could bump flows again but whether that happens or not the fish are going ot eat giant adult stones. We still have some room to come and enjoy a day with one of our great guides. They love working this time of year because the fish are happy and it is a great time to learn alot about the river, bugs, and bigger fish. See you here.

In a few short days while most of us are sleepingthe largest of the rivers stoneflies will crawl up the banks and begin the mating process. For those willing to plan a trip during this time it can be one of the most entertaining and rewarding times to fish. The stoneflies dont "hatch " like a traditional mayfly or caddis they will crash or lay eggs on the water sporadically and so the fish are much more opportunistic and aggressive. Large fish will rocket off the bottom of the river to take a large adult because it is worth the effort for such a large morsel. Prior to this time the nymphing can be incredible and the fish will begin a 3 week long gorging on Pteronarcys and Golden stones. June is an incredible time to fish and is also when the Los Pinos has its own respectable assortment of stoneflies that will bring the largest fish to the surface. It is the time we fly fisherman get even with the worm dunkers, rainbow powerbaiters, and and deep trollers. The beginning of the time the fish seem to prefer our foam and feather offerings. The time when even the fisherman who normally need the 3x magnifiers to thread the fly dont need them ( Huge Flies!). Yesterday I guided on the upper La Jara and it was such a picturesque memorable day. A day when it felt like summer suddenly started and a day when we got to see fish "working" the surface for the first time. For those that have not been it is a special place, find a friend and splurge.

How high would gas have to be to not fish? Certainly alot higher!!!

June 5, 2007 Conejos River has dropped to 106cfs on the upper river and could not be more perfect. At this flow the entire upper river will fish well. We have seen a few fish eating dries and if you come in we will show you a couple of flies that are bordering magical right now. One of our guides fished the upper river yesterday and caught fish 16 to 23 inches and had a great day even with the bigger water. We just unpacked several hundred dozen new flies and it was exciting to just put them up much less get a chance to go and throw them to real live wild fish! We also have some availability in the cabins this next week if you have to come and get an early fix. La Jara still clear and perfect. Los Pinos up high is fishing well and the lower Los Pinos is clearing and will start to fish very soon. Read below for more detailed info.

June 3, 2007

The Flats below Platoro look to be the only good fishing on the main river for a while and I would expect to see alot of water in the lower river for another week. It is the time of the year to buy or bring out a good 6 wt rod and throw big flies and fish heavy tippets. If you dont have one use your 5 but leave your lightweight rods in the closet this month. (Conejos) Come and join us for the start of an incredible summer. We have alot of water this year and the largest on average wild fish I have ever fished to. Our lower fishing lease should be a great place to be during the start of the big bugs.

Water Flows:

Platoro - 295 cfs High

Mogote - 1150 cfs High and stained

La Jara - 35 perfect

Los Pinos - 350 cfs stil high

May 18 2007 The water clarity and flows on the Conejos have improved dramatically the last few hours and with flows out of the reservoir at 23 cfs the entire upper river should fish well. The lower river has cleared some overnight and with the reduction of 175 cfs up high the river should head towards 700 to 900 cfs over the next few days. This should also help clear the river and make fishing the entire drainage possible. For those wanting to make plans for June it is often the highlight of the season with the Pteronarcys Stoneflies coming out in early to mid June and Golden Stones on their heals with PMD's, Green Drakes, Caddis, and the start of the buggiest time of the year. This is also the highlight of the year for dry fly fishing on the La Jara and the Los Pinos. There is still some space available in the cabins and with the guides for June and July. There are also some Fish - Eat - Sleep Packages that make things simple and save you a few dollars. Basically you can have a guide, daily transportion, a meal a day and a cabin for around $185 a day per person (Double occupancy). We also have three memberships still available for our private leases that give you three private ranches to fish with no rod fees for you or your guests. Call for details.

May 16, 2007 The Conejos River is very high and off color (1300cfs) on the lower river but today the flows out of Platoro are 200 cfs and we have had some great streamer days up high as well as decent nymph fishing for large to larger fish in the meadow. There are also alot of fish congregated near the inlet to Platoro Reservoir and up into the Middle Fork of the Conejos. The Rio Grande just east of Antonito continues to fish fair to great for pike depending on the day and there mood. at good fihing levels for Pike. Fishing for carp and pike at Sanchez Reservoir just east of us continues to be good. The lower La Jara will open soon as well as the Los Pinos so dont think you have to wait til mid June to have quality dry fly fishing. Streamer fishing at these levels (high) is extremely important to fish the bottom 1/3 of the water column. Heavy tippets, heavy flies, big flies, and fishing a 6 weight rod will make it all easier and more enjoyable to fish these levels.

May 7, 2007 The Conejos River has given a welcome suprise this week with water flows that have again come back down to a good fishing level. Flows to 550 cfs at Mogote and 100 cfs at Platoro make the entire watershed fishable. Of course this is a day to day thing and will not be completely predictable but the guides that have been out have done well nymphing with large #8 Twenty Inchers, #10 Rubber Leg Golden Stones, and #16 Chironocones. I fished the upper meadows below Platoro on saturday in heavy snow and cold and caught the fattest 19 or 20 inch brown I have ever caught in moving water. Also landed a nice 14" Snake River Cutt fishing double streamers deep. Did not have enough clothes to continue to make casts but the fish were eating even in the 26 degree weather. Right now with the slightly off color water fish 3 or 4 x flourocarbon nymph rigs right on the bottom. You must hit them in the head with your flies. The cone of eating becomes very flat in the faster water and there are still alot of fish in the deep heavy water in the structure.

Fished the Upper La Jara yesterday and rode Enduro style motorcylcles and atv's like wild horses to make it thru the mud and snow banks. The river fished pretty well when we arrived, fish ate dries and nymphs alike. We will not be doing any guide trips to the area for another week or so to allow time for the snow to melt and the mud to turn back to dirt. This is a great time to get completely away from the crowds here. There is always some place to fish and tomorrow we be fishing for monster carp in the shallows and big pike. Well see!

April 24, 2007 Cold snowy weather made fishing difficult today but the previous couple of days were really good. Several methods have been productive and with the warm weather coming for the weekend the river wil continue to morph. One thing will be constant, big browns will insist that you really step up your game to fool them. I had a crack at a very large brown in a slow side channel on sunday and was nothing but a wisper getting into position and I disturbed one of his younger brothers 10' downstream of where the big brown was feeding and I looked up and the big brown had dissappeared. He had been steadily sipping midge adults from the surface and I never even had a chance to raise my rod. I watched another large fish in a side channel react to my one false cast and go off the feed immediately. Thankfully not all good fish hang out in such spooky water and we caught nice browns and rainbows on sunday with the bigger fish in the 19" range. For the Superfliers I would just say come and be ready for a variety of situations and dont be afraid to be creative and try some techniques. As one of the fisherman that was in last week overhearing someone ask. So what is your favorite Conejos River fly? He blurted out, "Confidence"! I had to agree.

April 20, 2007 All you Superflyers awaiting some fishing word here it is. Yesterday the monster today the gem, today the Conejos gave up alot of Brown Gold with some fish eating dries and nymphs and fish taped to 20". Fish ate a variety of bugs today with most fish caught on subsurface patterns. Stoneflies, small mayfly patterns, and midge patterns were the most popular in that order. Flows are perfect and with a little luck we will have some decent water to play in next weekend. We are seeing a few Skwala's crawling out of the river (Skwala's are a stonefly that typically emerges in the spring and I have been putting 2 and 2 together the last couple of years and some close up photography of Devan Ence has finished the puzzle. ) We will see how big of an event this will be but I do know that there were several beats last year in tlhe Superfly that had Skwalas all over them. I saw them a few years ago and ordered some black Stimulators in a size #10 and #12 but did not know what I was looking at. We will be sure to have a few on hand this weekend in case this turns out to be a fishing event and not just a few scattered bugs. For now I can only say that the river will continue to act like most beautiful woman. Hard to figure out, lovely, capaple of giving you the biggest smile you ever had or knocking that spring out right out of your step. I feel like I could write a great report for the Arkansas tomorrow and expound about the BWO's that everyone will see or what will happen on the San Juan or others but the Conejos? The river in my backyard? Perhaps this year she will lose some of her mystery!

Hope to see you on the river scratching your head with me.

April 6, 2007 The Conejos has had another "bump" to streamflows with some mild nights but normal to cool weather for the next week should keep it fishing good all week. The river is beginning to really wake up now and we saw our first flury of surface feeding fish of the year yesterday evening on some small midges in slack water. This is the exception for now but there will be sporadic BWO hatches along with a consistent midge hatch. The BWO nymphs are becoming very active so expect some hatches to parallel some precipition or follow immediately. You can predict water quality with some accuracy if you monitor the streamflows at Mogote at the top of this page. Any large jumps to the flows and expect some staining however jumps in flows will not normally disturb fishing in any way. Unusually cold nights followed by cool days can put them off. On top of that it is the Conejos and dont expect any of us to nail any of these theories on the head, we scratch our heads as well. Same flies and fishing methods as below. Appears the road to atleast to Rocky Mt. Lodge is open.

* Pleased to welcome the expertise and energy for the sport of Devan Ence who arrived here last week and will be working full time in the shop and on the river. He brings a passion for this river that is amazing and is a gifted teacher, fly tyer, caster, and is exactly the type of guy I want in and around our fly shop. He also just happens to be the defending champion of the Superfly so he can fish! No snobby cliqish guides or know it alls just passionate, patient, knowledgeable people is what you should find in any shop. We hope you find it here.

March 27, 2007 After a very warm period with higher and discolored water we have gotten back to a more typical weather pattern. The flows have come back down to perfect (170 cfs) for this time of year and the fishing has improved. Water still has a slight tea color to it but this has not effected the fishing. This time of year I think the brighter brass beads and peacock hurl are good choices. As the season goes on and the big browns see more of our guady offerings going more sublte gets more important but for now they may have forgotten about us and bright flies (Rainbow Warrior) and beads will move more fish in the stained water. Us 9' to 12' leaders to 4x flouro with smaller indicators or dries and drop a nymph or two. Large first then a small PT or Midge pattern behind the stonefly nymph. Fish have had a long winter and most are a little lean so give them some more time or be gentle! Superfly now has 59 teams and should be a good weekend. If you want in we will put you on a waiting list. ( We are working on some more water for the weekend for about 8 more teams. Water temps are cold and fishing has been best form 11 to 5. Streamers in foul weather. Road closed to Platoro so fish low. Better yet come and learn the river with one of the guides, it is a great month to have 66 miles of Gold Medal Water to yourself. Shop will open mid April, Cabins April 2, Guided fishing - now. Looking forward to a great year.!

March 7, 2007 Welcome back to the fishing reports page for 2007, the Conejos watershed is sitting pretty right now with 97% snowpack and the river quickly turning from ice to water. There are sections to fish now but it is a bit early. Give the river a week and we will be catching fish again on small zebra midges, chironocones, rainbow warrriors, and small mayfly nymphs. Go long leaders, subltle indicators, and good presentations with 4 and 5 weight rods to 5x flourocarbon. I did not temp the water today but it was nice enough for "Luke" to go swimming for 10 minutes so here we go nosthing but better conditions on the way.

The Conejos Superfly has 52 entries as of today and we should fill soon so if you want in please do it now. It is shaping up to be one of the most incredible weekends of fun, entertainment and fishing you will have in a long time. We will have 2 parties with movies, some fishing celebs, food, giveaways, fishing excursions, custom rods, Simms truck, Scott van, Sage and Scott rods to be given away, Simms waders and gear to name just some of the schedule for the weekend. Entry and info are on the homepage. We will also have access to the most coveted ranches of the river for the weekend and you will get to see new water and fish on your off days with some great fisherman.

We just returned from Chilean Patagonia where we stayed and fished with Salmo Patagonia Lodge. It was nothing short of incredible and I will be posting a blog with pictures next month for those curious. We will be hosting another trip next March and we will have movies on the fishing and pictures with info for those wanting to see some incredible scenery, an exotic culture, and some obscene fish. www.patagoniadream.com would be an early sneakpeak.

January 14, 2007 Conejos Superfly Entries are now available and we will soon post more info on the home page about the event. If you did not receive an email entry please email me and I will get it right out. In a few days we will release the information to the press and once that happens it will be very harder to get in. This years event will be 3 days and again will include almost the entire river. ( 30 teams will fish friday, 30 saturday and the top 30 teams from the first 2 days will fish sunday) The number of teams will increase to 60 and we will have a party with a showing of the new movie " Running Down the Man"! Patagonia to Simms, Ross to Scott, Sage to Fishpond will be sponsoring the event. The format will be the same but the weekend will be moved up 2 weeks to try and guarantee some clear water. April 27 -29, 2007 Superfly date!!! There will be parties, movies, swag, and alot of fun. For those that come and have an off day on Saturnday or Sunday will have outings available. (Fishing of course) For those wanting to plan some early fishing we normally are on the water here by mid March and fish until the water gets bigger in early May. For fishing now the San Juan in New Mexico and the Arkansa in Pueblo are good choices. There is also some pike fishing on the Rio Grande in New Mexico down by Pilar and John Dun Bridge. Contact Ed Adams for more info. 505 585 1512. My email is info@conejosriveranglers.com

November 16, 2006 Conejos is starting to look like winter. Still some fish possibilies on nice days but not worth making a long trip for. We had a good guide trip this last saturday and the fish ate streamers and small midge patterns. The Rio Grande Gorge just east of us is still fishing and we are catching nice browns and pike. The winter saltwater trip we are hosting is to Chetumal Bay, Mexico Feb 17 to the 24th. If you want some info for the trip please call me or send an email.

Patagonia, Fishpond, Smith and all clothing is being closed out at 35% off. All St. Croix rods 35%. Lightly used Simms L2 waders are $88.00. Sizes remaining; XS, M, M, Medium King, XL.

October 27, 2006 Flows have now hit just about perfect now and it looks like a great week of weather ahead. (64cfs Platoro, 249 cfs Lower river) We did not get smashed with the snow that the mountains north of us did and the fish crushed the streamers today with the cloudy weather. It was 33 degrees but the fishing warmed that up nicely. 3x flourocarbon with 5 or 6 weight rods. Match the weight of your streamer setup to the water depth you are fishing. Almost all the fish we caught were "nice" to "large". No monstes!

Patagonia, Fishpond, Smith and all clothing is being closed out at 35% off. All St. Croix rods 35%. Lightly used Simms L2 waders are $88.00. Sizes remaining; XS, M, M, Medium King, XL.

October 24, 2006 Flows on the Conejos have dropped to a really nice level and there are some fish still on some reds but most of the fish are recovering from the spawn and are stacked up in slow soft water for most of the day. Double nymph rigs with a stonefly upper nymph and a lower zebra midge, #18 flashback pheasant tail, or a rainbow warrior on the bottom fly. The other option is fishing an attractor dry or hopper (there are still some around) and dropping the nypmhs. Again streamers are very effective when fishing in cloudy, snowy or drizzly weather. Yesterday landed over 10 fish standinding in the same place once I found where they were stacked up.

October 11, 2006 Heavy rains and snow this last week have the Conejos at levels quadruple normal and the fishing has been poor this last week. If we can have a few days of dry weather expect the flows to come down and releases to drop as well. If you are a streamer fisherman there is still plenty of fishing to be had now but "normal" fishing techiques will not be as effective until the water flows mellow.

September 20, 2006 Just some thoughts after a doing a couple of fantastic guide trips and fishing this past week. The difference between hitting a home run on the Conejos or striking out is very subtle. (More so than most other rivers) Putting your finger on exactly what that is or feeling like you got it after a cookie cutter fishing report is often impossible. When I see a cast that is a little off or imperceptibly dragging I know that we are not going to move nice fish. Spending a day with a good guide on tough rivers and really paying attention will speed you light years ahead and make you a better fisherman. The more I guide on the Conejos the more I feel like a control freak but the more things I control and do right the more success we have. (I attempt to do this naturally!) The sad thing is often the client goes home with a great day of fishing but not really knowing why. For some that hire a guide for each day on the water that is ok (I guess) but for those wanting to graduate knowing why we mend up one time and down the next, or why are we standing here, when and how do I skate the fly or twitch it, or how are you rigging the flies and weight for theis water and why, or and and and ! I am alway asked "What is happening on the Conejos?" The truth is myself and the other guides have to get to the river each day and figure it out. This is not a predictable environment here and so each day is different. This is not rocket science but definately a cerebral environment. Coming up with your own theories and strategies is alot of fun and you should only read these fishing reports to add to your own ideas and give you some thoughts for your own time on the water. And for some entertainment! Had someone come in yesterday and say they saw a 26" brown eating another fish in the shallows! Add that one to the monster that ate the duckling below Platoro last month! Good luck! J. Harp

September 18, 2006 The Conejos River is still full of water and we have had sporadic BWO hatches and some good fishing albeit inconsistent from day to day. Fish are definately in a pre spawn mode and are moving around quite a bit. If you find them it is normally fantastic. If you are in a spotty area dont spend all day there. Move! Most of the better fishing has been from 9 to 2 or so unless you run into some mayflies in the afternoons which is when we are seeing them. The fishing conditions on the streams are still perfect and thefishing up high has been consistent. Up higher on the Conejos we are using zebra midges, Chironocones, Pheasant tails, and SJW's for nymphing and griffiths gnats, BWO's #16 and 18's, and attractor dry flies #14's. Lower on the Conejos we are still fishing some terrestrials and some more traditional flies including the copper colored Copper John in #14 and #16. Nymph with a lead stonefly nymph and trail it 14" back with a #18 mayfly or Zebra midge nymph or skip the indicator and use a #12 attractor dry or hopper and fish the 2 nymphs underneath. Still 5x tippets, 9' leaders, 4 and 5 weight rods. Subtle indicators.

August 29, 2006 Here is a little info for those of you that may think we are snoozing. Just got back from the Trade Show in Denver and the new Sage Z - Axis rod is truly a phenominal fishing tool. Anyway some fun stuff to look forward to in the spring. Here on the Conejos it was like the August that never showed up. Highs in the 60's and 70's all month with rain felt like Seatle. The leaves are already starting to turn proving that even nature seem s a little confused. Even the elk, as I write, are buggling hard all night. I think the fish may be wondering what season it is as well. I have described the Conejos to a beautiful woman many times. Sometimes she doesn't love you back as you hoped but ahh, when she does!!! This has been true of late. Fishing on the lower river has not been great but very fishable. The water has become clear and flows from the top of the Conejos down are perfect. Attractor dries, hoppers, ants, beetles, and extended body mayflies have been the best surface patterns. As the water drops and clears zebra midges, Chironcones, and mayfly nymphs will become more important. For straight nymphing a Peacock stonefly nymph followed by a #16 Pheasant tail or a Chironocome would by my first swing. Creating movement or a twitch to your larger dries will increase your success. Rita Adams (one of our full time guides) has coined her version the "Bitch Twitch" , try it. 9' 5x leaders, 4 or 5 weight rods, and pay attention to the little things. The stream fishing has been fantastic on most of the high mountain streams. La Jara and the Los Pinos are dipping back towards "low". Elk, South, and the high mountains streams are still looking good. Upper Conejos has been good. Stained water = San Juan Worms, streamers, stonefly nymphs. Fall should be fantastic on the Conejos.

August 16, 2006 Very little to add to the report on the 8th other than if the water is up at all or stained San Juan Worms and Streamers have been by far the better flies. Maybe the strangest August I have ever fished. Very cool, wet, and almost September like. The streams that were to low a month ago we are back on. The lower river has fished thru the "hot" month and it looks like all of this moisture is going to tack on an extra month to our season with some great flows. For those worried if the river is "blown out". You can look at the streamflows and make a great guess. The other thing is that there are 3 rivers here that go thru dams where you can always fish some clear water. La Jara, Conejos, and the Los Pinos all have sections that you can fish anytime. For those that dont know what a little rain can do for your fishing come and pick up a jacket and go. It is alot of fun and has not been very cold. Elk Creek, Los Pinos, La Jara, South Fork, and all of the upper streams are all fishing as good as you will see. The tourist season is ending here and with the gas prices and who knows what we should have a beautiful quiet fall.

August 8, 2006 We are still being gifted with consistent rain and August has been beautiful and cool. The lower temperatares and elevated water levels have made the entire river corridor fishable. Even with stained water yesterday the guides had some great days and landed alot of bigger browns. The high country streams have been nothing short of wonderful. Almost all the fish caught in the streams have been caught on the dry. Flying ants, extended body mayflies, lime Madam X #14, and smaller stims have worked great. Smaller stonefly nymphs, pheasant tails, and chironocones have been the better nymphs and the Foam body caddis, X body BWO, Tan Crystal Stim, and #16 Parawullfs have been the better dries. 9' 5x leaders with 4 and 5 weight rods are still the choice. Longer leaders and finer tippets are the ticket on the glassy water. Both of the leases have fished well and fishing pressure on the river has been light. The other thing I would like to point out is that the Conejos is a tailwater and clears quickly. I get alot of questions from people thinking that once the river is "blown out" it stays that way for days. It does not. Not only that there can be some good nymphing and streamer fishing during off color water. The other option we have is that if the lower river is muddy we can fish right below the dam and always fish clear water. Watch for large spikes in the streamflows for predicting water clarity.

July 27, 2006 Regular cool rains have helped keep the river fresh and even spruce up the lower river. Fish have continued to be in fast oxygenated riffles and we are fishing more realistic patterns instead of lots of brass beads. The fish have also stayed on the midges. It still amazes me to think these fish can see bugs without a brass bead! JK! Anyway the fishing has been very good overall in the upper river. The lower river has seen some good days but most of the good fishing is done by 12:00 and again after 7:00 the exception is on cooler rainy days. Dont forget if the water goes off color or it is raining does not mean that the fish wont eat some streamers. Dont be bashful with the size or color. Best flies have been #14 tan crystal stimulators, #12 Goddard Caddis, #12 Pearl and Elk Caddis, #16 Extended body BWO, #16 Para Wulff and for nymphs the #18 Chironcone has still been the hero. #18 Zebra Midge, #16 Mayfly patterns, Caddis larva, #14 golden stone, and # 16 Blue Copper John. Water levels have stayed pretty consistent out of Platoro and the fishing in the Flats below the dam have been very good. We are starting to see more Hoppers and it is time to start thinking about terrestrials as good searching patterns. Fish are looking up in the riffles and as long as the water is deep enoough to hold fish you cant hardly fish water that is to fast.

July 19, 2006 With the warmer weather this last week we have moved most of our fishing up past 9000 feet. The lower river has fished good early but the fishing has gotten tough until late evening. The upper river has been good to fantastic for the last week with most of the fish being caught on dries. All of the high mountain streams have fished really well and again almost all fish taking adult mayflies and caddis patterns. Today I had a guide trip in the Pinnacles area and the single I had hooked over 50 fish. The other guides have been having the same type of success through the upper river. Morning and midday was most succesful with #12 Tan Crystal Stimulators and #12 Caddis Patterns. For the record while we were hammering fish on dry flies there were no fish actively feeding on the surface. Almost no fish taking the dropper in the early part of the day. In the afternoon we nymphed with a #14 Calibaetis nymph and the #18 Chironocone. It was amazing to watch. The fish hammered the Chironcone. We fished some really hard riffles as well as some of the usual water and hooked some really nice fish. One of the other guides tied on a Chironocone at the end of a guide yesterday and landed a 19 or 20 inch brown among others. For all of us (i include myself) that thought these fish just eat big manly stonefly nymphs and other meaty bites it astounds me to see these fish hammer little midge patterns in hard water! The La Jara is low but still fishing well and the Los Pinos is very low but there are still reports of fisherman catching nice fish real early and late in the day. The Los Pinos fish are very spooky and is not a great place for beginners. For those wanting a challenge go early or real late and make some casts. The Flats below Platoro has fished good. Had a chance to fish there on the 17th and the fish ate #18 X Body BWO's and small Griffiths gnats. Fish were up and sipping bugs. Rumors of Green Drakes all the way to the dam the last several days and big pods of fish up on dries during the middle of the day. We have not had the chance to be there during that time but plenty of Drake patterns being sold to the group fishing the Flats. Flows have ranged from around 60cfs to 130 recently out of Platoro which is a great flow for the the upper river. If you have questions on how to nymph with midges on the Conejos come in or take a trip and learn how to move fish with this method. Water temps in the lower river can get close to 70 and if they do it is better for the fish to leave them alone at this temp. It does not take much stress to send them over the brink at higher water temps.

July 9, 2006 Conejos River has shown us alot of big beautiful fish over the last couple of weeks. Some of the best dry fly fishing we have seen here in years and it continues to be a great time. Green Drakes and a host of mayflies have kept the fishing in the upper river surreal on some days. Heavy rains have made the water levels feel like June again but most days have been between good and incredible. For those that fished in the heavy rains yesterday in the muddy water with streamers it was fantastic. Reid Darnell landed a 23" Cutt on a streamer and one of the Johnny Pribyl group landed a 23" Rainbow. Devon Fooks a 24" Brown a few days earlier. Water levels have been pushy the last couple of days and the water color has been off but the fishing has been good despite. Fishing Caddis or mayfly patterns with red copper johns and purple princes have been succesful in the lower river with a host of other attractor dry flies. Upper river mayflies have been the big deal with most fish coming to dry flies. The afternoon the river is already clearing and should serve up another great day tomorrow. All of the streams in the area have been fantastic and offer a great diversion for those wanting something more intimate and less challenging. Both of the private leases have been fantastic and are a bargain for those wanting to buy some solitude and a chance at some really big fish. As long as the water is high we are back on 4x tippet and 8' leaders. 5 weight rods. Daytime highs have been from 60 to 75 with clouds and periods of rain each day. Dont start walking to your car as soon as it starts to rain on you. The rain has been our friend most days providing some incredible fishing. Just be prepared. If you are not catching fish in your "usual" spots move your cast to some really fast riffles. I have been shocked by how fast of water some of the big fish are holding in!

June 26, 2006 The Conejos River this week has been the buggiest I have ever seen it. The last couple of days have brought cool cloudy weather and has exploded the mayflies. Green Drakes, PMD's, and BWO's have been prolific and the fish are on them. The upper river is full of assorted mayflies, yellow sallies, golden stones, and caddis. Almost all of the fishing has been done on the surface the last 2 days and all of the rivers in the area are fishing well from up high to the La Jara and the Los Pinos. The Fly Water yesterday evening had an incredible mayfly hatch that had the entire fly water bubbling with large fish. Not a single fisherman in the whole stretch! These hatches and the fishing will be somewhat weather related and expect large mayfly hatches when you see clouds and drizzle. If it rains hard throw the streamer. I landed a large male Rainbow in a deluge a couple of days ago with a large streamer and the browns will also take it in low light and rain. We hope to see the Drakes progress up the river this week but for now the concentration of the Drakes is the lower river up to Horca. Every mile of the Conejos now is in prime time and prime flows for dry fly fishing and we expect to see the next few days with cooler weather continue to produce large hatches and fish looking up. Dont be afraid to start really early on sunny warm days. You will catch more fish before 1:00 on hot days. The Drakes will start about 11:30 on most days clouds or sun. #12 Hairwing Drakes seem to be the best pattern when the fish are up. Make sure you using powder or a great floatant on your dries to keep them pricked up high on the water. If your flies are not riding high and dry you will not turn near the fish. 9' 4x leaders for most except fishing the flat water.

June 17, 2006 Quick report tonight, the Conejos has gotten really buggy for the first time this year. We are seeing heavy Caddis, PMD's, BWO's, Brown Drakes, Golden Stones, and big Salmonflies. The lower river is where most of the bugs are and the upper river is very fishable but the dry fly action is slower at this point. This will change any day now. Flows have dropped dramatically over the last several days and on the flatter water the 5x tippet is a big help. There were some big fish up today on various dries and we expect the river to stay buggy and fishing well. Presentation and doing the little things right are now becoming more important. As I fished the flatter water this evening I felt like I wish I had a 15' leader. They were very spooky in the shallow flats of the "fly water". If the river is being hard on you head out to one of the many other streams in the area that are fishing well or hire a guide and take your fishing to the next level. The flats below Platoro is another great option right now. High mountain streams are coming down to fishable levels now which gives us about 150 miles of water to fish! The new Abeyta lease has fished great for those interested in some solitude! Fish 8' to 11' leaders to 5x for dry fly fishing. A good fast action 4 weight rod will soon become the rod of choice for a more subtle presentation for dry fishing, for breezy days or nymphing fish a 5 or 6. 5x flourocarbon to the dropper. 4x flouro for nymphing. Expect to see some Green Drakes earlier than normal with the lower water levels. Water temps to 59 in the evenings. Dont miss this next month!

June 14, 2006 The last couple of days on the Conejos has seen the start of some Golden Stones on the lower river and a heavy caddis hatch. The big Stones are still around up to around Rainbow Trout Ranch. Call it the full moon or changing flows the fishing has not been great the last couple of days. We have caught some large fish the last several days but it has been harder than you would expect. With the flows around 500 cfs and the temps perfect expect to see the Conejos fish better this week. One of the guides was turning rocks for a client and pointing out a Green Drake nymph and it became an adult and flew off before their eyes! We have already seen a few of them the last 2 days and could see them earlier than expected. With the releases around 250 from Platoro the upper river is to high to be good except the Flats below Platoro. Concentrate on the lower river, the Flats, or one of the tributaries. The Caddis hatch has been heavy but dont come expecting an Arkansas River caddis experience. They will not eat the adults from the surface, there is to much food for them to for the bigger fish to eat small bugs from the surface in heavy water. . Fish caddis emerger patterns, stonefly nymphs, Pteronarcys, and Gloden Stone Patterns. We have gone back to 4x tippets and leaders with 5 or 6 weight rods. Dont wait to try a dry fly until you see surface feeding. Check the real time flows below for accurate flows.

June 10, 2006 For all of you waiting to hear about the big bugs wait no longer! My guide today hooked 4 nice fish before I had the second fisherman set up. Big stones were on the water from Mogote to Sheep Creek. Heavy winds kept the bugs in the willows in the afternoon and we resorted to deep nymphing . #8 Adults in assorted patterns were effective and the #10 Tungstone Golden Stone was the biggest producer for the nymphing. We fished 2x tippets even to the dry flies. The water is big and so are the fish so the 5x and 4x that most of you are used to are not enough in the heavy water. Dont be bashful! Fish the 3x or so! We hope the bugs will get thicker and progress up the river over the next couple of weeks. Amazingly there were almost no fisherman here this weekend. Elk Creek, South Fork, and La Jara are great alternatives for those looking for something smaller. Flows at Mogote 725. Platoro Reservoir release 350.

June 5, 2006 The Conejos River is giving us some wonderful nymphing right now. Flows are still high but the fish have really turned on the last couple of days. We have all been expecting the Stones to come early but with the increase in the releases from Platoro last week the water temps dipped about 4 degrees and we may see Stones on a more normal timeframe. (about a week) La Jara and Los Pinos continue to fish well and the La Jara has had some consistent cadddis activity. Los Pinos has fished great with a #16 Deep Six Caddis emerger (green), #12 stonefly nymph patterns and assorted #12 attractors dry flies. There are some mayflies showing themselves and should see some adult stones any day. The Conejos has fished well with #10 Golden stonefly nymphs, SJ Worms, #8 and #10 Peacock stones and Twenty inchers, #14 bright green caddis larvae, and a few fish are still taking adult stonefly patterns especially in the pocket water and edges. Fish 4x tippet on 9' leaders with 5 or 6 weight rods on the Conejos and use plenty of split shot in the heavier water. Fish are not just on the edges. There are plenty of fish in the heavier stuff where there is plenty of structure. I had a chance to make a few casts myself with Ed Adams yesterday and fished the lower river. We landed over 40 fish in 3 hours and almost all of them were 14" or better including 2 Cutthroats. (12" and 17") 6 on dries the rest on Stonefly nymphs and caddis larvae. 11:00 is when it really seemed to turn on, water temp was only 48 degrees. Scroll to bottom for real time streamflows.

May 30, 2006 Flows on the Conejos, La Jara, and Los Pinos are now officially hitting perfect. Caddis on the La Jara, a few black stones starting on the Los Pinos and the Conejos has been Jeckle and Hyde this week. Water temps to 55 degrees in the afternoons and active stonefly nymphs on the edges have given spurts of some good fishing but the last 2 days the Conejos has been difficult during the day. Evenings much better. If you are waiting for July or August for some good fishing you are going to miss the best fishing of the season. Expect to see some big stoneflies in the air in the next week or 2. Almost no one fishing! Fish #8 and #10 stonefly nymphs, Tungsone Golden, Wired stones, Peacock biot stones, weighted rubber legs. Make sure they are on the bottom. Or fish deep droppers under bigger stonefly and attractor dries. 5 or 6 weight rods with 8' 4x leaders and 4x flouro dropper. Heavily weighted streamers are still moving fish especially in low light conditions. Sink tips or very heavy lead on the head of the streamer will dramatically increase your success. Dont be afraid to try some of your own theories if it is slow. The Conejos is no cookie cutter predictable river and creativity is often rewarded., dont get stuck in the "box" with this report or any other! The high country streams are still big and with warm air the rest of the week they will remain on the high side. The meadows on Elk Creek are fishable and water clarity is good. High mountain lakes are another great place to be right now.

May 27, 2006 A quick update from the Conejos RIver tonight. The water levels on the Los Pinos and the La Jara are hitting perfect. Caddis have started on the La Jara and the black stones should be on the water any day now on the Los Pinos. The flows out of Platoro Reservoir on the Conejos River are 148, that is a great flow to fish the upper river. (No Pinnacles yet) The lower river is down to 800 and clearing. Fish continue to gorge on stonefly nymphs. The nymphs are very active right now and we should see the big bugs in a week or two. Cooler weather on the way should continue to drive the Conejos towards perfect fishing levels. Water temps to 54 degrees on the Conejos and Los Pinos. As soon as tomorrow ends one of the best rivers in the state will again return to a lonely river. Dont miss this June. It should be fantastic!

May 23, 2006 Conejos River is big right now and the fishing is a long way from good. 264 cfs out of the reservoir at Platoro is making the upper river clear and somewhat fishable but it is hard work. I recommend waiting for this current warm spell to give up before coming. The La Jara is running 19 and is in great shape and fishing well. The Los Pinos has hit 270 and should be ready to start fishing in a week or 2. We have seen a #10 Black bodied stonefly on the water from HORCA up to our South Fork Lease. The fish have taken large black Stimulators and #10 and #12 Stonefly nymph in dark colors. THere has been some really good streamer fishing the last week when the weather is right. Overall I would give the Conejos a D+ right now! La Jara B-. Other rivers not fishable. Should get really good as soon as the levels drop in the next week or so. For those trying to plan some fishing the Big Stoneflies should come earlier this year. The entire month of June should be fantastic. With the lower snowpack it should open up the river during the big hatches of June. Late May should be great on the La Jara and begin good fishing on the big river.

May 11, 2006 Quick Conejos River Update. The flows have gone to 77 at Platoro and 500 at

May 23, 2006 The Conejos River has been up all week with extremely mild nights and hot days. Water levels out of the dam have been cut in the last 2 days from 600 cfs to 42.6 which has dropped the lower river around 500 cfs (to 1000 cfs) and will also make the water clarity impove. Fish are gorging themselves on Stonefly nymphs and are already big and fat. Mild weather and water temps to 52 degrees in the afternoon are going to have the Stoneflies active early and as soon the water levels drop and clear expect some incredible fishing. In the last 5 days we have seen some bigger fish including a 24" Brown caught on a #8 Gorge Stone (Dry) and rumors of a 29" Brown in the upper river taken on a #10 stonefly nymph! The edges are clear enough to fish and the fish are being pushed to the edges with the bigger water. This is not primetime but if the flows from the reservoir are kept low the river will fish. I fished the meadow below Platoro this evening for a little while and landed fish from 14" to 17" on SJW's and a #12 brown biot stonefly nymph.

May 18, 2006 Congratulations to all the SuperFly Contestants it was a great weekend. The winners landed 3 fish over 20" during and after the tournament! The debate is on as to the format for next year. We may have an amateur and pro division with 35 teams a day. (Early May) The Broiles Bridge which is absolutley perfect. The cool weather has made the river very fishable again but warmer weather in the forecast is going to drive the flows back up so the Superfly could still very difficult. My guide trip had a wonderful morning and landed 8 fish all over 15". Half on big attractor dry flies. #14 tungsten mayfly droppers. There are some small dark stoneflies out and there are a few fish on them. Water temp in the am was 39 degrees and warmed to 48 in the pm. We will expect the Conejos to peak this week and gradually begin to drop. I am fully expecting this next couple of months on the Conejos to be some of the best we have seen in a long time. The fish are big and healthy and the flows are going to be prime for fishing the early hatches. Some fish still moved to streamers but they have not been very effective this week with the sunny days. Good Luck to the Superfly participants!!!

May 9, 2006 For those looking for easy fishing the Conejos River and the tributaries save La Jara Creek are not it. The flows peaked at 800 this morning at Broiles Bridge. Water clarity in the upper river is still holding but 33 degree weather and snow in the meadow below Platoro made conditions tough. Streamer fishing was ok. And both guide trips today landed nice fish but worked hard for them. Large Stonefly patterns and streamers. The Superfliers are going to have to work. For the rest of you give the river a week or so and it will start its journey back to being a great river. Looks like the Stonefly emergence this year with this water level should be great.

May 7, 2006 A quick report on the Conejos River tonight. We have spent the last several days floating and fishing the Conejos and is has been good. The water is off color from Sheep Creek down but the clarity improves dramatically until you reach clear in the meadow below Platoro Reservoir. Flow around 200 in the meadow make for some good Streamer and "Junk" fishing. (San Juan Worms, Eggs, Chironocones, Zebra midges, streamers) A friend fished this afternoon and landed 8 fish all over 17" in a few hours of fishing. The lower Fly Water above Sheep Creek is a good option right now and you can fish heavy stonefly nymphs on deep set ups or fish a big bushy dry with a tungsten head nymph and fish edges. Streamers are an option all over the river right now. The longer the Conejos stays at a level the clearer it will get of course the opposite is true as well if you see a big jump assume muddy water. It looks like the weather will be consistent for a few days which should allow the water levels to stabilize. For those that are here fishing it has been fun as long as you come with the right expcectations. This is not primetime. Just alot of fun. La Jara flowing at 36 and is another good option. (We will be archiving the fishing reports soon so please bear with us.)

May 4, 2006 I would like to revise a previous report today. We floated the Conejos River from just below HORCA this afternoon and the water clarity was much better. Sheep Creek is dumping alot of chocolate water into the river and we did well on streamers hooking some larger browns. It is still high but the flatter water from the top of Sheep Creek to Menkhaven is plenty fishable and the water clarity much better. Water clear coming out of Platoro Dam and that 4 mile stretch of watermay be the best ticket right now for the Conejos. If flows stay below 250 out of Platoro this will be fishable. Los Pinos is still to high and the La Jara is the other good option. Flows to around 35 cfs with decent fishing. Pike time at Sanchez Reservoir. There is not that much snow up high so it could be a short runoff. For those fishing the Superfly the conditions will probobly be tough. Big flashy streamers, Stoneflies, and assorted other creative fishing techniques will still catch fish now but it is not easy. Try the Arkansas, some low elevation lakes, or the tailwaters for a few days.

***Road to Platoro now open which will allow you to fish the tailwater section of the river with much clearer water! Fish S.J. Worms, Egg patterns, Zebra midges, Chironcones, and streamers.

May 1, 2006 The Conejos River has cleared and flows to around 425 cfs at Broiles Bridge and 70 cfs at Platoro which are optimal flows for this time of year. Water temps to 50 degrees in the p.m. Good fishing with nymphing setups and the fished have suprised us with being aggressive to big heavy streamer. Caught 6 bigger Rainbows and missed that many yesterday afternoon all on a #4 Platte River Special (streamer). These will fish better in low light. Fish a dry dropper or nymph set up on Blue Bird days. Fish are beginning to move around more and into some faster water. Nymph patterns same as below. La Jara looks great and the Los Pinos is to high to be any good right now. The mystery continues on when the USFS will open the upper gate. We will keep you posted. But at 70 CFS the whole upper river could be fantastic. The flows out of Platoro will bounce around quite a bit this time of year but that does not make a large impact on the fishing on the lower river. If the flow is right you can fish the upper river if not stay low. There are approximately 65 miles of river between us and Platoro. Public access to half of that so you have alot of options.

April 27, 2006 Fished with Michael White of Simms this evening for 2 hours and the Conejos fished really well. We fished weighted Stonefly Patterns for an hour with good success and switched to streamers and did even better. Best patterns were #8 Peacock Stonefly, #12 Golden Stone, #4 Platte River Special (Double Bunny olive/black) Water flows to around 500 and water color is good with only a slight hue to it, water temps to 48 degrees. It has allowed us to get closer to the fish and they are not spooky at all right now. Fish 5 or 6 weight rods 4x flourocarbon to your nymphs and make sure you are heavy and deep enough, 2x flourocarbon to the streamer(Weighted). Streamer time is early, late, and when it is cloudy or raining. If you fish a dry dropper rig fish big attractor dry flies and go with deep tungsten droppers. #12 Prince or Golden Stone patterns have been best. With a drier April the snowpack is down to around 60% and there should be some great fishing in the area from now on. We'll pray for a wet summer but enjoy some great early fishing.

April 25, 2006 The Conejos has cleared and flows have come back down close to 400 cfs which is a great fishing flow. Water temps to 48 degrees in pm. All but an empty river today!

April 23, 2006 The Conejos River has hit 480 and has become off color. We expect clearing over the next week but for the next several days it will be tough fishing. Water temps 48 degrees in the pm. Gates to La Jara locked. Upper gate scheduled to open this week on Conejos and will open up some clear water and good fishing.

April 22, 2006 The Conejos is still fishing but the water levels continue to go up with mild weather. Water clarity is like weak tea. Expect to work for fish with windows of some really good fishing. Water temps have risen to 48 degrees in the pm and expect to see some more insect activity as the water heats up to 50 and above. The water just below Platoro will open soon and this will give us another 15 miles to fish of the upper river. Guide trip friday caught fish to 20" and most were on long droppers in medium to slower water. 18" to 3' deep. Big bushy indicators will put these fish off if you are fishing shallow water. Use a dry as your "indicator". #14 Tungsten Prince, #16 Robo Pheasant tails, #12 Golden Stones, #14 Elk Hair Caddis, #12 Royal Stimulator best bugs. Still seeing nice Rainbows with consistency. Concentrate on the flatter sections of the river. Mogote C.G. to Conejos C. G. is a good stretch and has some flatter water that will be easier to fish at this water level. Upper gate to open this week and we will atempt La Jara tomorrow, if you dont here a report for days we are stuck in Big Meadows!!

* We now have access to another 2.0 mile section of the lower Conejos for use with guide trips. This will be a great section to fish during the Stoneflies of June and as the river becomes busier during the summer and fall. Mostly big Browns. $10 rod fee!

Snotel Snowpack April 16, 2006 73%

April 16, 2006 After several days of higher tea colored water the Conejos is coming back down and we should go back to some easier fishing. Flows have fallen from around 400 to 270 and should continue to clear. Water flows will bounce a little this month but the water should clear and water temps edge up as the fish become more active. Water is slightly tea colored today and the most effective fishing right now is with nymphs on the bottom. Large stonefly nymphs, 12 and 14 Golden Stoneflies, #16 and #18 Pheasant tails. Almost all of the active fish are in the middle to back end of the runs or on the edges. Fast riffles are not as effective yet. 18" to 3' of water is the most productive water. As soon as the upper gate opens on the Conejos the upper river will be a great place to find clear water and great flows. The Pinnacles all the way to Platoro should have several weeks of good fishing. These fish haven't seen a fisherman yet and the gate should open very soon. Will post as soon as it does (expected date late April). Water temps 44 to 46 in the afternoon.

April 12, 2006 The Conejos flows have increased and the river is slightly off color. Flows to around 200 cfs have made for made for some really good fishing. Concentrate on the river from Mogote C.G. to Rocky Mt. Lodge. We have seen nice Rainbows, Cutthroats, and Browns. Almost all 14" or bigger. Fish are less spooky now and you can nympth or throw a dry/dropper rig with a deeper tungsten nymph. Golden Stones #10 and #12, #16 Pheasant Tail, #14 Prince nympths have been the most productive subsurface patterns. Some of the best fish have still been caught on #12 and #14 Attractor patterns. Royal Stimulator, Royal Wulf, Trudes, and Caddis. Los Pinos and the La Jara are also good options right now and the flows are perfect. Water temps have made it to 48 to 50 degrees in the P.M.

April 4, 2006 Fished Maria Lake just east of here and wow. Landed around 20 fish in 3 hours and all over 21". Some Rainbows and Cutthroats to 26" that were just slabs. If any of you are interested it is a great time to be on the lake. Call us to set up a day. Caught them on dries, streamers and nymphs and it is not technical fishing. The big fish in the lake are in prespawn mode and have moved into the shallows. This is a private lake with very light pressure and a lot of fun. *Flows on the Conejos have jumped to 120 CFS the last 2 days and that should really help take some of the spookiness out of the fish. We will have fishable conditions for atleast 4 to 6 more week.

April 3, 2006 The Conejos showed it can be tough during the day today. Fish in the hideout mode for most of the day till they turned on late in the day. Bright beautiful day with low clear water may have made the fish more cautious. Caught some beautiful fish at the end of the day but tough fishing till then. Again a tungsten Pheasant Tail #18 was the ticket. Do not use bushy indicators! Long leaders, dry fly indicators and small mayfly nymphs. Fish are in 2 to 3 feet of water that has a good flow to it. The fish in the dead water are not actively feeding and are in very spooky lies and not worth to much of your time. 10' to 30' back from the head of the run is where the active fish are holding.

April 2, 2006

The Conejos is fishing! Water temps to 46 degrees in the afternoon and fish have been eating mayfly nymphs and midges. The early fishing can be spotty, seems like the cloudy or drizzly days have made the fishing more consistent through out the day. It should continue to improve with each day as the bugs become more active and the water temps continue to rise. The fish have been beautiful and averaging around 15" the last 2 days. Yesterday caught 2 beautiful Rainbows the rest have been very healthy Browns 14 to 17 inches. There were several fish working the surface on friday and we hope to see more of this as the water continues to warm. With that said even if you do not see any fish working the surface dont think that a good presentation with an attractor dry will not bring some fish up. It is common on the Conejos to not see fish working the surface consistently but to have a great day fishing a dry fly. I just recommend skipping the indicator right now because the water is low and most water is not deeper than 3 feet so I think a dry fly is a better "indicator" right now than something big, colorful, and to obvious. This is as close to having your own 50 mile private trout club to yourself as you will ever get!

Best Methods and Patterns: Fish a 4 or 5 weight rod with a 9' to 11' leader tapered to 5x. Tie on a #14 attractor dry fly and then 20 to 30 inches of 5x flourocarbon to an #18 Tungsten Pheasant Tail. Be cautious with your silhouette, sounds, and presentation. Fish the obvious water and experiment with other types of water to "look" for fish. Other patterns that have caught fish the last 2 days are #18 Chironocone, #18 Tungsten Zebra Midge, #10 Slumpbuster (streamer ).

First Annual Conejos Superfly May 13

2 man teams, limited to 25 to 30 teams, prizes, food, beverages and alot of fun!!! Read about it by clicking article on the home page. If you are interested please call and put your name on the waiting list I do think I will get to atleast 5 of these teams. Superfly Full! Sorry!

30 Teams are are participating!

March 5, Landed the first Conejos fish of the year today. While most of the river remains frozen there are some sections above Sheep Creek that are clearing. Fished with a variety of methods and the standbye Chironocone took the first fish of the year, a 15" Brown. Watched some nice Browns from above and most are still looking "asleep", another 18 or 20 inch Brown was actively feeding in a foam line in about 2.5 feet of water. It will be another several weeks before the river is actually fishable. Water temp 37 degrees at 3:00. If you do venture out be careful the ice is very unstable. Snow in the forecast all week, hope we get a bunch.

Summer Plans: Even with the recent heavy snows it looks like our snowpack will be below normal which will make for some great early season fishing on the Conejos River and many of the other local streams. It is to early to know for sure but we will have a small window of high water and the rest of the early season should be great! We will pray for a wet summer and fall!!! June 10 or so we should see the big stoneflies. April and May should be better than normal with perfect flows and some great opportunities on the Conejos river and the other lower elevation stream such as the La Jara and Los Pinos.

Sidelight - Fished the Red River with Reid Darnell (early Feb.) and caught some nice fish. We were mainly headhunting for the larger Cutbows and managed to land a few, got "schooled" by some others. Fished 3 and 4 weights with weighted double nymph rigs . It was warm and beautiful. Great day! Also found a shortcut down to the Rio Grande that makes it really close for us to fish from here. Made me realize how many rivers, streams, quiet canyons, and hidden lakes that are so close to us here, I feel blessed!

***Fished the San Juan River the 4th. and 5th. (Feb.)with Steve and Linda McCormick of Wolf Creek Anglers in South Fork and had a great weekend. The bugs of choice were an egg and the killer #18 Chironocone!!! Also caught some larger browns on streamers. Float and Fish took the recipe for the Chironocone and I'm sure you will see in it in the fly bins soon!!!

Welcome to the source for fly fishing information on the Conejos River and its tributaries!!! This year we will be giving you more info, reports, pictures, and buzz from this area than ever before. If you haven't fished it just take a moment to go thru some pictures!!! More than 150 miles of water, numerous high mountain lakes, and some of the most uncrowded trout water in the west await! (Scroll to bottom for Streamflows)

Conejos River - We will be back on the Conejos in April and should have some good fishing, primarily nympthing, until the water gets big sometime in mid May. Whatever you do do not miss the big Pteronarcys Stonefly that crawls out in mid June. It is a time of solitude, big dry flies, and big fish. The nymphing just before this emergence is fantastic. At the tail end of the big stones come a large caddis hatch and the golden stone. July brings the big Green Drake and another chance to catch the big fish of the river on the dry fly. A true lazy mans hatch, around 11:30 you begin to see bugs and can have 2 or 3 hours of magic and then you will have to return to "fishing". July also brings a large variety of other bugs and the fish of the Conejos know this and rarely get locked in on just one bug. Presentation and stealth are everything. Reid Darnell of Albuquerque landed the best fish of the year with a fly. An 8lb 26" Rainbow taken on a #20 Zebra Midge in August on a blue bird day in the lower portion of the "Fly Water".

FYI - The streamer fishing right before the river froze in November was just short of spectacular. The water temp was 34 degrees and the Browns were shockingly aggressive. If I was not there I would not have believed it myself. Anyway just something to think about for next November. The whole month turned my theories on there ear!!!

Conejos Tailwater Section- I must put this in a whole different section because it fishes like a whole different river. Since Trout Unlimited finished the habitat restoration work a few years ago it has just gotten better. If you remember this is a tailwater and fish it as such you will exponentially increase your success. These fish eat alot of small bugs, will fish early and late and the fish will also chase a streamer. The number of fish does not match the lower river but they are quality fish. In the fall fish survey that they (DOW Wildlife Bioligist John Alves) allowed me to help with showed alot of quality fish, most in the 14" to 19" range. Midges, San Juan Worms, Pheasant Tails, RS2'S, ETC. Hoppers, ants and beetles are also great searching patterns in this meadow section.

Los Pinos- The Pinos is a great early season fishery and has a black stonefly hatch that we saw all thru June. It will also fish well before the runoff and is a great place for getting in some early days. There are several sections of this river to fish from the Quality water and bait sections of New Mexico to the Toltec Gorge to Osier to the water above and below Trujillo Meadows Reservoir. Alot of water, beautiful, good access, and some quality fish. 7 very unique sections with a variety of fish.

La Jara- the La Jara is the other good early season choice and depending on the weather will give us some quality early fishing. This little stream if you have not fished it is very rich in food and loaded with wild Brown trout. In the upper reaches it has a smattering of Brookies but the highlight is throwing dries to the Browns some are very large for such a small stream. The lower part of the canyon is more accessible and is loaded with fish. The upper portions are something you need a guide to get into but has the largest browns in the stream. There are approximately 18 miles of stream with very little pressure. There are large portions of this stream that I have never fished and have only known of one other fisherman to fish deep in the canyon, on the guide trips I have done in the last 8 years in the upper canyon I have never seen a fisherman!!! Truly a special stream.

Adams Fork-Depending on our snowpack the Adams will open a little later than the lower streams but is beautiful, remote, and pristine. The Adams is full of Cutthroats, Wild Rainbows, and a few Brookies. There are a couple areas to access the stream. The best water is easier found with a guide that know the gametrails and shortcuts to get you in. It is also loaded with wildlife. Usually July the Adams is open to fish. Cutthroats to 18" and some wild Rainbows to 15" are the gem of this high country stream. Please return the Cutts and Rainbows, it is a delicate pristine place to see and fish.

North Fork- Just duplicate the above with the exception that this is a Cutthroat stream. A minimum hike of 3 miles is required.

Middle Fork-resident and migrating fish from Platoro have made this stream one of the go to's for us here. It is the one place where you can hit the Grand Slam in an hour in this area. The wild Browns are usually the bigger fish here but landing a Brookie, Cutt, Rainbow, and a Brown in a day are worth the hike. Suprisingly there are no "bad" sections of the Middle just bad flows. Once the flows get low the fish will typically move and the fishing will change overnight. Expect the big browns to be almost "in" the cutbanks. Fishing can be good all summer and depending on the flows will open in late June to good fishing.

Treasure Creek-this is definately one of those have to fish streams. A guided trip to the heart of the canyon will leave you overwhelmed by the beauty and the fish. It is primarily a dry fly fishery for 2 varieties of Cuts and beautiful Brook trout. It will typically fish good all summer and deep into fall due to the incredible habitat.

Rio Grande-South Fork- we offer guided float fishing on the Gold Medal Water section above and below South Fork. This is a great change of pace and can fish well pre runoff and has a great Salmon Fly, caddis, and Green Drake hatch. It is also a great streamer river for those wanting to go after the big fish of the river. June and July are the highlights for the floatfishing and April and early May for floating if the flows are right. We will know more in the next couple of months what type of snowpack we end up with. If it is low dont miss the chance to float this river throwing giant stonefly adults in mid June.

Elk Creek -the number of fishable miles on this stream is amazing and the access is good for those willing to do a little hiking. This is a great stream for those wanting variety. Pocket water, rifles, pools, and tricky meadows. Small fish or take a shot at the meadows for some truly large fish. Sight cast to finicky meadow feeders or fish the pockets for eager fish. There are about 18 miles of stream. The upper meadows will have some large Rainbows and Cutts., the lower you go the more Browns you will see. A trip to second meadow will not be forgotten. The meadow sections will fish well early but the pocket water will typically be on the high side until July. Look for drizzly, cloudy days to fish the meadows for some incredible mayfly hatches and the bigger fish.

Los Pinos- New Mexico this water is close, beautiful, and can be challenging. The New Mexico Los Pinos has a very nice section that is managed for quality fish. This section will open earlier and stay open later than most other local waters and is worth the drive south. Be prepared with longer leaders and fine tippets. It is flatter water and crystal clear. The section just below that will also open early and is stocked regularly, has camping, easy access, and close to us and those coming in from the south.

The Rio Grand - New Mexico currently is still fishable but very difficult unless you are will to fish for Pike down below the Gorge. Take the time to sight these fish before you make the cast with a large streamer. Bunny leaches, Deceivers, big wooly buggers, etc. The Red River just west of Questa is fishing well but is a little crowded now especially on the weekends. Drag the bottom for the bigger fish that migrate into the river in the winter. Resident fish will respond to dry/dropper rigs. Pay attention to the bugs on the water and match them or fish #14 attractor dries with caddis and mayfly droppers.

If you are wanting a price for the Fish - Eat - Sleep Packages just give me your itinerary and I will give you a price. Look forward to seeing you all this season. If you have questions please call, 719 376 5660. Jon Harp