Back in Utah and Back to the Bear River - Life is good

Fishing Time: 12:00 to 6:00 PM

Weather: clear, breezy, T-50s

Moon Phase: 61% Moon

Location: Bear River

Best Bait: Pale orange glow bug (egg pattern)

Who Went: Rick Everson, Dylan Goar, Dunc

Its fall, which means spawning time for the big browns on the Bear River.  I’ve missed fishing the Bear River the last couple years due to traveling for work, and I almost missed it again this year.  I just got home from working in New Mexico yesterday and tomorrow I’m headed to St. George for a family vacation and then it’s straight to another job site in Wyoming, so I literally had one day in between traveling to make it work.  My buddy Rick was able to work out his schedule and he brought along his brother in-law Dylan.

When we first arrived at to the river it had the feeling of being a great day.  The weather has been very cold recently, but today was a beautiful clear sky day with temps in the upper 50s.  We had high hopes.  The first couple runs looked promising with a couple fish sitting on beds at each location, but for whatever reason they wouldn’t commit to our egg pattern flies.

A short distance up river was another good spawning bed with a female and a bright colored male waiting to be casted to.  I made my way down the bank into the river and positioned myself for a good angle to cast.  On my second cast the big male took the fly and the fight was on.  A short time later Rick had him in the net, or at least half of him.  These Bear River fish are unreal.  It was a 23-inch thick male in full spawning colors.  A beautiful fish! 

We continued up river and Rick and Dylan took turns casting to the big spawning browns.  I would sneak up through the grass and watch the fish as they both cast there flies right in front of their faces, but they all seemed to be lock jawed.  

Apparently, I lucked out with the only fish willing to bite. The good thing about the Bear River though, is that one fish makes the day.  We all went home happy and tired.  Glad we made the only day possible work and that I was lucky enough to land one of these beautiful fish.

Fly Fishing in Northern New Mexico

Fishing Time: 9:00 to 4:00 PM

Weather: Warm, windy, T-70s

Moon Phase: 2% Moon

Location: Chama River, New Mexico

Best Bait: Black wooly bugger

Who Went: Dunc

Sick of researching and reading about the epic rivers in northern New Mexico while I sit in southern New Mexico where water doesn’t exist was getting old.  I headed north to Albuquerque for the weekend to check out the balloon festival and decided to travel a bit further north up to the Chama River.  I encountered a 16-mile dirt road that was navigated in my Toyota Camry rental car, and at the end was El Vado Reservoir and a small little mountain town that looked like heaven.  The weather was cool, and the leaves were turning colors.  Much more my style in comparison to the hot barren desert found in southern New Mexico.  As I drove over the dam I stopped briefly to look down at the Chama River.  It was beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to explore its banks the rest of the day. 

My research placed me at a good access point and from there I started hiking down river to check it out.  The water was murky, but I was told this is normal and shouldn’t affect the fishing.  I spent the entire day wandering and covering a lot of water.  The scenery was gorgeous, but the wind was strong and made casting difficult. 

My first fish of the day was a yellow perch caught on a nymph rig.  It caught me off guard, but then I remembered reading online that perch had breached the El Vado Dam and were now in the Chama River below.  I kept on hiking to find more stretches of river and by 3:30 pm I was exhausted.  I must have hiked 2-3 miles through some very rugged terrain and didn’t have one trout to show for it.  Frustrated, but still happy with my day, I found a deep hole on my way back up river and stepped in to try it out.  I ran a streamer through the deep water and connected with a small rainbow.  Three casts later produced another bite and this fish had some shoulders.  It was another rainbow around 16-inches.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any photos as I was waist deep in a fast-moving river with no net.

The two rainbows made my hike back to the car much more enjoyable.  Northern New Mexico is amazingly beautiful, and I love the fact that there aren’t many people.  Reminds me of growing up in Utah before the population exploded.  Ah to go back in time. 

Elephant Butte, New Mexico

Fishing Time: 12:00 to 2:30 PM

Weather: Warm, windy, T-80s

Moon Phase: 7% Moon

Location: Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico

Best Bait: Spinnerbait - fire tiger, willow blade.

Who Went: Dunc

I’ve been working on and off in southern New Mexico near Las Cruces for the last few months and it’s been tough.  I have no problems with New Mexico, but seriously where is the water!?  Lakes and rivers are nonexistent in the southern half of this state.  I drove two hours to the only water near me, Elephant Butte Reservoir, located near the town of Truth or Consequences.  Love that name. 

When I first saw the reservoir, I was a bit shocked.  The current capacity of the lake is 3% full.  It basically looks like a large muddy river.  I thought Lake Powell was low, but Elephant Butte is empty! The wind was howling when I arrived, and the water was extremely turbid.  I found a semi protected cove near the dam and hid in there for a couple hours.

I started casting a senko, but that didn’t produce so I switched to a fire tiger spinnerbait.  On the second cast the spinnerbait got smashed and I thought I had a state record largemouth on the end of my line.  Nope.  It was a nice smallmouth bass.

I hooked up with a couple more smallmouth before the bite shut off and I also tried casting some crankbaits, and jigs, but the only producer was the spinnerbait.  It was fun to fish new water and nice to know a place like this exists in southern New Mexico, even if it is empty.  I also saw a little buck near the reservoir.  Seemed so out of place in the middle of this desert landscape.  Can you find him...