The Fishing Report pictures were taken within the last 4 weeks...

CHAMA & LOWER BRAZOS: The Chama River above Heron dam all the way up into Colorado has been very low and warm. It is just starting to cool down a bit and, with the rain, the water levels are starting to come up to fishable levels. Fishing in this section should be good starting in September and get continually better into October and November. The sections below Heron, El Vado and Abiqui dams are still running high and off color with 600 cfs plus releases coming out of all of the dams. Apparently the flows are going to be reduced very shortly which should give us some great late summer and early fall fishing. The Brazos has been fishing very well. We have been using smaller nymphs and dries, with lots of nice bows and browns being caught on every trip.
Picture: Fighting a fish on the upper Chama River.

ABEYTA RANCH: The fishing on the Abeyta Ranch (on the Conejos) is excellent and well worth a trip up there. Though the best fishing has been with sub-surface flies (mostly stones and mayflies), we have been getting some great dry fly action in the afternoons with big hoppers. Right now, we are catching a good mix of browns and rainbows. As the fall progresses, the

BRAZOS RIVER RANCH: The August fishing up on the Brazos River Ranch has been nothing short of epic. All the fish are eating large hoppers and dries on top - how about a 24" rainbow on the surface? There are still a few open days left in September up at the ranch. Give us a call if you are interested in making a fishing trip up there this season.
Picure: Kevin W. with a nice rainbow - on the hopper!

QUINLAN RANCH: The fishing on the lakes at the Quinlan Ranch has slowed down quite a bit with the warm August weather. This should all change as the summer wanes and both the air and water start to cool. We are anticipating great fishing on the lakes by the middle of September, which should continue though until the end of November.
Picture: One fish on and one in the net - on Don's Lake.

SAN JUAN: A few days ago, the flows on the San Juan were raised up to the 1,000 cfs range. The fishing has been fair to good throughout the whole "Quality Waters" stretch. There are no baetis at all but they should be starting to show up within the next few weeks. The best bet for success right now is to use small (size 24 and 26) midges. Sight fishing to rising fish with large hoppers and ant patterns on the surface is still bringing some big ones to the net.
Picture: A nice San Juan rainbow, on a size 26 midge.

RIO GRANDE: The flows on the Rio are still very low which is making the wading and fishing very easy. The issue has been off color water due to run-off from the rains. When the water is clear, we have had some great days using nymph rigs and a few good fish have been caught on the surface. The fishing above Taos has been the best bet.
Picture: Letting one go in the Pilar stretch.

PECOS: The Pecos is fishing fairly well these days with plenty of action on both dries and nymphs. The size run of fish seems to be pretty small but there are lots of them. After Labor Day weekend the river should be a lot less crowded and the bigger fish should start to become less wary and easier to catch.

VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE (VCNP): Nothing has really changed out on the VCNP since our last report. The fishing on the Caldera has been spotty to good, depending on where you are fishing. We have been using dry flies exclusively and the fish are hitting them hard! There aren't as many fish as before the Las Conchas fire last year but the fish we have been catching have been a bit larger than usually and quite fat and healthy. There have been some heavy rain storms that have blown out the San Antonio but it has been clearing up quickly and the water clarity returns to normal in short order. Call us for up to date water conditions.

Many of the folks that fish with us have asked us the best way to attach their tippet to their leaders and/or how to make tippet to tippet connections. We almost exclusively use the barrel/blood knot to do this. It is a bit more complicated to tie than a surgeon's knot but in the long run it is stronger, cleaner and wastes less material than the surgeon's knot does. Below are some directions on how to tie a barrel knot. Take some old monofilament line and practice it a few times. After a few tries and a bit of practice, it will become easy to do.

Step 1: Cross both pieces of your tippet and/or leader material in an “X”, leaving at least 3″ of overlap. You can hold the 2 pieces in either your left or right hand to start, whichever is easier for you.

Step 2: Wind one end around the standing part of the other piece five times and pass the end on the other side of the “X” formed by the intersection of the two pieces. In essence, stick the end between it’s standing part and the other tag end.

Step 3: Now hold the “X” and the first tag end together with your thumb and index finger. Then, with your free hand, wind the other tag end around the standing piece in the opposite direction (of the first winds) five times. Pass this tag end through the same loop at the “X”, as the first tag end. Make sure that you go through the loop in the opposite direction from the first tag end!

Lubricate and hold both ends together while pulling on the standing parts to tighten (one way to keep the ends from slipping through is to hold them in your teeth). Don’t put any pressure on the tag ends while pulling. Once the knot is a little snub, you can let go of the tag ends and tighten it completely by pulling on the standing lines. Trim the tag ends close to the knot with your clippers.


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