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Mountain streams, ponds offer Red River anglers plenty of action
RED RIVER, N.M. — When trout fishing in the waters in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range, you have two choices, the pristine, clear streams or any of the various ponds which are stocked throughout the year. Obviously, there is an advantage to each. There seems to be no better place on earth when you are standing in or by a fast-flowing mountain stream, surrounded by an Alpine forest, almost chilled to the bone (in July, at that) and carefully drifting a fly across a small pocket near a rocky bank. You hold your breath as you await the lightning-fast hit of a rainbow, brown, brook or cutthroat trout. The streams are stocked well and often by the Department of New Mexico Game & Fish with most experienced anglers culling to a five-fish limit (in most areas) or catching and releasing in order to perpetuate the existence of many trout.
On the Fly: Hoppers and droppers
Dave Johnson, owner of Carbondale-based Independent Flyfishing Guides, reached on his boat during a float down the middle Roaring Fork River on Monday, had just released an 18- to 20-inch rainbow that rose to a hopper.
The hopper/dropper combo is a good bet on the Roaring Fork these days, according to Johnson, who recommends a small pheasant tail for the dropper (a small nymph trailing off a larger dry fly).
The Colorado River flowing through Glenwood Canyon remains chocolate brown, but the lower Fork is also producing trout in the net with a hopper/dropper combination, according to Drew Reid at Roaring Fork Anglers in Glenwood Springs. He suggested a small blue-wing olive nymph or emerger pattern for the dropper - a No. 18 or 20 RS-2 or a pheasant tail.
"If it's cloudy, we're throwing streamers and doing really well," Reid added.
Cyber-trip pioneer towns and mountains in southeast Idaho
You could be sitting in a boat right now, trying to outwit a trophy-size cutthroat trout or just relaxing and enjoying the scenery surrounding mile-high Bear Lake in Idaho's southeast corner. It's just one of the many attractions in an area that some travelers might overlook on their dash to more northerly parts.
Bear Lake www.bearlake.org offers a little of everything from fishing and sailing in the summer to skiing in the winter. Click on "Spring/Summer/Fall Activities" to look up fishing and see just how big those trout can get, and check out hiking trails, caves, camping and water sports. We're too late for Raspberry Days, Aug. 3-5, but you could file it away for next summer. And whether you travel with a tent and sleeping bag, a camper trailer or just suitcases, there are plenty of places around the lake to spend your nights.
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