Clearwater - Pictures of fishing long bellies

 

Matapedia Revisited: 2017 - 2022

 Since I began fly fishing for salmon and steelhead, nearly 30 years ago. I have been aware of the Matapedia River. One of the first fishing books that I bought at a used book store in high school around 1993. It was essentially a photo journal and was aptly named "Trout and Salmon of the World" this was a very large coffee table book that showcased the beauty and majesty of our sport. It showed Tiamen from Siberia and Mongolia, Lenok, Sheefish, Golden Trout, all the salmon, Char, you name it...and it showed off both the aesthetic and the size of the different species.

This book had a few pictures of Atlantic salmon, including a real gem of a fish of over 60lbs caught on a dry fly on the Restigouche River. The fish is laying along the bottom of a canoe (prior to being released), and the floor of the canoe all wood with beautiful ribbing. A caption mentions that it is in part the length of the fish compared to the Canoe ribs that helps verify the truly great size of it.

This was an amazing fish, and to catch it on a dry fly... I dreamed of this type of fishing. Big northern rivers in the Summer holding the fish of a lifetime. Soon my appetite for fly fishing media would lead me to the books and articles of Art Lee. His images of the Matapedia (a major Tributary to the Restigouche) drew me even further in.

As I developed in the sport the idea of fishing for Atlantic Salmon, beyond a trip up to the Sault seemed a bit far fetched. I didn't have a ton of money to invest in that kind of fishing. I assumed that it would cost me thousands of dollars, and I was right, but not in the way I thought. I have spent a ton of money on tackle and materials to fish Atlantic Salmon, but the trips have generally been pretty affordable. On the Matapedia and Restigouche.

I learned this on my first trip to the area in 2008, when BR and I came out to try for the first fresh fish of spring. Other than a big brook trout on a big Green Highlander and seeing a couple giant silver salmon from the Matapedia Bridge, the trip was some what lack luster. However, it was clear we had kinda come at the wrong time, and the general atmosphere are really pleasant. 

Anyway, Long Story short. I went back and fished the Matapedia and the Restigouche several times from 2018 -2022. Below are images from those trips:

June: 2018

2019: Tom fished here for a week in mid June. No fish. We then met on the Miramichi.

2021: September. A long weekend & one great day

2022: May

Rio Grande & Tributaries - Northern New Mexico & Southern Colorado

I've made a few trips out to Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado to fish the Rio Grande and it Tributaries.

Hand drawn map of  Rio Grande & Rio Chama

I love fishing this area because it reminds me so much of Arizona where I first began fly fishing in the White Mountains.

My TroutRoutes Map of the Rio Grande Region to ABQ

Here is some information, pictures and impressions of some of the different trout water in the region of the Rio Grande, it's trout waters flowing in both Colorado and northern New Mexico. This list is not organized by any geographic metric, the tributaries are listed in the order I thought of them:

An arid valley harbors a small trout creek, at points the creek disappears, but the waters flow

The Rio Grande:

The Grande is a long River. It first takes shapes at around 13,00ft along the slopes of Canby and Sheep mountains in south western Colorado. The river cuts a long and monumental path on its way to the gulf of Mexico. it reaches a good size before it ever leaves Colorado and provides hundreds of mile of trout water, when conditions are right. It is fed by cool clean tributaries which are good creaks and rivers in their own right.

Rio Grande near South Fork, Co

Rio Grande near South Fork , Co.

Near Del Norte, Colorado

Photo From Bridge near Taos, New Mexico

No-tell-um Creek:

Heading down stream the first tributary I have fished of the Rio Grand is No-tell-um Creek. it is far from the traditional tributary, but it is archetypical of the rios and creeks of the Sothern Rocky Mountains.

My Cousin lives on this little tributary to the Rio. Real hard to find, very difficult to access, but there are a few small trout in this virtually untouched (in spot) wilderness. A rough road takes you through a lot of private property until you pop out on a really rough road that will take you up into moose and lion country and up to the headwaters of No-tell-um Creek. Stream bank, Brush is heavy and the fishing is Okay. Not a destination, even from one town over, but a fun place to explore. Its a sanctuary among many more famous and easier to fish water, which in all likelihood have much bigger fish.

Rio de los Pinos:

A tributary to Rio San Antonio (but not the same a San Antonio Creek in Valle Caldera), which also collects the Conejos before flowing into the Rio Grande.

Spent a really pleasant August morning here catching Brown on Elk Hair Caddis in the Rio de los Pinos Wildlife Management Area. Fishing cooled down as day warmed up. I wanted to go farther up the creek but a rough road was the limiting factor having an all terrain vehicle is definitely an advantage in this country.

Chapel of Michael the Archangel in the valley of  Rio de los Pinos.

Costilla Creek:

Flowing south through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this is a gem of a trout creek. Draining the runoff from State line, Big Costilla, and Vermejo peaks before entering Costilla Reservoir. from here the water flow cool and clear down towards the towns of Amalia and Costilla. there is a good amount of fishable water on public lands up here, and the road that brings you in is good, or was at the time. A fair number of other people were around (at the time I was unpleased by this,) but not too many and the water was cold and fast. 

I underestimated this place, and now think a lot about going back.

Being a tailwater lets the Castillo fish well into summer

Pecos River:

The road is was a narrow curvy nightmare, with lots of traffic. The fishing was really fun but the mountain, catching browns on elk-hair caddis, but it was worth facing another round of traffic and safety risk for come up again, which is a real shame.

The beginning of a fun evening of small to medium trout on dry flies

Chama River:

I caught a couple fish, near Chama, but over all this was a thumbs down and the waste of a day, Too commercialized. lower public access is barricaded, and the public access just south of Chama is more cruel joke (putting you down a very crappy two track with fencing so tight on each side that you can not turn around, while there are paved areas merely feet away on the other side of the chain linked fence separating the public angler from the paying hoards who guzzle hatchery fish straight from the truck and then dispense fishing advice to anglers who are too foolish to fish near the truck dump spot). Anyway, the Chama was a disappointment and a Black-Eye to the State and specifically the DNR of New Mexico, it's the peoples water, but it looks to have been sold down the river.

Lower river was muddy.

The Valle Caldera:

This is a really large valley, called a Caldera, which more like a crater or Big Bowl. when I was first told of the Caldera several years ago it wasn't clear if it had been created by a large meteor impact or if it was a volcanic crater. Either way it is what it is and the fishing up there is alright. I fished there for two days about 20 years. I remember we all met at the start of the day and were then taken out by bus to where we would fish. Each group of Anglers was assigned a section. We fish the San Antonio in open meadows both days. On the second day it rained but we had a nice cabin on that section and waiting it out in the cabin was a memorable part of the day. We caught a few small trout but they were tough to fool, and the organized natural for the access left the best parts of the day (morning and evening) out of reach.