Two of my favourite New Mexico rivers to fish are the San Juan River and the Cimarron River. This story is about Cimarron. The Cimarron River is positioned in northeastern New Mexico and comes from the Eagle Nest Lake. Positioned on the jap finish of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, this dry fly gem flows eastward by means of the Cimarron Canyon State Park alongside US Hwy 64. After crossing different rivers, this water reaches the Mississippi River. New Mexico Sport and Fish estimates practically 4,00zero wild browns of various sizes per mile, that is undoubtedly the healthiest wild brown trout fishing within the state and one of many healthiest within the Southern Rocky Mountains. Most wild browns are 10-14 inches with the occasional child. This fishing will not be well-known, however can nonetheless get a bit of crowded close to the roads throughout the center of the summer season.
I can simply attain the Cimarron inside a one-day arduous drive from my Fly Store close to Tyler, Texas, and fish late within the afternoon or early within the morning. The excessive mountain panorama is gorgeous and the fishing is improbable.
My story begins in mid-June 2002. In June, the hatch is in full swing on the Cimarron and large browns impatiently assault a Stimulator of dimension 14 or 16 repeatedly. That is my favourite time of yr to fish this river. That is dry fly fishing at its greatest.
Sadly, when you bear in mind, this was throughout the time when forest fires have been engulfing many components of New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. The Cimarron Canyon State Park was surrounded by a pair of such fires.
I arrived on the Pine Ridge Lodge, a couple of mile from the standard fishing water, late Monday evening. It is a small and picturesque four-room lodge nestled close to the doorway to the state park. After check-in, the proprietor of the lodge informed me that the park was closed and had been since Friday. As a result of risks of fireside, it was closed to the whole lot together with tenting, mountaineering, picnics and YES ... fishing. Every car parking zone within the park was barricaded in vivid yellow. It appears that evidently each different tree has a Park Closed signal nailed to it. I couldn't consider. I had pushed 12 hours of strait to spend some free time fishing in a fly and ... you wouldn't know ... No Fishing. I used to be sick. In case you ever wished to see an enormous man cry, this might have been an ideal alternative.
There have been no different locations close by that I might fish except I had a information to catch some non-public waters close by. I known as my good good friend, Doc Thompson, of the nation fishermen. Doc is one of the best fly fishing information for small water programs in northeastern New Mexico, together with some non-public areas of the Cimarron. It was booked. No probability for me to fish for personal water.
I used to be contemplating slicing my losses, packing my issues and going residence with my tail caught between my legs once I noticed the park warden flip into the motel car parking zone. I approached impatiently, defined my state of affairs and begged him to be merciful to this misguided Texan. He indicated that there was little he might do. It was ordered by essentially the most skilled to shut the park. The world was very dry and the concern of forest fireplace propagation was at a really excessive degree. He lastly gave me a tiny window of hope when he mentioned that if the wind hadn't picked up or modified route throughout the evening he would have requested if he might open the park the subsequent day. No assure C & # 39; it was only a small probability that issues would fall, however I made a decision to attend and see.
The subsequent morning, early within the morning, I went to the desk of the lodge homeowners with my fingers and toes crossed. "Nice information," the proprietor mentioned, "you may fish." The park ranger known as the lodge and informed the proprietor to go and inform Tex that he might fish. The ranger opened the fishing park. Nobody might camp, hike or picnic. Fishing solely. Better of all, he left all of the barricades and Park Closed indicators. My head began buzzing with this situation. Might or not it's true? It's doable that in any a part of this nation there's a river full of huge browns, filled with fish desperate to beat dry flies, it has not fished for 5 days, has Park indicators closed on each different tree and has vivid yellow obstacles to each draw? Is it actually taking place? And above all ... is it actually taking place to me? Sure it was!!!
I nearly broke my leg and a fishing rod that reaches the river so rapidly. I used to be the one individual to fish this stretch of 12 miles of high quality trout water. The one individual. The river didn't have the fishing strain for 5 days. None. Notta. Completely zero. What a powerful alternative. I hit the water at 8:00 am. Figuring out that the stone hatch would begin at 9:00 am, I tied a yellow 16 stimulator with a John copper dropper on my 2 wt rod. For the subsequent hour, the cease was 50/50 on the dry and on the nymph. When the hatch began, I eliminated the nymph to focus on the dry. My stimulator was repeatedly demolished by the hungry trout. The hatch started round 9:00 am and finally thinned round 2:00 pm because the day warmed up. Throughout that point, I landed greater than 40 stunning browns on a dry. Most of them have been within the vary of 10 to 12 inches. Some a bit of smaller and a few a bit of extra bigger. All of the whereas, I didn't see every other individuals on the river. I used to be in complete bliss for fly fishing. Later that afternoon, when the temperature began to drop, they began hitting arduous once more and so they did it till simply earlier than darkish. I misplaced depend of the whole variety of fish I caught that day. After a whilst you simply stopped counting. The fishing was phenomenal and the solitude was even higher.
Through the day, once I took the brake on my Jeep parked for Joe or one thing, individuals drove to purchase and gave me the look of disgust. I might see their lips muttering one thing like "that Texan fool ... can't he learn the indicators?" I wasn't fascinated about placing them on the strait. I wished the whole state of New Mexico and the entire world to assume that the park was fully enclosed and will by no means be opened once more.
That night, in my room, the tough realities of that summer season have been vivid. I sat on my porch and watched helicopters and different massive planes throwing numerous water on forest fires scattered alongside the mountainside. Enormous partitions of smoke coated the horizon. I couldn't assist feeling saddened by the destruction that was unfolding earlier than my eyes. When it was too darkish to see, I retreated into the confines of my room.
Later that evening, as I lay tight in my cozy cot, I discovered it tough to sleep. As my thoughts drifted away from the fires and danced with the ideas of my fishing day, I giggled as I felt swollen with contentment. My fishing expertise continued to circulation in my thoughts. I couldn't assist questioning what he would carry the subsequent day. Would my fly fishing solitude finish? Guess what ... it wasn't like that.
The subsequent morning I hit the park to face the identical situation. The indicators and barricades have been nonetheless in place and no one was in sight. Utilizing the identical flies and the identical strategies, I loved the identical success because the day earlier than. It wasn't till late that afternoon I noticed the one different automotive within the park. The phrase had lastly come out. At that time, it was OK. I loved just a few hours of fine fishing the subsequent morning earlier than returning to Tyler.
Is that this an ethical right here? I have no idea. It was provocatively a fishing journey that I'll always remember. Looking back, nonetheless, it appears actually unlucky that my memorable fishing journey was on the expense of a lot. The south-west has misplaced quite a lot of good forests and defenseless wild animals throughout that horrible time. The homes had disappeared and vivid hoods have been destroyed. I suppose the saying stays true, "somebody's luck is often at another person's expense".
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