Lower Jemez River

Although the wading access to the lower Jemez river is easy, this part of the river receives high traffic on the weekends and we usually like to guide our trips further up the Jemez River and away from the crowds. Downstream from Battleship Rock there is a section of the Jemez we prefer to guide that runs with deep pools.This section is especially great early to mid-May when we usually tie on a size 6-10 stonefly nymph for our clients as the natural stoneflies begin to hatch.  Every year there are 16" sized fish caught here.  Some of the pools are 7 feet deep!

Rio San Antonio

North of Battleship Rock, the San Antonio falls in a canyon alongside NM State Road 4.  The river drops several feet per mile in this section creating some deep pools, each of them providing good trout habitat. There are big boulders in the river in most sections, and walking along them, the guide and their client would fish the deep pools and riffles for stream-bred brown trout or stocked rainbows.  North from the San Antonio Campground, the Rio San Antonio opens up into a valley making access to the stream easier.  This part of the river provides a low pressure angling experience that is excellent for the person willing to walk upstream with our guides for the native browns that lurk in the grassy cut banks. There is room to cast in the meadows of the upper San Antonio and our clients find the fishing a bit easier. 

Rio Guadalupe

I've fished most of the Jemez watershed all of my life, and the Rio Guadalupe stands out as a my favorite river. Every Brown Trout caught in the Guadalupe is a stream-bred trout. Each Brown Trout offers anglers a unique challenge to catch. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish manages the Guadalupe as a Brown Trout fishery. Unlike Rainbows, Brown Trout are more wary about being seen and are primarily "meat eaters," which means they won't hesitate to smash a properly presented fly or terrestrial. All of this translates into a special angling experience for ourselves and our clients. The Guadalupe river offers our clients the possibility of fishing in your own private stretch of "Brown Trout paradise." Access to the river is through an improved dirt road, through the old mill town of Gilman. This ten miles of fishable river offers our an clients an unparalleled angling experience. Most of the time, we have the whole river to ourselves and the brown trout keep our hearts racing as they dive for anything in the river to wrap around and break off!! This is some of the best small stream Brown Trout angling in the state. Every season our clients hook into a 18 inch Brown that fights like a 24 inch rainbow and the battle begins. If a solitary, challenging fishing experience is what you've been craving contact us about a guided trip or just for some free information.

East Fork of the Jemez River - Solitary Angling

Fishing on the East Fork of the Jemez river is a special experience. The river has it's headwaters on the breathtakingly beautiful Valles Caldera National Preserve. The East fork crosses the road only a couple of times along it's way towards Battleship Rock and that allows our clients to fish water that is usually abandoned. In the area where the river crosses the road there are stocked rainbow trout. But in the areas where we like to guide our trips our quarry is mostly the elusive Brown Trout. For what the fish lack in size, usually 7-9 inches, they make up in beauty and willingness to take dry flies. There are two major landscapes that surround you when fishing the East Fork, meadows or canyons. The meadow sections of the river are hiked to and can be peaceful and serene to fish with dry flies. The canyon sections of the river support a good stonefly hatch in late May early June, caddis flies, and the occasional mayfly hatch in the fall or spring. Although this river is not as heavily stocked as the Jemez and the San Antonio the patient angler will be rewarded with solitude and brown trout.