Rio de las Trampas 2014- Carson National Forest

 

 I returned to the Rio de las Trampas on Tuesday(July 29th,2014). I'd been wanting to get back here after getting a little taste of the fishing 3 years ago. I'm still not sure why this place is completely overlooked by every New Mexico flyfishing guide I own.  It's accessible by a good road along its lower reaches in the forest, affording one to the easiest opportunities  to catch a wonderfully colorful Rio Grande Cutthroat,  our state fish. On the negative side, I suppose, that it is very overgrown,and one needs the full arsenal of small stream tactics and tricks in order catch fish on the fly. Also,judging from the beer cans and other trash at every pullout, and by the fact, that unlike most of the nearby streams and their adjacent campgrounds, there is no fee, this area is definitely tending slightly to abuse and perhaps overfishing as well.
 I parked at the lower campground( sometimes called Trampas Diamante on maps) which has a rough road,vault toilet and a picnic table(singular). I started upstream and quickly caught a couple of cutts, the slash under their jaws a brilliant orange. A little further on began a section that is fenced and  on official maps is designated private  property, although only one small section is posted "No Trespassing".  I walked around this area on the road. Beyond a last log cabin along the creek, the fencing and the private tract ended. I marched down to the stream, which at this point is much farther from the road, and began to catch fish in each of the spots that was deep enough for holding trout and where I could get my fly on the water.  The largest one  ran about 10 inches.
 I hiked, stumbled, tumbled and splashed( and caught fish) through thistle and raspberry brambles, over rotten logs and muddy side springs, all the way up to the upper campgrounds( Trampas Medio and Trampas Trailhead) and then made my way back, catching a couple more fish as I went. Although it certainly looked and felt like it could start pouring the entire  5 1/2 hours I was there, only a few drops actually fell just as I got back to the truck. All in all it was great fun. I caught 9 fish, and only one was a guppy. The others were all in the 6 to 10 inch range. I did try a small prince nymph for a short while without luck.The best results were when I was using dull colored dries : Adams, blue winged olives,  and elk hair caddis. I did catch one with a royal wulff as well,but a bright orange and yellow humpy  didn't rate but a single inspection. I saw a  few small hatches( with fish actually feeding on one), and wished I 'd had some Griffith's gnats or midges to match.
This was my first real fishing of the year, and after having only fished once last year, I was worried that my feeling and feel for the whole thing had faded. Not so. It all came right back as I looked down at that first beautiful fish