Troutline

Red River

New Mexico·North-Central New Mexico·36.70° N, 105.57° W
Flow
13.8 CFS
Red River near Questa
Water Temp
—
Condition
Well Below Normal
Weather
62°F
Mostly Cloudy
near Questa

Insights

Wind
Wind 0 mph — calm
Easy casting and clean surface presentations.
Flow
Low flows at 13.8 CFS
Fish are spooky. Lighten tippet and lengthen leaders.
Snowpack
Snowpack snowpack update
Snowpack data for Red River basin is limited right now. The May–July runoff forecast for Red R bl Fish Hatchery nr Questa is 22% of average.

The Red River is two different fisheries wearing one name, and it pays to treat them as separate trips. Up top, along NM-578 through and above the ski town of Red River, it's a put-and-take rainbow stream — the state stocks catchable trout on it all summer and it fishes like it, with easy roadside access, campground crowds, and a roughly three-mile stretch of Special Trout Water where barbless-only regs let a few fish hold over and get smarter. Down low, from the Questa hatchery through the basalt canyon to the Rio Grande confluence, it turns into a genuinely wild small-stream fishery: pocket water, plunge pools, and short deep runs holding wild brown trout that mostly run 10 to 14 inches with the odd 15- or 16-incher. The two stretches don't fish alike and don't fish on the same calendar.

What makes the lower river worth the hike is that it's spring-fed, so it stays cold and open when the high country is locked up, and it's the main spawning and wintering tributary for the Rio Grande's trout. Every fall, brown trout push up out of the gorge to spawn — some genuinely big by New Mexico standards — and through winter the lower river holds cutbows and rainbows that ran up from the Rio Grande and feed willingly on midges. That's the payoff: rising fish in front of a snowbank in January while the Upper Red is dead. The trade-off is the descent. The good water means dropping into the Wild Rivers / Rio Grande del Norte gorge on one of two steep trails west of Questa, and the canyon is fast, tight, and technical. The pocket water gives fish so little time to look at a fly that they aren't fussy, but the wading and the climb back out earn every one.

Worth knowing before you go: the Red carries a mining legacy. The old Questa molybdenum mine sat on the drainage, and water quality in the lower river has been a long-running concern and a decades-long cleanup story — the mine is now a Superfund site. The fishery has persisted through it, and the wild browns and the winter run are real, but it's part of the river's honest picture. Most anglers fold the Red into a broader Enchanted Circle or Taos-area trip: the Rio Grande gorge, the Rio Hondo, the Cimarron, Costilla Creek, and Eagle Nest Lake are all within an easy drive, and the guides who work the Red work all of them.

Species

  • Brown Trout
    Primary · Sep-Apr · 10-16"

    The wild fish of the lower canyon, holding in fast pocket water and plunge pools. Big fall pre-spawn browns run up out of the Rio Grande — some over 18". Not especially spooky, but the technical wading and steep descent to the good water are the real difficulty. Streamers and high-stick nymphing produce.

  • Rainbow Trout
    Common · May-Oct · 8-14"

    Heavily stocked by NMDGF along the NM-578 corridor through Red River town all summer — the family and vacation fishery. Wild and migratory rainbows also winter in the lower river, having pushed up from the Rio Grande to feed on midges through the cold months.

  • Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
    Present · Nov-Apr · 10-16"

    Cutbows and Rio Grande cutthroat move up into the lower river from the Rio Grande gorge in winter and spring to feed and spawn. The Red River State Fish Hatchery also rears Rio Grande cutthroat, New Mexico's native state fish. Handle gently and release.

Ideal wading flow30–90 CFS
Blow-out>250 CFS
Ideal water temp48–62°F

The two rivers run on opposite calendars. The Upper Red fishes May through October as a stocked-rainbow stream, best before late-summer flows drop low and warm. The Lower Red is a cold-season destination — September through mid-April, with fall best for the brown-trout spawning run and winter into early spring best for migrated cutbows and rainbows on midges and BWOs. Spring snowmelt (May–June) blows out and muddies the freestone upper river; the spring-fed lower river clears sooner.

Sections

2 sections on this river

Upper Red River — NM-578 Corridor through Red River

WadeBrown Trout · Rainbow Trout

Small freestone and pocket water paralleling NM-578 through and above the ski town of Red River, down toward Questa. This is the roadside, put-and-take stretch — the state stocks catchable rainbow trout on it all summer and it fishes like it, with campground crowds and easy pull-off access. A roughly three-mile Special Trout Water section tightens the regs to barbless flies and lures with no bait, and that's where fly anglers find quieter water, holdover rainbows, and a few wild brown trout that have learned the drill. Nymphs under an indicator and attractor dries cover most of it.

Best for: Stocked rainbow trout on the general water and wild brown trout in the Special Trout Water; family and beginner fishing near town. Best May through October.

Lower Red River — Questa & Hatchery to the Rio Grande Confluence

WadeCutthroat · Cutbow · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout

Below Questa the river leaves the road and drops into the basalt canyon of the Wild Rivers / Rio Grande del Norte country — four to five miles of wild, spring-fed pocket water, riffles, plunge pools, and short deep runs down to the Rio Grande confluence. It stays cold and open through winter, which is the whole point: this is the main spawning and wintering tributary for the Rio Grande's trout. Wild brown trout hold in the fast pockets year-round, big fall pre-spawn browns push up out of the gorge, and through winter migrated cutbow and Rio Grande cutthroat trout and rainbow trout feed on midges in front of the snowbanks. Access is from the Red River State Fish Hatchery (end of NM-515) for a half-day, or down one of two steep trails into the gorge — a hard climb out. High-stick nymphing in the pockets, midges and BWOs in winter, streamers for the fall browns.

Best for: Wild brown trout, winter cutbows, Rio Grande cutthroat trout, and rainbow trout on nymphs, midges, BWOs, and streamers. Cold-season fishing at its best September through mid-April. Steep hike-in, technical wading.

Regulations

Current fishing rules and restrictions

New Mexico coldwater rules with a Special Trout Waters designation on part of the upper river (barbless flies or lures, no bait, reduced limits) and a bait exception on the lowest reach near the hatchery. A valid New Mexico fishing license is required. Always confirm current boundaries and bag limits in the NMDGF rules before you go.

  • New Mexico fishing license required for all anglers 12 and older
  • Special Trout Waters on a roughly three-mile upper stretch: barbless flies or lures only, no bait, with reduced bag limits — confirm exact boundaries in the current NMDGF proclamation
  • Bait exception on the lowest river: from the Rio Grande confluence upstream to the lower walking bridge at the Red River State Fish Hatchery, any legal gear and legal bait may be used
  • Statewide coldwater bag and possession limits apply on general water — check the current daily limit
  • Rio Grande cutthroat trout is a native conservation species — practice catch-and-release and handle with care

Hatchery pond angling is permitted in season at the Red River State Fish Hatchery. The lower-canyon fishing sits within the BLM Rio Grande del Norte National Monument / Wild Rivers area — standard federal recreation rules and day-use apply.

Source: New Mexico Department of Game & Fish. Regulations change annually — verify before fishing.

Access & Logistics

Getting there, fly shops, and lodging

Getting There

Questa, NM

40 min from Taos, 2.5 hrs from Albuquerque, 1.5 hrs from Santa Fe

Fly Shops

Camping & Lodging

Carson National Forest campgrounds line the Upper Red along NM-578; lodging in the town of Red River and in Questa. The Wild Rivers Recreation Area (BLM, Rio Grande del Norte National Monument) has camping near the lower-river gorge access west of Questa.

The Upper Red is roadside off NM-578 through and above town — the easiest and most crowded access. The lower river's best water is reached from the Red River State Fish Hatchery parking (end of NM-515) or by hiking down one of two steep trails into the Wild Rivers gorge west of Questa; plan for a hard climb out. Check the Questa or below-hatchery gauge before committing to the canyon.

Conditions data is live from public monitoring networks. Regulations change annually — always verify current rules with your state fish & wildlife agency before fishing.

More in New Mexico

View all 10 rivers

North-Central New Mexico

Costilla CreekNM

A small high-meadow tailwater in the Valle Vidal north of Taos holding one of the last stronghold populations of pure Rio Grande cutthroat — willing 8-to-12-inch natives on dry-dropper and hoppers, wade-only, and closed until July 1 to protect the spring spawn.

Pecos RiverNM

The trout stream most New Mexicans learned to fly fish on — a small, cold, wadeable snowmelt freestone that drops out of the Pecos Wilderness along NM 63 past Terrero and Cowles. Roadside stocked rainbows and wild stream-bred browns down low, a legendary late-June salmonfly hatch through the canyon, and native Rio Grande cutthroat in the walk-in wilderness headwaters.

Rio ChamaNM

New Mexico's second-string tailwater and the one that quietly gives up the biggest brown trout in the state. The cold bottom-release water below El Vado Dam grows browns past 20 inches and fishes like a technical tailwater; downstream, a volcanic gorge and a Wild & Scenic canyon float add freestone pocket water and multi-day raft trips.

Rio GrandeNM

A big basalt-canyon freestone in the gorge north of Taos — hike-in pocket water for wild browns and native Rio Grande cutthroat that blows out on Colorado snowmelt in May and June and comes alive on caddis and big attractor dries in late summer and fall.

Rio PuebloNM

A small roadside mountain stream along NM-518 near Peñasco — pocket water and plunge pools holding stocked rainbows, wild browns, and native Rio Grande cutthroat in the colder headwaters. Not to be confused with the Rio Pueblo de Taos to the north.

Other regions

Cimarron RiverNM

A small, cold canyon tailwater below Eagle Nest Lake that fishes like a mountain freestone — granite-walled pocket water along US-64 through Cimarron Canyon State Park, packed with wild brown trout (roughly 4,000 per mile) that reward a short cast and a stealthy approach over distance.

Gila RiverNM

New Mexico's wildest trout water — small, tumbling freestone forks in the Gila Wilderness holding native Gila trout, the copper-and-gold rarity you fish for under a free state permit after a long dirt road and a longer walk. Fish run small and the season is short; late September through November is the window.

Jemez RiverNM

A tangle of small freestone trout streams draining the south side of the Valles Caldera — roadside wild-brown water on the Jemez mainstem, East Fork, Rio San Antonio, and Rio Guadalupe, most of it Special Trout Water, with a famous Guadalupe salmonfly hatch in late spring.

San Juan RiverNM

A high-desert tailwater below Navajo Dam where big rainbows and browns key on year-round midges, baetis, and annelids. The Quality Waters in the first few miles fish technical 6X-7X to size 22-26 nymphs; below that the bait water opens up for float and easier wading.