Rio Grande

The top of the New Mexico gorge, inside the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and the old Wild Rivers Recreation Area. The river runs 800 feet down in a black basalt canyon, and you earn every fish — the La Junta, Big Arsenic, and Little Arsenic trails drop steeply to the water. Down at the bottom it's boulder pocket water and deep green runs holding wild brown trout, with native Rio Grande cutthroat showing up where the cold tributaries come in. The Red River confluence at the bottom is the landmark; the Red itself runs cleaner than it used to after decades of mine cleanup.

Best for: Wild brown trout and Rio Grande cutthroat trout on big attractor dries, stonefly nymphs, and streamers. Hike-in solitude. Best mid-summer through fall once snowmelt clears.

The famous whitewater run, and the least-fished trout water in the state for the obvious reason — for most of its 16 miles the only way in is on a raft through Class III–IV rapids, or a brutal hike down from the rim at the John Dunn Bridge. The brown trout in here see almost no flies. Pocket water around house-sized basalt boulders, with deep slots that hold the bigger fish. Anglers who walk down at John Dunn or float it with a guide fish chunky attractors and big rubber-leg stoneflies tight to the rock.

Best for: Wild brown trout and Rio Grande cutthroat trout on big foam attractors, rubber-leg stonefly nymphs, and streamers. Raft-supported fishing or a hard hike-in. Best late summer and fall.

The fast lower half of the Box, named for the near-continuous chop that gives floaters and waders little quiet water to work. The grade steepens and the pocket water gets pushy — wade with a staff and pick the soft seams behind boulders. This is brown trout water, opportunistic fish that hammer a well-drifted attractor or a stonefly nymph swung through the slots. The Taos Junction Bridge gauge sits at the bottom and is the number most anglers watch before committing to the gorge.

Best for: Wild brown trout on attractor dries, big stonefly and caddis nymphs, and streamers in the pocket water. Wading the soft seams. Best at moderate, post-runoff flows.

The friendliest trout water in the gorge — the Orilla Verde stretch (part of the BLM Rio Grande del Norte) where NM 570 runs right alongside the river between Taos Junction Bridge and Pilar. You can park, walk a few steps, and fish, which makes it the spot for anyone not up for a 800-foot hike. Slower, wider water than the Box with riffles, runs, and a few deep pools. Wild brown trout plus stocked rainbow trout near the campgrounds, and northern pike show up in the slow stretches and the lower river.

Best for: Wild brown trout and stocked rainbow trout on caddis, attractor dries, and nymphs; northern pike on streamers in the slow water. Easy roadside access. Year-round, best in fall.

Below Pilar the canyon opens up and the river bends west toward Embudo, picking up the warmer, lower-gradient character of the run down to the valley. Riffle-pool water with cottonwood-lined banks where the road pulls away. The Embudo gauge here is one of the oldest streamflow stations in the country. Brown trout thin out as the water warms through summer, but fall fishing for browns on caddis and small attractors is solid, and northern pike hold in the slower pools.

Best for: Wild brown trout on caddis and attractor dries in fall; northern pike on streamers. Cools off and fishes well October–November. Avoid the warm midsummer afternoons.

The tail of the trout water, where the Rio Grande slides past Velarde and Española toward the Otowi gauge. It runs warmer here and the trout fishery fades into a mixed-bag river — brown trout still hold in the cooler riffles and pocket water on the upper end near Embudo and Velarde, sharing the water with northern pike, carp, and white suckers. Most fly anglers treat Velarde as the practical downstream limit of the trout fishing; below Otowi the river is reservoir-warmed and silty.

Best for: Wild brown trout on the cooler upper riffles near Velarde; northern pike on streamers through the slower lower water. Best in cold months. Marginal trout water by midsummer.