Printable View
June 14-20 I have an opportunity to spend a week in Ruidoso with my wife and 3 young children. My wife knows and understands that I will be staring at every puddle of water I see and has agreed to let me scratch that itch at least a couple of times.
So... knowing next to nothing... where should I go that has free access to fly fish (C&R)? Does anyone live around that could give some advice? Surely there's a fly shop or two in the area...
FreebirdsWB,
I would just google fly fishing in Rudioso, New Mexico.
Should be of help.
I'm really wanting to visit New Mexico and check it out myself.
Bob
I'm pretty sure you can just stroll up the Ruidoso river and wave at the people in the cabins on the banks, at least I did that and nobody shot at me. On the other hand, there was a flood last year that absolutely scoured the bottom, and don't know if it has recovered yet. You might get in touch with NM Fish & Game, as they have a fairly new lease downstream that looks fishy(on the Ruidoso river). There are also 2 lakes in the area, Grindstone, which is almost in town and holds lots of fish, and Bonito, which is maybe 20-25 miles North, and has a cute little creek feeding it.Don't believe there is a fly shop there, or even a sporting goods store - F&G might be your best bet.
FreebirdsWB, First, welcome to FAOL from So Cal. I think you will enjoy this site. I was in your neck of the woods on Monday. Went to Llano, TX for a short visit. I lived in Ruidoso years ago and fished quite a bit around that area. Also played the ponies a bit. Now there are casinos and Walmarts and all sorts of things there. I was there about 5 years ago at my Bro-in-laws cabin.The only flyfishing I did was at Bonito Lake. As I recall the water level was very low. The creeks were low also. I caught and released 3 fish. Here is a web site that might help you.
http://www.ruidoso.net/visitors/outdoors/fishing.html
Hope you have a good time there. If you get the chance fish the Rio Hondo. I've always liked that creek. Jim
Found the address to the place we'll be... it's in Alto.
Thanks for the info so far. I've definitely been Googling. Still hoping for some local knowledge.
jim, hope you got a chance to get in that beautiful Llano river while you were down. And I'm not really new, I just couldn't remember the old username/password. :)
So Rio Hondo and Ruidoso River...
Still hoping for some more local knowledge.
Just south of Ruidoso (east of Cloudcroft) is the Rio penasco which flows east towards roswell. It is a small stream and really looks like an irrigation ditch. By that I mean its often only 3 or 4 feet wide as it flows across the mountain meadows. but as we all know looks can often be misleading. in those narrow streatches it is very deep often as deep or deeper than it is wide. I've caught some 18 to 24 inch trout in those sections. Most people see the stream and don't think its big enough for fish of any size.
Yep. Went to the Llano after Buchanan. River was flowing like crazy. When I was there 30 years ago it was just a trickle.
Jsmartt's advice about the Rio Penasco is good. I had forgotten about that creek. Fished it years ago when I worked near Cloudcroft. Jim