Fishing in NM

[Z]

My daughter is moving to Clovis NM, wants to know what fly rod she will need there. Are there any rivers there or just tanks?

What is there to fish for?

Z

[Lotech]

Z,
I just went to Google Earth to take a look. It looks like it's too close to the Texas Panhandle to be much of a trout fishery. Probably bluegills, crappie & bass if anything. Several miles to the north there is what looks to be a dried up river bed and a few ponds. There appears to be lots of irrigation in the area, so most of the water is probably underground. I'm guessing a 5 weight would do the trick for bluegills and crappie, and should be enough stick for the occasional bass.
Why Clovis? Does it have to do with the AFB?

[jimsnarocks]

Z, That's a dry part of NM. You have the Pecos river west of it at Ft. Sumner. I lived in Hobbs, NM which is a way south of Clovis. Most of my fishing was in stock ponds and man made lakes put in by the towns for recreation. They are stocked regularly with catfish, bass and trout, depending on the time of year. As far as a rod weight I'd agree with Lotech. a 5 wt oughtta hold anything hooked up around there. I have hooked some really large gar and carp in the Pecos that might give a good bend to a 5wt but they're rarely that big.
My daughter lives in Levelland, TX just a little east of clovis. They go to Carlsbad, NM to play on the Pecos, or Ruidoso to fish for trout.
Good luck to your daughter. Jim

[flyguy66]

Yeah, a fly angler in Clovis is about as out of luck as me living in El Paso. It'll be a good drive to decent fly water for her. In addition to what has been mentioned already, there are a couple of other options:

Rio Penasco between the Pecos River and Ruidoso in the Mayhill area in the Lincoln National Forest. Most of the good access is pay-to-play on private land, but there is some public access upstream of Mayhill. It is a very small stream up there to the naked eye from the road. But that's deceiving.

To the W she has a bunch of small streams in the mountains to the E of Albuquerque that most folks have never heard of if they aren't locals. And that's all I'll say about that in a public forum.

On up a bit to the N of Ft. S, the Pecos offers some good spots "all the way to Santa Fe." And there are a few good small stream tribs up that way, too.

And there are a few more choices out E of the Santa Fe-Taos area on the small rivers that drain E out of the mountains...both warm and cold.

Tell her not to overlook the resevoirs and some of the drains and canals near the larger towns like Roswell and Carlsbad.

The main thing she will learn is that New Mexico is a desert. As such, fishing is different out here. The fisheries are very fragile and the fish are very resourceful. Whether in the mountains or down in the lowlands, this basic concept dominates everything. The next things she'll come to realize is that the fishing is WAY better in the W half of the state than it is the E half.

[MikelC]

Hey, don't forget the San Juan River, below Navaho Dam, in nothern NM. It is one of the best tailwater fisheries in the states !!! A good 9 ft 6wt rod does the trick, just be prepared for crowds and light tippet, sometimes a 6X or even 7X is the only thing.

Mike