Rio de los Pinos River Fly Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes that make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone Stream
Species
Rainbow Trout (mostly stocked)
Brown Trout (wild)
Brook Trout (wild)
Size
Small to Medium
Location
Northern New Mexico
Nearest Towns
Los Pinos, New Mexico
San Miguel, New Mexico
Antonito, Colorado
Vallecitos, New Mexico
Season
Year-round
Access:
Easy and plentiful in the lower
section. Tough in most of the upper
area with some deep gorges
Non-Resident License
State of New Mexico
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
The season is open year-round.
Spring:
Early, before runoff in March can be good. Late May through June is usually a good time for fly fishing Rio de los Pinos.
Summer:
Early Summer is usually good. Some sections can get a little on the warm side in July and early August.
Fall:
Late August through September is probably the best time to fish the stream.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing the Rio de los Pinos New Mexico
The Rio de los Pinos, or river of the pines, is a remote high country trout stream. The river’s headwaters are in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado. It flows into New Mexico and makes a loop that’s about twenty miles long before crossing back into Colorado. This section of the river flows through pine forest, a few meadows and some deep canyons. The Rio de los Pinos terminates at the Rio San Antonio, a few miles south of Antonito, Colorado.
More than half of the twenty mile section in New Mexico flows through the Carson National Forest. About eight miles of it flows through private property. Part of the stream, the Rio de los Pinos Wildlife and Fishing Area, is managed by the New Mexico Department of Game and
Fish. This section lies at the east end of the stream near the private property section.
There are some cutthroat trout in the headwaters of the stream below Duck Lake in Colorado but the New Mexico section contains mostly wild browns and brook trout and stocked rainbows. The stream is surrounded with high grass and willow trees in many areas of it upper end but it is quite different where flows through the Toltec Gorge
You can access the upper end of the Rio de los Pinos near the Toltec Canyon via the Toltec and Cumbres Scenic Railroad. It is located at the Chama Railroad Depot at Antonito, Colorado. You can make arrangements with them to drop you off and pick you up at the Osier Station. You will have to hike down in the canyon.
Beaver Creek flows into the Rio de los Pinos near its upper end. It is formed by the confluence of Diablo Creek and Cruces Creek, both of which are located in the Cruces Basin Wilderness. Beaver Creek gets its name from its populations of beavers that form dams along the
stream. These small streams hold mostly brook trout. They can be accessed at a trailhead at Osha Canyon located off NM state highway #87.
Forest Service Road #284, off US Highway #285, provides access to the lower section of the Rio de los Pinos. There are campgrounds and a few miles of stream access available from the road. The trout in the lower section, consisting mostly of browns and rainbows, average a larger size than those of the upper section. The stream is larger and consist of pocket water with
some deeper pools and runs.
Be sure to check the special regulations (subject to change) of the Carson National Forest portion.
Aquatic insects are fairly plentiful in Rio de los Pinos. You will find blue-winged olives early in the year and again in the early fall. Pale Morning Duns are also plentiful from May through June. There are some Dark Red Quills, Mahogany Duns and other mayflies that hatch in May
and June.
Caddisflies are plentiful and mostly consist of Green Sedges and various species of Spotted Sedges. They hatch off and on from May through September. There is also some Little Yellow Stonelfies in the fast water sections that hatch from late My though June. There are
others but not in plentiful quantities. During the summer months, ants, beetles and grass hoppers are plentiful and imitations of them work well.