Anglers have to drive all the way to Colorado to find one of the best trout streams in New Mexico.
The Rio de los Pinos originates above Cumbres Pass in Colorado, then flows into New Mexico at the Toltec Gorge. For about 20 miles it hugs the border between the two states before reentering Colorado near Antonito, where it eventually flows into the Conejos River.
The state Game and Fish Department and the Carson National Forest maintain two different stretches of the river inside New Mexico. The fishing in the Department-run section of the river is for stocked rainbow and natural brown trout.
The Pinos is classic trout water with pool after pool tempting the angler. This time of year, the water is running low and clear. Every pool seems to hold a hungry trout, and the dry fly-fishing is superb.
The river’s clear water demands a stealthy approach from down stream and vegetation lines the banks. The stream can be easily waded, and fishing while standing in the stream will give a fly angler plenty of room to cast.
Any angling method can be used in this stretch of the Pinos, although present conditions favor fly-fishing because of the low and clear water. Worms will take plenty of fish and small spinners will draw strikes. Light line and minimal additional sinkers are called for because of the low water.
A trip to the Los Pinos Aug. 2 yielded the limit of five trout (four rainbows and one brown) within just a couple of hours. The fish were strong, feisty and often jumped out of the water.
If there was one complaint, it was the catch limit. New Mexico regulations require an angler to stop fishing once they have caught their limit of five fish.
The Department-managed section of the river ends with another stretch of private property that goes for about a mile before entering the Carson National Forest just after the village of San Miguel. Here the Road splits into Forest Service Roads 87A and 284. There are two Forest Service campgrounds in this area. Road 87A will take you to the Cruces Basin Wilderness Area, while 284 continues to follow the river for about 2.5 miles before once again entering private land. Here 284 leaves the river and heads north to Colorado.
The two mile stretch of river along Forest Road 284 inside the Carson Forest is Special Trout Waters. This means anglers are limited to the use of a lure or fly with a single, barbless hook. The limit in this section of the river is two fish of any length.
Past this stretch of the river, the Los Pinos flows through private land for nearly six miles and is inaccessible until just before the Colorado border. At that point it flows through the Toltec Gorge, and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad runs nearby.
The upper reaches of the Los Pinos are dominated by brook trout, which are the predominate trout species of the river in Colorado.
Perhaps because the Los Pinos is so far away, the fishing pressure it receives is minimal. In May and June the river runs high and murky because of spring runoff due to melting snow. It’s tougher to fish, but the high water stirs big trout to feed, and this is the best time to catch a lunker in the Los Pinos. The fall season features spectacular scenery as the leaves of the trees change color and the brown trout fishing picks up as the trout prepare to spawn.
If you’re looking for a river with a little elbow room and pools with plenty of hungry trout, the Los Pinos will more than meet your needs.