Fishing the Caldera, East Fork of the Jemez River

Fishing the Caldera, East Fork of the Jemez River

Last week I had the pleasure of fishing a really small stream in the caldera of a huge, ancient volcano. The East Fork of the Jemez River, (anywhere else it would be called a creek) starts near the northeast rim of the caldera. It flows across the caldera floor and is increased by small seeps and springs along its course until it begins a long, slow drop down out of the mountains and eventually into the Rio Grande a ways north of Albuquerque.

The creek was really low since we have not had any rain in a while and the fish were super spooky. I managed a few small ones early on. But then when I had to fish a pool blind by dapping my fly onto the surface behind tall grass I struck gold. I heard the gulp and set and immediately felt weight. It was a nice, bright, stocky rainbow of 14” and I fought it for a bit in it’s shallow pool until I was finally bringing it to my hand for a picture. Unfortunately, I was thinking too much about the pic and the big boy got off and shot upstream like a torpedo leaving a little cloud of mud swirling in the pool where he had been. Bummer, it would have been a nice picture.

It was a slow day and I managed only a few fish. But there were three separate harems of Elk with single herd bulls in attendance at each harem so I got to hear them call and bellow all morning and into the early afternoon. At one point I got too close and all of the harems bunched up for protection. Well, when they all bunched up the big herd bulls ended up going at it and when I was quiet I could sometimes hear their antlers clacking and scraping as they sparred behind the screen of elk cows. What a day. Beautiful; a crisp blue sky with a few puffy clouds, I saw a big Prairie Falcon hunting, spooked four Mallards off of the stream, and had the whole place to myself. It reminded me of an awesome day on a stream in the White Mountains with a buddy this past spring, only not as many fish. Here are a few pics, unfortunately minus the nice rainbow.

The Valles Caldera, with a forested lava dome
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5013201612_8094f45eb2_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Valles Caldera and forested lava dome, another view
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5012596679_f86d59653d_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

A bend in the stream and shallow pool
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5013202598_43e0d3b42e_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Adams Wulff and fly rod after a couple of small ones
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5012599377_f8c21418aa_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

East fork and caldera floor
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5013209338_9bf62c538e_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Elk harem running, herd bull in back
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5012600065_dda932e4bd_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Elk harem running
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5012600771_1673586678_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Lunch
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5013207076_81f1256d55_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Lunch time relaxing
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5012601641_9c741e5816_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Spike bull Elk antler
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5012606651_d55bd2998f_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

East fork and caldera floor
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5013209338_9bf62c538e_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Caldera floor and part of the caldera rim in the background
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5012608501_eab304ce7d_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

Preserve sign and caldera in background
[flickr:29e9dv6u]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5013213262_89758c48c0_b.jpg[/flickr:29e9dv6u]

...so sweet.

beautiful little stream, nice photos

Nic

What a great place to fish, Hard to imagine anywhere more different to the rivers and becks that I fish...

Stunning scenery

EB

Sweet pics! That's a nice place. http://users.dakotacom.net/~jeepster/tipshades.gif

stunning landscape.

That is WAY cool! Great pics. What an experience that must have been.

ooohhh have I been wanting to fish there but I haven't been able to work out my schedule with their previous reservations system. Nice report--I really wish I had more time in the fall for such trips.

Brooktrout---you said you had the place to your self. Does that mean that you had to still stay on one beat or were you allowed to roam. I'm assuming that you were able to drive up and get a permit on site but perhaps you had a reservation. Any info would be helpful for future trips to the Land of Enchantment. I spend a couple of weeks every year up in the headwaters of the Rio Grande and occassionally drop down to fish around Taos. Wouldn't take much to get me to head over to the Caldera....

thx people. i appreciate your comments.

ksbioteacher: yes, they finally did away with the onerous lottery system. now all you you have to do is reserve your date and go. (and pay their ridiculous $35 fee; they are "public" lands after all...) sometimes if you show up at the staging area and they have beats open you can hit those too. i did have the place to myself, meaning no one was on any of the other beats so i fished as much and as far as i wanted to.

it seems to me that june and july are usually the best times as august and september often mean low water and cagey fish. awesome that you get to fish in northern nm. it can be a pain but it can also be great fishing.