Fishing in the Jemez Mountains

May 30, 2009

I cannot go fishing without taking Kyra (Brandon’s sister) or my wife for that matter. Saturday morning we all got up at 5:00 am to go fishing in the Jemez. My wife Ella and I with our daughter Stephanie and her daughter Valene and Valene’s children Brandon and Kyra along with her youngest son Conrad loaded up in two vehicles to go to the Jemez. Conrad is now 1 year old and soon will be my next pupil and fishing companion.

We arrived at the Las Conchas trailhead for our first try at fishing for the day. I got Ella’s fishing gear setup so she could get to the task at hand in short order. Within a short time we were all fishing the East Fork of the Jemez. We all fished for quite awhile without even a nibble…well except for Ella, of course.

About 10:00 am we drove down to the La Cueva day-use area to fish there for the rest of the day. Ella and Brandon were the first out to the water while I helped Kyra try to catch some fish. But I could soon see this was going to be a slow day. The weekend before was Memorial Weekend and there were few fish left. This area is basically put-and-take water and they were put and took the weekend before I guess.

I tried an Elk hair caddis, yellow humpy and yellow stimulator and after awhile I tied on a Prince nymph and nothing. Brandon basically used the same stuff to no avail. It was tough fishing, to say the least.

By noon I was getting hungry and so was everyone else. Upon Ella’s return she revealed she caught a fish. This is not unusual…

We sat at a picnic table, in the shade I might add, and had a great lunch together…a feast you might say. All of us were stuffed at the completion of this banquet. By mid-afternoon we had about all the fun we could stand for the day and stopped at the country store at La Cueva for ice cream before we started our trek back home. This was a real slow day for fishing, unusual for us. Sorry for the cliché but just being with people I love the most is what it really is all about.

I will be back again soon and will owe my wife Ella a day in the mountains…just me and her.


…tight lines…Phil