The Solitary Angler

The Cimarron is a small tailwater about an hour east of Taos, fed by Eagle Nest Lake in the Moreno Valley, and it fishes as a brushy stream of riffles, pockets, pools and beaver ponds rather than as a big western river. German brown trout are abundant and there is a fair population of rainbows; fish run from seven to twenty inches and average ten to fourteen, so the river rewards a careful approach far more than a long cast. Dry fly fishing from mid-May through July can be excellent, with stoneflies, mayflies and caddisflies hatching sometimes simultaneously and bringing browns up through the day; August and September bring terrestrials and bank-feeding fish, and by October the browns are running and a fall Baetis hatch gives excellent low-water fishing. Flies worth carrying are Baetis, PMDs, midges, hoppers, caddis, stoneflies, salmonflies and scuds. Full days run approximately six to eight hours at 425 dollars for one angler, 490 for two and 590 for three, and include lunch, flies, tippet and terminal tackle; half days run three to four hours at 350, 420 and 490 with flies and tackle but no lunch. The Cimarron Holy Water is private, at a rod fee of 95 dollars per angler per day or 60 for a half day on top of the guide fee.