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Home › Waters › New Mexico › Rio Chama below El Vado Dam
Tailwater · Northern New Mexico, Rio Arriba County, the regulated Chama in the canyon below El Vado Dam · New Mexico

Rio Chama below El Vado Dam Fishing Guides

The uppermost regulated reach of the Rio Chama, cold releases out of El Vado Dam into a canyon, and genuine trout water in a state short of reliable cold flow.

A river running below a distant mountain range in the Rockies
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam

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About the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam

The Rio Chama below El Vado Dam is the uppermost of the regulated reaches on a river that is controlled for most of its length in northern New Mexico. El Vado sits in Rio Arriba County in high country west of the Brazos cliffs, and the water released from it runs south through a canyon toward Abiquiu Reservoir and eventually to the Rio Grande near Espanola. Cold, steady releases out of the dam make this a genuine trout tailwater in a state where reliable cold water is scarce and valuable.

Flows here are managed rather than natural, and that is the single most important thing to understand before fishing the reach. Releases are set for storage, irrigation and downstream delivery obligations, and they can change substantially with little notice. The water fishes very differently at a low winter release than it does during a high summer delivery, and the river is also subject to scheduled recreational releases that send rafts through the canyon below the dam.

Brown trout are the mainstay and they hold well in the canyon water, using the deeper runs and the shelves along the bedrock. Rainbows are stocked and hold over in good numbers. The wider drainage carries Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the state fish, in its tributaries and in some managed reaches, and kokanee salmon move out of the reservoir into the river. Suckers are abundant and are a large part of why the browns here do so well.

Access below the dam runs through public ground and the roads down to the river, and the canyon further downstream is far more easily reached by boat than on foot. Anyone planning a float should check the release schedule before the weather forecast. The gauge below El Vado reads discharge and stage and carries no water temperature, so a thermometer earns its place in summer when releases warm and trout drop back to the coldest water they can find.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam cfs

Now: 153 cfs, read 4:30 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 08285500, RIO CHAMA BELOW EL VADO DAM, NM).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

El Vado Dam - the structure at the gauge, and the head of the regulated reach.
El Vado Lake State Park - the state park on the reservoir above, with camping and ramps.
Heron Lake State Park - the neighbouring reservoir, with further camping and a second fishery.
Abiquiu Reservoir - the downstream impoundment, which sets conditions on the middle river.
Chama - the northern town, with lodging, tackle and guides working the region.
Tierra Amarilla - the county seat nearest the dam, and the closest local services.
Rio Chama Wild and Scenic reach - the canyon below, floated on scheduled releases.

Seasons

Spring: runoff and changing releases make conditions unsettled, but fish feed hard as the water warms.
Summer: high delivery releases push flows up, and the reach fishes best early and late.
Fall: the best window of the year, with steadier low releases, cooling water and browns colouring up before spawning.
Winter: low, clear and cold, with technical fishing for browns holding in the deeper runs.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam?

As of Oct 18, 4:30 pm, the USGS gauge RIO CHAMA BELOW EL VADO DAM, NM reads 153 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam?

Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout, White Sucker on the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam in New Mexico.

Where can you access the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam?

El Vado Dam - the structure at the gauge, and the head of the regulated reach. El Vado Lake State Park - the state park on the reservoir above, with camping and ramps. Heron Lake State Park - the neighbouring reservoir, with further camping and a second fishery. Abiquiu Reservoir - the downstream impoundment, which sets conditions on the middle river. Chama - the northern town, with lodging, tackle and guides working the region. Tierra Amarilla - the county seat nearest the dam, and the closest local services. Rio Chama Wild and Scenic reach - the canyon below, floated on scheduled releases.

When is the best time to fish the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam?

Spring: runoff and changing releases make conditions unsettled, but fish feed hard as the water warms. Summer: high delivery releases push flows up, and the reach fishes best early and late. Fall: the best window of the year, with steadier low releases, cooling water and browns colouring up before spawning. Winter: low, clear and cold, with technical fishing for browns holding in the deeper runs.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Rio Chama below El Vado Dam?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the New Mexico agency site: https://wildlife.dgf.nm.gov/fishing/