Time: 3:15PM – 4:15PM

Location: Across from and upstream from Marshall Park Campground

Rio Grande River 06/24/2023 Photo Album

As I grieved over my wasted opportunity to land some fish on Saturday, June 14, I considered the idea of edge fishing the Rio Grande River. I was familiar with a public section across from and upstream from the Marshall Park Campground, and it was conveniently along my return path to the cabin. I decided to give it a try. I continued beyond the Marshall Park Campground turn off and made a right turn on to Middle Creek Road. I passed the campground area and found a narrow pullout along the dirt road. I walked downriver along the shoulder of the road a short distance, and I surveyed the river in the process. After a short distance I spotted a nice slack water spot behind a jumble of sticks and branches, so I decided to make the approach. I thrashed through some picker bushes and attempted to plant my right foot on a branch, but the branches parted ways, and I found my right leg extended below the branches, which were now even with my thigh. I was in an extremely awkward position, and in the process of trapping myself I hooked my flies and the leader on the thorny plants that grew in thick clumps along the bank. I was stressed out by my time limitations, but I eventually raised myself out of the hole, and cut off the flies in order to free myself from the trap. I revisited the tan pool toy, hares ear nymph and added a prince nymph; and I managed to edge into some shallow slow-moving water, so that I could extend some backcasts beyond the branches of a tree below me.

Prince Nymph Eater

I began lobbing short casts to the top of the bankside pool behind the log jam, and much to my surprise an eleven and a ten inch brown trout gobbled the prince nymph. My skunking was a thing of the past, and I smiled accordingly. During this short bout of success, massive quantities of size 18 caddis flies were buzzing about. I climbed back up the bank and tried three additional spots with no success. The Rio Grande fishing represented a very difficult game of climbing and sliding down the steep bank, because it was impossible to wade along the shoreline due to the powerful current at high flows.

During the last two bank scaling exercises I noticed a cluster of salmon flies, as they flew across the river, and one perched on my hat brim in an upside down position. It would have been a pretty cool photo opportunity, but it flew away before I could ready my camera.

Fish Landed: 2