
This 12-inch brown trout fell for a size 10 Dave’s Hopper.
Photo by Dan from Albuquerque
Blog reader Dan from Albuquerque sent in this great photo, along with a story behind it:
The Rio San Antonio is the other river that heads on the Valles Caldera National Preserve. [Valles Caldera is a 13.7-mile wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico.] I fished the upper section recently and caught a whole bunch of fish like the one pictured. I used terrestrials exclusively on this day, and big hoppers did the best. Several times I had fish come out of the water and take a fly I was trying to dap onto the surface, inches before the bug actually hit the water. There’s nothing better than days like that.
First year in 10 I’ve missed going to Northern New Mexico the fishing in the fall is golden. I get sick looking at this photo knowing I’m stuck i the deserts of West Texas working!!!