Wherever you choose to fish in the rivers, streams or closed waters around Red River, N.M. you will be catching, not just fishing.
The streams are stocked with mostly Rainbow Trout. However, there are Brook and Brown Trout just taunting you to try them. Red River Angler and Sport can guide you to where you need to be for your best catch. We suspect there will be a few fish-tales being told. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish promote conservation of certain native species: the Gila Trout and the Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout. Those must be released back. For a weekly updated report, visit Weekly Fishing and Stocking Report.
Red River Fishing Tip #5
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish govern what, where and how many fish you can bag. Our Game Wardens get bored from time to time with nothing to do…..we like to keep it that way. So it’s always advisable to follow the rules. That’s just another way you can enjoy your catch! As always, please remember to carry out what you carry in. Fishing Permits can be purchased right here in Red River at Williams Trading Post and Hardware. Children under the age of 12 do not require a license. We like to get our kids “hooked” on fishing early in life.
Red River Fishing Tip #4
Red River from its confluence with Goose Creek 1.1. miles upstream to the Carson National Forest boundary is the “Green Chile Water” It means that there are certain tackle restrictions: only artificial fly or lure with a single, barbless hook can be used. You can catch cutthroat, rainbow, brown trout in that area.
Bitter Creek, Goose Creek, and Pioneer Creek are small tributaries that feed into the Red River. Cutthroat, and Rainbow Trout can be found here. A little farther downstream is the Columbine Creek, a “Red Chile Water” (meaning catch and release), Red River below Fawn Lakes, and Goose Lake offer an abundance of great fishing of Rainbow, Cutthroat, and Brown Trout. Under the bridges and around bushes in the river through town is another great place to have some serious fun catching fish. All fishing is open in town unless otherwise marked.
Red River Fishing Tip #3
If stream fishing is not to your liking, the Town Ponds are stocked with Rainbow trout. Goose Lake up river from Goose Creek has Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout. Fawn Lakes, just 2 miles downstream from town, has Rainbow and Brown Trout. There’s plenty of fish and good eatin’ to be had here!
Red River Fishing Tip #2
Less than 20 miles down the road is Eagle Nest Lake. It is stocked and open for year round fishing. The Kokanee Salmon, a land-locked Sockeye Salmon, love the colder deep waters of the lake. Eagles Nest Lake’s 2400 acres and is open for boating and fishing (catching) and is home to, not only the Kokanee Salmon, but to several species of trout, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, common carp, white sucker, channel catfish, sunfish and the northern pike. In the winter, many love to come to Eagle Nest for a little bit of ice fishing. Ice fishing isn’t just reserved to Alaska seekers, but to us in the Enchanted Circle as well.
Once you are ready to enjoy your catch, head on down to Der Markt Food Store. They have all you need to prepare that feast. For the record, we at Reservations Unlimited can eat trout three times a day, just in case you needed to know or have leftovers.
Red River Fishing Tip #1
No. 1 on our list of The Best Way to Enjoy your Red River Catch is simply by being here. You will have spent your time with us in Red River enjoying the mountains, streams, lakes, restaurants and accommodations in our little mountain town. You can take home fishing stories as big as you want to tell and you won’t have to make them up.
2 Responses
We visited Red River about 5 years ago in June and to our surprise the trout were slim and the ponds had not been stocked due to shortages in snowfall the prior winter. Before booking to visit Red River again, how can we be advised as to the trout situation…is the river running full and have the ponds been stocked for 2023? If so, what is the best month to visit for trout fishing?
The best advice is to contact the Red River Fish Hatchery. They would know this information.