The River Every Angler in Colorado Should Know About (And Most Don't) |
The Conejos River |
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Ask a fly fisherman where they're headed in Colorado and you'll hear a lot of the same answers: the Frying Pan, the Taylor, the Gunnison above Blue Mesa. Maybe the Rio Grande if they've done their homework. Almost nobody says the Conejos. That's a shame, and it's also, if you fish the Conejos, a little bit convenient.
The Conejos River begins in the San Juan Wilderness and flows north through a spectacular series of canyons before joining the Rio Grande near the New Mexico border — making it the first major tributary the Rio Grande picks up after entering Colorado.
It runs through one of the least-visited corners of the San Luis Valley, through stands of ponderosa pine and towering canyon walls, past old homesteads and hot springs, through water that is cold and clear and full of fish that have never seen a lot of pressure.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has designated stretches of the Conejos as Wild Trout water — a recognition reserved for rivers where natural reproduction sustains the fish population without stocking. The lower river holds healthy populations of wild brown trout and heavily colored rainbows.
Those willing to put in more effort — snowmobiling or skiing into the upper forks in winter, or hiking the backcountry in summer — can find native Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the Valley's original fish and one of the rarest trout subspecies in North America. Certain stretches are restricted to flies and artificial lures only.
The Rainbow Trout Ranch, one of the oldest fishing operations in the region, has been putting guests on the Conejos since the early 1900s.
The Rhyolite Canyon section, sometimes called the Pinnacles for its dramatic volcanic formations, draws technical fly fishers who want to work rising fish in one of the most visually striking river canyons in the state.
And yet, on most days, you can have the Conejos to yourself — something that's genuinely hard to say about most rivers of this caliber anywhere in the Rockies.
If you've been looking for a reason to explore the southern end of the Valley, this is it. The Conejos doesn't advertise. It doesn't need to.
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