Newsletter - February 2025

As the new year is upon us, I feel compelled to remind everyone to get your 2025 Conclave and Fly-Tying Workshop tickets now. There is a limited number of workshop ticket so get yours early. Bruce did an excellent job building the speaker line-up this year and I think we can all learn something from them. I hope I can remember what I learn when I’m out on the water. Keep an eye out for the constant contact messages for any updates on the Conclave.

I also wanted to inform everyone that we are looking for a few good people to help cast New Mexico Trout into the future. At this time, we are looking for someone to lead our membership committee as well as a Newsletter Editor and a Fly Tyer’s Round Table Chair. If you are interested in just giving a little time, we also have committee member positions available for those would only have a little time to donate. I personally like doing everything I can to improve our fishing conditions as well as our fishing.

It was great to see everyone at last Month’s get together and it was a ton of fun catching up with everyone. Bob is a walking fly-fishing encyclopedia and gave a great presentation at the meeting. Take my word for it, the coffee and pastries were delicious. I even got to visit my favorite fly shop before the gathering.

I would love to ramble on ad nauseum but, I need to continue preparing for the coming season by tying up a bunch of new flies that the fish will hate.

Tight Lines

Your President

Rick

"Fishing is the ultimate expression of optimism."

Ralph Kylloe



"Fishing makes us less hostages to the horrors of making a living."

Jim Harrison

"Fishing itself is an idle pastime, a sport, an observance or a way of life, depending on who does it."

John Gierach

"Fishermen are born honest, but they get over it."

Ed Zern

“Fly Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed."

John Voelker

"Fishing in beautiful places helps to keep your heart from starving to death."

Shelly Silzak



Last week we sat down with him to learn of his interests and priorities for fish and fish habitat on the Santa Fe.  We were particularly interested in learning what projects he is planning for the 2025 season and how NM Trout volunteers can help. Brendon is energetic and enthusiastic, and he has an ambitious agenda for projects on the Santa Fe. I believe he will be an excellent partner for projects that we have long advocated.

• Continue the habitat restoration project on the Rio Cebolla downstream of McKinney Pond. (BDAs, riparian planting, and cattle/elk exclosures)

• Begin habitat restoration on the Rio de las Vacas downstream of its junction with the Rito Pena Negras (BDAs, riparian planting, and cattle/elk exclosures). This is a new, three-year program on multiple stream miles.

• Revive the stream temperature logging project and recruit long-term volunteer participation.

• Consider projects to reduce riparian habitat degradation by cattle. This is a general objective with no specific work presently defined.

• Plan and implement a controlled study to compare the effects of cattle and elk grazing on streamside vegetation. We discussed doing this on the Cebolla meadows.

• Do our annual Guadalupe cleanup along FR 376. This usually happens on the Saturday before the normal April 15 opening of the gate at the Gilman Tunnels. We didn’t do the cleanup last year because the Forest Service did not allow us access until too late in the season. Presently, the Gilman Tunnels are closed to all access because of work to stabilize the walls along the road through the tunnels. It is unclear when the work will be finished. Brendon thinks the tunnels are unlikely to be open before June.

[Note: Insert the photo here with the caption “Yes, we really mean it”]

• Complete the removal of wire tree cages along Jemez Creek down to the La Junta day use area. Benjamin Green has continued to work on this since our volunteer project last summer and has made excellent progress. We need to help him finish it up this year.

• Help repair or remove a walkway that is eroding onto Jemez creek near the Vista Linda day use area. This a priority for Leslie Welch of the Jemez District staff.

• Help install a Beaver Deceiver on the dam(s) on the Cebolla at Porters Landing. Beaver Deceivers are devices that set a water level behind a beaver dam that prevents flooding damage without having to remove the beavers. 

Warning and a Personal Plea From Ron Loehman



The Trump administration actions since January 20 have created massive uncertainty throughout the Federal Government. The projects listed above may be at risk. As I write this, staff do not know if they will continue to have jobs, or if they do, will they be transferred to other work sites. Existing contracts have been suspended and may be revoked if they mention subjects banned by the current administration. Even if the actions are eventually rescinded or overturned by the courts, they will have very negative effects on staff morale and their work. The USFS and other agency staff I know are good people who are dedicated to their jobs and serving the public. They deserve our support.

Hope to see you out there!

Ron

Part of that adaption has a chance to take place because fish, for the most part, spawn and discard hundreds of eggs per female. If just a few of those eggs survive and give that fish a gene that allows it to withstand warmer water than its parent, and it breeds with a fish of the opposite sex with a similar generic structure, a whole new breed of the species may begin. The various subspecies of rainbow trout and cutthroat trout are examples of this process of genetic change. Just consider rainbow trout and cutthroat trout; there are twenty-two species of these two species, all in the genus Oncorhynchus which also includes six salmon species. Perhaps a rainbow trout found in a stream in Baja Mexico, not far south of the U.S. border, will have that warm water gene.

In the early 1950’s, New Mexico suffered an extreme period of drought. Old-timers talk about driving their pickup trucks from Socorro to Albuquerque down the Rio Grande riverbed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had to close its trout hatchery below the Elephant Butte Dam because the reservoir got so low that the water coming out of the dam was too warm to grow trout. One time, while seining for Pecos blunt-nose minnows south of Acme, we could see that a rainstorm was dropping rain to the north. About an hour later, we could tell the river was rising and fish were moving upstream along the banks. Few were in midstream. This reminded me of something else Dr. Minckley said about desert fish; “They need canyons to have access to when streams start to dry.” This includes trout streams in New Mexico.

This brings us to consider some changes to the sport fishery that could occur, and some which have already occurred. The Rio Grande from the Colorado border downstream will perhaps become more of a small-mouth bass fishery than what it is now. The Pecos, from the Town of Pecos downstream to a few miles south of where I25 crosses, will perhaps become an excellent small-mouth bass fishery. The losers in these situations will be the native non-sport fish in these streams.

It’s going to be a rough ride, so make sure your saddle is on tight

Jerry

NMT Renewed?

The NMT board wants to infuse a younger perspective into our organization’s thinking and planning. NMT has been around for a very long time. We are a conservation organization that also functions as a fly-fishing club which has helped a number of organizations, including USFS and NMDGF with conservation efforts to enhance trout populations in our home northern New Mexico waters. In addition, we have helped literally hundreds of children learn about fly fishing with hands-on classes and programs, with the National Park service.   

Our first effort to this end was to change our general meeting offerings to attract new members, particularly younger members (younger than those of us who currently manage the club). Our first meeting of this concept was a great success. The January meeting was held at the The Daily Grind with coffee and snacks available to attendees; Bob Widgren, a master fly rod builder and FFF certified casting instructor served up a huge helping of what type of equipment you might need and as well as why it is appropriate for your intended type of fly fishing.

Many people think of NMT as a fly-fishing club; we all want to fish and we enjoy doing so with friends. However, our conservation activities are intended to ensure that we have trout to fish in the decades ahead. Fly Fishing is a wonderful sport, but having fish to pursue is essential to its enjoyment. Therefore, we ask new or prospective members to consider the “main” purpose of our organization and participate as they can to ensure healthy trout populations in our home waters for year to come.

David Marsh

Past President  

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