Читать книгу Fly Fishing New Mexico - Taylor Streit - Страница 7

New Mexico’s license plates say it all. The Land of Enchantment has wondrous sights, sounds, and attractions for everyone. New Mexico is home to unique Spanish and Native American cultures and lifestyles ranging from the Santa Fe jet set to rural artists and cowboys. All live together under wild New Mexico skies and powerful vistas of mountain and mesa.

In New Mexico one can stay in a superb hotel, a great B & B, or a camp deep in the mountains near the classical music of a trout stream. Many visitors learn about American natives at places like Chaco Canyon, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, or Taos Pueblo, where people have lived continuously for 1,100 years. All this brings us to Argentina and yes, fly fishing.

I spend winters escorting fly fishers around beautiful Argentina (where it’s summertime). Extensive trout fishing on those formidable rivers has helped me appreciate just how good New Mexico’s fly fishing really is. The state isn’t blessed with a great deal of water, but what there is can be very good. In short, fly fishing in New Mexico is varied and good, like the state’s unique cultures, services, and terrain.

New Mexico presents many fly fishing choices. They range from casting to big rainbows on the world-famous San Juan River to fooling little native trout in remote wilderness creeks. If you prefer quiet fly fishing experiences, New Mexico has them. The extreme might be a horseback trip into the vast Gila Wilderness. You can fish the dry fly in small creeks and rivers and rarely see another human.

There are thousands of miles of these delicate waters in New Mexico. Only a few are mentioned in this guide. You’ll have to discover your own special stretches, which is half the fun of this sport. In addition, we don’t want a mad stampede that could harm the fisheries. Rather, a long period of discovery by intrepid fly fishers will help keep a lid on things. I hope you’re one of these fortunate and considerate pioneers.

There is an obvious conflict in revealing special fishing spots. Fishing pressure may well increase with publicity, certainly a negative factor in a state such as New Mexico, where very little water is catch and release.

Many waters in New Mexico are protected by distance, rock, toil, or sweat. Such remote areas, however, are also out of the public eye and mind, making abuses more possible. I hope that more awareness and enjoyment of New Mexico’s precious fly fishing resources results in discussion, action, and protection.

Years ago, some of us protested as mining operations nearly killed fishing on the Red River and Rio Grande. Our loud screams of warning seemed like whispers from out of the deep canyons. Now organizations such as Trout Unlimited, New Mexico Trout, and Amigos Bravos are adding volume to a more consistent message of fish preservation and resource conservation.

In New Mexico, mining, grazing, logging, development, and irrigation are adversely affecting water quality. Perhaps not as obvious to the casual observer, grazing in riparian zones is one of the most detrimental of these factors. Heavy hooves defoliate stream banks and slopes. Water temperatures increase, and the effects of floods and droughts are exaggerated. Additionally, New Mexico is the only state without in-stream flow laws, meaning that rivers can legally be sucked almost completely dry.

The good news is that New Mexico still has plenty of unspoiled country. It’s ours to enjoy wisely and pass on to our children. Let’s hope that we don’t share the plight of English author W. H. Hudson. In his book Far Way and Long Ago, he laments the much changed Argentine home waters of his boyhood: “I am glad to think I shall never revisit them, cherishing to the end in my heart the image of a beauty which has vanished from Earth.”