We angle for large trout by casting in the salad channels of watercress, reeds, and hair moss, keeping our casts high to stay out of the willows.

Setting the hook

Anglers here must fish slowly, hit all the lies, stay out of sight, and avoid too much false casting. Monasterio's advice has finally sunk in — there is not a lot of dead water, so fish even the untraditional lies.

Banegas shares his keys to success on the Peqasco: Provide the fish with consistently well-presented flies, keep a keen eye on the hatches, don't be afraid to fish deep. But the most important thing to remember is that these are subtle takes by these cautious trout, just a flick of the head to one side or the other, so the angler must set the hook at the first sign of movement.

Remember, these fish have a lot of food (baetis, scuds, caddis, tricos, forage fish) sizes 18  24, and the larger trout feed on a diet of chubs and minnows and small trout. Streamers swung underneath heavy cress or an overhanging bank can result in hard hookups with large fish.

Fee Fishing

There are three main sections of the Rio Peqasco: the Foley Ranch, the Mulcock Ranch, and the Bernard Cleve Ranch, although parts of these (and a few others) often share the river as a boundary. Both the Foley and Mulcock sections, about seven miles of water, charge day fees and require anglers to fish with a guide.

The pristine Foley section

To fish the Foley section — the most pristine stretch — anglers should make reservations through the Reel Life shops. Whether by design or accident, the Foley section sees only six to eight fishing days a month on its two-mile stretch. To fish the Mulcock section, anglers can make reservations through the Reel Life fly shops or by calling Mulcock Ranch directly.

The Powell Ranch stretch does not advertise but its four or five miles is fishable, and it only costs five dollars. Stop in at the fruit stand and talk to the elderly couple. The water looks great but no one I have ever spoken with has ever caught many fish here — but the ones they have hooked up with have been large.

I have only caught a couple of fish on this stretch, and they were both over 17 inches.

Getting What You Pay For

The Bernard Cleve section, the only public water on the river, has plenty of gravel, which means the fall spawners end up on this water come autumn. The only problem with this stretch is that the major springs feed below it and as such it gets awfully low at times.

Powell Pool

Since the stream runs through open fields here, and the banks continually erode, some rehabilitation could improve this stretch. The stream is narrow, some five to six feet across in some places, although it does widen to 20 in many spots.

The type of water runs the gamut, from long glides to deep pools to choppy riffles to narrow channels. The five miles of headwater run through national forest but there are few fish and poor habitat. But the quality of the ten miles of private water rivals most any spring creek in the West.