The Valles Caldera National Preserve has opened the East Fork of the Jemez River to fishing by reservation and for a fee.

The new program is more flexible than the lottery system already in place for those who want to fish the Rio San Antonio on the backside of the sprawling ranch between Los Alamos and Jemez Springs on N.M. 4, says Preserve Manager Dennis Trujillo.

Customers can now spend a day on the front half of the 89,000-acre ranch, stalking trout in about 10 miles of stream including the East Fork of the Jemez River and Jaramillo Creek, he said.

Ten reservation slots are available daily, six for the public and four for preserve-approved guides. The cost to the public is $50 for a day's access and fishing and $125 for guides' clients, Trujillo said.

Interested anglers can reserve slots online for a future date; call the preserve at
505-670-1612; or drop by to see if any slots remain unfilled on a given day.

Fishing is catch and release with barbless hooks, no waders or nets allowed, in order to protect against whirling disease. Pets are not allowed.

Anglers can then hike in and fish anywhere they want on the East Fork of the Jemez River and Jaramillo Creek between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. and will share the water with their fellow anglers.

"It offers more flexibility for the customer," Trujillo said.

In contrast, the San Antonio fishing program relegates anglers to a "beat" or section of the stream about a mile or so long, with no swapping of beats allowed.

San Antonio anglers are also ferried to their assigned location on the river and must remain there until picked up by a preserve employee or volunteer.

And San Antonio anglers must arrive by 5:45 a.m. and leave by 2 p.m. They pay $5 per chance to win in the lottery and $25 to fish if they win.

Glenn May — my fishing partner, a former Albuquerque Tribune fishing columnist and now a Rio Grande Sun reporter — and I were recently granted access to fish on the ranch formerly known as the Baca.

Purchased by the federal government from the Dunigan family of Texas in 2000 for a little over a $100 million, the preserve is mandated to operate as a working ranch with public access and become self-sufficient by 2015.

According to its latest report to Congress, the preserve was budgeted $3.5 million in 2007 for operations, earned $750,000 from its recreation and other programs and saw about 12,000 visitors that year.

Driving through the early morning fog as elk bounded across the gravel road, we couldn't help but be struck by the beauty of the ranch, its wildlife and scenery.

Coming around a corner as we searched for the headwaters of the East Fork, we encountered two bull elk staring us down, their velvet-covered racks impressively highlighted by the mist behind them.

At another point a wary coyote ran up a hillside, looking over its shoulder as it headed for safety.

And elk herds hung out in the treeline, gazing down at us before slowly disappearing into the shade.

We never did find the headwaters of the East Fork, but we did stumble across little Jaramillo Creek meandering through the tall grass.

And a few casts in a pool by the road produced strikes from one of its residents.

On to the lower East Fork of the Jemez River, we chose a stretch between the parking area and the front gate. We felt rushed as menacing thunderclouds loomed overhead and the possibility of lightning increased.

Fighting through relentless swarms of painful deerflies and eager strikes from chubs sharing this slow-moving, shallow stretch of creek, May caught and released a nice 14-inch rainbow trout while I picked up a smaller version upstream.

Trujillo says the stream is chock full of 8- to 12-inch fish with some bigger ones in the lower stretch of the stream.

May noted one might have similar luck on other public streams for far less money, but concluded it was the scenery that really made it worth the trip.

"This would be a great gift to give someone who loves the outdoors and fishes," he said.

And perhaps that's really what makes the Valles Caldera so unique — it's a special treat to visit and enjoy for a day.



From Santa Fe, head north on U.S. 84/285 to Pojoaque and take N.M. 502 to White Rock. Follow N.M. 4 through the mountains and upon emerging into a great, open area, look for the entrance to the preserve on your right, about 65 miles. A much longer but scenic round trip involves heading south on Interstate 25 to Bernalillo and taking N.M. 550 west to the N.M. 4 turnoff at San Ysidro, passing through Jemez Pueblo, Jemez Springs and La Cueva to the preserve. Head back to Santa Fe through White Rock and Pojoaque, about 170 miles. For more information go to www.vallescaldera.gov