I'd like to target some Rio Grande Cichlids this year and was wondering what specific flies would be a good choices as I hear they are often caught on the fly.

I've had the best luck on small, lightly weighted nymphs. But I'm sure that there are several anglers here who fish for them more than I do; see what they have to offer.

Google Bennett’s Rio getter.

One of the less picky fish I have met in person.

Rio Getter as mentioned in #12-#16-tan, brown and or olive, Rubber legged Hare's Ear in #10 -#14, and weighted San Juan Worms #12 pink, wine red, and deep brown. Sometimes and just sometimes if all the stars line up they will hit little poppers and foam spiders. I usually run a popper dropper rig but straight nymphing under an indicator or dragging a Rio Getter like a small crawfish produces more consistently.

Here's a few I have tied up. I like the tan or brown when crawfish are what the prevalent forage is in the creek however if you see a ton of damsel flies out and about olive usually tends to be best. These were tied on a #12 Gamakatsu B10S.

Just a quick reply, the above flies tied by Bones72 are right on the money. Jmoe and I have caught and pursued Rios on the fly for years. Out of trial and error I have come to tie a fly that looks like a twin to the ones Bones has in the picture above. The ones I have tied tend to be a bit smaller and more of a brownish/light orange (small crayfish) color. The real cool thing is what most people will miss here in the above pic. The angle of the hook and the way this fly will sit on the bottom is a big deal. We have sight fished for Rios and watched them pick up flies off the bottom and they tend to like these small flies, again the 45 degree angle here is a big deal. Kinda cool to see someone else has figured it out!!

Yup the bug should look like it's doing a modified headstand. Also, if tying your own keep the rubber legs short. Rios will pick up longer legs and move em without taking the hook. I will second light brown/tan or light orange as the best color. Smaller is also a better option I have had my best fish on #14 & #16 flies. Rios have little mouths. On Brushy Creek a #16 rubber legged Hare's Ear is probably the best searching pattern. When sight casting to em that's where the Rio Getter or a San Juan Worm, shines. With any fly though in my experience it pays to have it weighted enough to get near the bottom. On San Juans I use a bead and wrap the shank in wire.

On Brushy the Rios seem to get real mad at shiners and bass fingerlings around July. I've used tiny #12 or #14 thundercreeks I used to use on Brookies in Colorado when I see that behavior.