My brother and I are heading up to the Conejos this Wednesday (6/29) until Saturday (7/2). It's been over 20 years since the last time I was up there. Neither of us really fly fish, mainly just spinners.

What campgrounds/areas would ya'll recommend for tent camping with the best fishing?

If you're not a fly guy, and haven't been to the Conejos area for a while, might I suggest Mix Lake, which is right below Platoro Reservoir. Beautiful spot and loaded with rainbows, averaging 12-15". Best part is that there is a very nice tent camping area overlooking this lake, with a trail leading down to the water. One of my favorite spots in Colorado!

Click the thumbnail for a short slideshow...



Camping spot...



Gettin' after 'em bright and early!



Fishing is decent all day, but as the sun starts going behind the hills, the bows go nuts!

If you go to Mix, please take lots of pics, and post 'em, or send 'em my way. I miss that place badly...

Have a great time up in God's Country!

What baits would you recommend at Mix?

I've done well with both small spinners and spoons. If you have kids who would rather use bait, both Gulp Eggs and Powerbait on a size 18 treble Carolina rigged will put lots of fish on their lines.

Mix is a fun lake to walk, and you can cover the entire shore in an afternoon. When the sun starts going down, the lake right below the campground is literally teaming with fish dimpling the surface. It's quite a site. I used to get back to camp about 5:00pm, cook dinner, and be back on the water around 6:00pm. That left a solid 2-3 hours of non-stop action.

Couple of other things, if it's been 20 years, Kevin. Stock up on everything before you head up the Conejos. There are very few, if any places to buy fishing tackle or food and drink once you turn north off of Hwy17 onto FR250. Places come and go, and I haven't been there in a couple of years, but better safe than sorry. There are a couple of fly shops, one of which carries non-fly stuff between Antonito and FR250, but other needs should be bought in Taos, Santa Fe, or Alamosa depending your route.

If you fish the river, make sure you know the regs. Best parts are Fly and Lure Only, with strict and varying limits on fish being kept. There are also stretches that are Fly only. Water has been high in the river and streams lately, but some claim the fishing has been good on them... of course they are guides.

How rough is NF-250? Garmin shows it to be primative at best...

It's a good gravel road, plenty wide for road construction vehicles to pass each other. Shouldn't be a problem even for a passenger car with low clearance. Probably 30 mph average.

Not much here - http://texasflycaster.com/conejos-day-3-when-you-don�t-know-what-you-don�t-know/ http://texasflycaster.com/conejos-day-3-when-you-don�t-know-what-you-don�t-know/ - on campgrounds because I was lucky enough to stay in a lodge. Campgrounds will be packed beyond your imagination this time of year though. I think that road is subject to the whims of winter - sometimes better, and sometimes worse. You can do a search on the site "conejos" for more entries on that 2008 trip. Good luck!

Great site flycaster, loved all of the conejos pics.

If you are going to be there more than a day try lily pad lake and kerr lake. both are excellent fishing. right when the sun sets is absolutely awesome. you won't regret this trip. The road is washboard and rough as hell but any truck can easily make it. Not sure i would put a car thru that. The river from Platoro dam to below the town is excellent as well.

Our cookout place at Platora last summer



The signs along 17 next to the bridge near the turn to platora are in memory of my dad

Great place to be

about halfway up FR250- there is a lake on the right (to the left is a campground believe it is aspen glade) and I have fished it from a float tube with mepps spinners- it's the only place in that drainage I fished without the fly rod and did very well one morning

the wife and I are headed back for the "leaf season" this september/october

There are a couple of tent camping areas on the way up to Platero lake and some around the lake. I use to back pack up there. I have a friend that went fishing last week, it was off the hook, water is up and below platero dam is great. I don't remember the names of the camping areas, my buddy and I took my boat and a tent and just went up and found one. Above the lake up to the falls is all good fishing, (Conejos falls?). I love that area, I think it is absolutely beautiful.

Just got back yesterday.

The river was extremely high and pretty much unfishable unless you had some very large spinners (1/4 oz. or heavier). Next time we'll check the website to see what the river flow is before we head up.

We camped at Mix Lake campground and did the rest of our fishing at Mix Lake. The baits of choice were orange floating power bait off the bottom and also pink trout magnets. With these we limited out every day.

The weather was perfect even though it rained all day off and on Thursday. We didn't mind that at all as we came from Lubbock where we've had less that 1.5 inches of rain for the whole year. It cleared off Thursday evening and got below freezing both Thursday and Friday nights.

We saw deer every morning and evening around camp. My brother saw a bear track while we were down in the valley fishing the meadows but no other signs of them. Thursday night/Friday morning we were woke up about 4:30 by the wolves howling. I didn't know they even had wolves around there but I know they weren't coyotes.

Driving through New Mexico to get there you could see why all of their forests are closed down. It was extremely smoky from Mora until Taos and I'm guessing that was from either the Los Alamos fire or the one near Santa Fe. Driving by the Pecos river in Santa Rosa it was at a stand still so I'm glad we decided on the Conejos instead. The road up the mountain (250) was terrible. By the time we got to camp, I felt like I'd been punched in the kidneys by Tyson. A lot of the dirt had either been blown away or just beat away by the vehicles. Mostly just exposed rocks left so if you go be sure and have a good spare or two and something with some clearance.

All in all it was an awesome trip. That's the first time I'd gone on a trip with just me and my oldest brother and we made memories that will last a life time.
Drinking beer and smoking cigars by the campfire and laughing until we cried.

I think you're thinking of the Spectacle Lake campground. My younger brother and I use to go camping there with our grandparents when we were small. I still remember my brother chasing me around that lake because I stole "his" fish.

Sounds like you had a great trip. I fished there a loong time back when my family camped somewhere up there. My brother was about 2 or 3, still in diapers. He's sneaking up on 51 now.

Maybe the Forrest Service will grade FR250 to make it a bit more passable. Hope the budget woes haven't shut down this kind of maintenance, but it would not surprize me in the least.

Give my regards to Lubbock. I'll be out there in September for my 45th MHS Reunion.