The Unimaginable Vermejo Park Ranch
Have you ever dreamed of a "once in a lifetime" special fishing trip, an amazing unforgettable weekend where you caught so many fish your arms were sore for a week!
The kind of trip where there seems to be a bite every cast and you never saw another angler on the water the whole time.
And on this dream trip you catch plenty of big, fish, gaze out upon unmatched views and see a stunning variety of remarkable wildlife.
This isn’t a dream; this is the reality of Vermejo Park Ranch.
The ranch is located about 50 miles west of Raton New Mexico and boasts just over a half a million acres of stretching from Cimarron to Costilla, and reaches north into Colorado. It’s the largest tract of privately owned property in the west.
The ranch has 14 lakes and 30 miles of streams situated on the grassy plains and in the mountains of northeastern New Mexico. If you go you'll find big, aggressive, Brook, Brown, Palamino, Rainbow, and Cutthroat trout lying in wait to ambush your offering.There’s also a good chance you might see bears and bobcats, herds of elk and deer, or an eagles perched atop a lakeside tree, patiently waiting for a tasty trout to show itself.It’s a Disneyland for outdoorsmen.
On an early May morning in 2011 a friend of mine, Manuel, and I had the pleasure of driving through the electronic gate that leads into the Ranch property. I have only known Manuel for a couple years and during this trip I learned his great-grandmother grew up in Vermejo so he was very excited to get the chance to visit. Her father was a ranch hand at the time and managed cattle near Costilla Reservoir. Manuel mentioned he did get a chance to see his great grandmothers’ house which was located just below the dam of Costilla Reservoir but that was easily 10 years ago and that he wasn’t sure if it was still there.
When we arrived at the Ranch Headquarters we were greeted by staff Members that seemed to be just as happy to see us as we were to see them! They asked if we had any special requests, needs, food allergies, or general question about the Ranch. I explained that this was my third visit to the Ranch, had no allergies, and my only request was to get on the water as soon as possible! Manuel was visiting for his first time but was just as eager to wet a line so they handed us our room key and we were on our way.
We unloaded our luggage in a clean room that had a window with a clear view of the road that takes guest to the many lakes on the property; what a tease, they must want you dreaming of fishing too! The walls in the room were drywall with a heavy texture and upon walking in we noticed a stoneface fireplace, 2 beds built from varnished logs with down comforters neatly tucked in, a very clean all white tile bathroom with a walk in shower and antique fixtures that gave you the sense you were living during the early days of the ranch but in style, of course!
We then headed back downstairs to sit down to a delicious, buffet style, breakfast. They had smoked bacon, salmon, eggs made to order, hashbrowns, sausage, and delicious coffee. Before leaving we grabbed the pre-packed lunches the chef had prepared while we ate breakfast and topped off the bags with chips, trail mix, candy bars, and drinks from the snack bar.
Now that we ready for some fishing, we pulled up to The Fish House where a Ranch employee loaded a cooler full of ice in our truck for our fish. He then told us to pull up to the Battery House where he loaded our truck with batteries and a trolling motor.
We were officially "on the road" heading out into 920 square miles of pristine wilderness. The first stop on our route, Merrick Lake.
Merrick is listed in the park fishing regulations as catch and release only and I've caught, and lost, some huge fish in this lake over the years. My first trip to the Ranch is credited to my father who took me in 2004; the second time I visited the Ranch I paid for myself and my wife; she caught all the big fish on spin gear and all I did was lose fish after fish on the flyrod due to snapped line, tossed/bent hook, you name it I had problems with it. Three years of fly rod experience later I was much more confident that I could handle the fight and I was very anxious to spend some time on the fly rod chucking big streamers so I may exact my revenge on these brute trout!
We opted to fish out of the boat and started working the steep rocky shoreline. On my second cast my line darted off, I set the hook and the drag started screaming! After peeling out sixty feet of line while headed for the middle of the lake, the fish suddenly turned around and came rushing back towards me! I started stripping in line as fast I possibly could while running backwards along the dam in a desperate attempt to keep the line tight and the fish on. Then the fish turned just twenty feet from the shore and took off again. This time I started applying more pressure and all of a sudden the fish crashed through the surface and thrashing about in the water. As she created a massive disturbance on the once still waters I stood in awe of the display of strength from this fish. I employed some aggressive maneuvers by tightening my drag, palming the reel and holding my flyline tight with my right index fingers so the fish couldn’t strip line from my reel as easily and I was finally able to net and released a nice, fat 23-inch Rainbow trout.
For the next two hours we were repeating this process of catching and releasing nineteen to twenty three inch trout.
“What a way to start the day” I told Manuel. “I know” he replied, “I just caught more trout over 20 inches in a couple hours then I have in my entire life!”We were amazed by the size of the fish in Merrick Lake but were now eager to explore more of the ranch so we hit the road.
There are so many lakes on the property it can be hard to pick a destination but we couldn't resist fishing Munn Lake after hearing of a 11-pound rainbow that was caught by a 10-year-old boy just two days earlier. We pulled up to Munn Lake to find the winds had picked up and snow was starting to fall but that didn’t stop us. We loaded one of the boats and launched into high winds with ease thanks to the 55-lb thrust trolling motor they provided us. After trolling the lake for a while we drifted by the dam and cast to the bank where we caught some chunky Rainbows.
While taking a lunch break back at the truck we relaxed and watched as the winds pushed across the dry grassy plains and forced the blades to bend in the breeze. The shade from passing clouds was constantly casting shadows on the ground and the surrounding mountains, making for an ever changing scene. The mountain peaks lacked the usual snow pack one would expect this time of year and the lakes’ water levels reflected the dismal amount of snowfall received over the winter.
Nonetheless, we decided it was time for a change of scenery so we headed off to Bernal Lake where the water was gin clear and the fish easily spooked.I decided to downsize my tippet from 1X/13 pound line to 5X/4 pound line and did the same with my fly removing the #4-3X long 4” black streamer and replaced it with a similar version of the same fly but only 2 inches long and managed to land a couple 18" bows.
Being this was a fly rod only lake, Manuel had to pick up a flyrod for his first time. But these weren’t easy fish to catch and Manuel was having some troubles getting the fly to them without spooking everything within 20 feet so we decided to take off for another lake were we both could throw the gear we were most familiar/successful with.
While en route to Lower Underwoods Lake we watched the temperature gauge inside the vehicle steadily fall; not unlike the snow that seemed to be getting thicker by the minute. It was obvious we were going to be in for a much colder fishing experience up here in the high country.
We arrived at the lake just as the small storm passed over us and the clouds broke almost inviting us to start fishing.
This lake provided tons of action; the fish were very colorful, healthy and full of spirit giving us a great fight every time we latched into one. Manuel was enjoying himself much more now that he had a spinning rod in his hands and I was happy to know I wouldn’t have any more flies buried in my hat during his backcast so I think it’s safe to say leaving Bernal was a good choice at the time.Before we realized what happened a storm came from nowhere and in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, the wind and snow had become unbearable.
It was starting to get late and with dinner was being served from 7 to 9:00 p.m. so we decided to wrap-up for the day back where we had started; at the dam on Merrick Lake. This is the closest lake to lodge so it would allow us to get the most out of our last few hours of fishing on this our first day. I'm sure we could have caught fish all night but after padding the day’s numbers with several more twenty plus Rainbows here we finally called it quits and headed back to the lodge. We were ready for a good meal, hot showers and some sleep in hopes of resting our sore bodies from battling big, hard fighting trout, all day!
Upon our arrival back at the lodge, an employee at the the Fish House grabbed our cooler which contained 5 trout and asked us how we would like them cleaned. He gave us a number of options from filleted with or without skin, head on or off, create personal portions or freeze each fish whole on its own; we both requested fillets and saw no need to create portions. Then the same gentlemen quickly unloaded our batteries and we made the fifty foot walk to the main lodge for dinner.
We stumbled into the dinning room and noticed a table with the name "Pelletier" on a card so we sat down there and a friendly gal came up and asked us what we would like to drink and presented us with a menu.
The options were excellent but neither of us could resist the Stuffed bacon wrapped Top Sirloin Bison with mash potatoes and green beans. During the short wait we walked the two-storied lodge gazing at all the décor and pictures that told a story of the history and lives behind Ranch. The lodge features many game mounts the most amazing of which we found to be the full body Albino bull Elk hanging over the bar. In the same room a huge chandelier made entirely of Elk and Deer antlers hangs from the ceiling, and another similar, yet ever bigger chandelier, hangs in the dinning room. The interior of the lodge consists of exposed, wooden, beams which were taken from the forest here on Vermejo Ranch, just like the wild game meat we were about to enjoy.
Before we knew it there was a juicy Bison steak on the table which turned out to be one of the best dishes I've ever eaten in my life! As a matter of fact, every time I've visited the ranch the menu has been different and ended up being some of the best dishes I've ever tasted.
The next morning we awoke refreshed and ready for another epic day!We repeated the previous morning’s routine of enjoying a fantastic breakfast and then had our truck loaded with a new cooler of ice and some fresh batteries for the boat.
2008 Rainbow from Vermejo's Bartlett Lake
While we were
making our way down the shoreline I was shocked to see a massive bear in
the direction we were walking. I yelled over to Manuel “Bear!”, he
nearly jumped, quickly looked over his shoulder, then at me and said
“where? I turned to point and said “right where I wanted to fish, over
there by the cattails”. The bear wasn’t bothered by our presence at all
and kept going about his business as if we weren’t even there. Although
the bear was preoccupied we decided we had better stay put and be
content with the water in front of us.
We continued catching browns, and rainbows for the next hour, all while looking over our shoulder for a rushing bear. Finally we decided we had enough and it was time to try and chase down the bear from the boat in hopes of getting close enough for some good pictures. All the while, the bear was still moseying around and had wound up in an open meadow staking claim to his property on every tree and bush in site. We launched in no time at all, set the motor for high, and started towards the bear. It was a large Brown bear and judging by the size I would defiantly say it was a big male. We watched as the bear was continued marking his scent on the pine trees near the shoreline. We were hoping to get pictures of him while he was standing on its hind legs, scratching, bending, and shaking these large trees as if they were toys. Unfortunately it never happened but It was the first time I ever got to witness the raw strength of these animals first hand and I’ll never forget the display of power exhibited.
We continued catching browns, and rainbows for the next hour, all while looking over our shoulder for a rushing bear. Finally we decided we had enough and it was time to try and chase down the bear from the boat in hopes of getting close enough for some good pictures. All the while, the bear was still moseying around and had wound up in an open meadow staking claim to his property on every tree and bush in site. We launched in no time at all, set the motor for high, and started towards the bear. It was a large Brown bear and judging by the size I would defiantly say it was a big male. We watched as the bear was continued marking his scent on the pine trees near the shoreline. We were hoping to get pictures of him while he was standing on its hind legs, scratching, bending, and shaking these large trees as if they were toys. Unfortunately it never happened but It was the first time I ever got to witness the raw strength of these animals first hand and I’ll never forget the display of power exhibited.
After the big bear chase and its disappointing conclusion we caught several more fish but we wanted to continue exploring more of the ranch so we set out for Adams Lake.
This lake is slightly smaller compared to Bartlett and has a reputation for not being as windy when the waves at Bartlett are rolling. Adams Lake consists of rocky transitions, grass flats, some large Juniper logs laying down halfway in the water and others protruding from the depths, and several patches of cattails along the bank. Pine, Oak, and Juniper trees surrounded the lake but set back far enough to allow fly casting from the shore.
We wrapped up our Adams lake session having landed many fish and decided to finish the day where our great adventure began, at Merrick Lake.
While unloading our gear I suggested to Manuel that he should bring his flyrod along. This would be a great opportunity for him to land his first fish on a fly and I couldn't imagine him leaving without having battled one of these monsters on the “longstick”. He agreed and accepted the challenge.
Manuel didn’t even need any casting lessons and was quickly casting 20’ of line with ease, and that was all he needed to reach fish in this lake. Within a couple casts Manuel had a 21.5-inch trout hooked up and was in for a real battle.
It didn't take long for Manuel to land a couple more trout on the fly and with a quick lesson on how to palm the reel to create drag he was bringing in those big Rainbows like a veteran flyfisherman. We continued catching fish throughout the afternoon but the time for our departure was drawing near.
Our last catch of the day occurred as we both hooked fish at the same time. After netting my fish I managed to fit his fish into the net at the same time and we were staring at 45-inches of mean, squirming, trout.After grabbing some pictures we decided we were both exhausted and content with leaving the ranch.
What an amazing experience, thanks to Vermejo Ranch for taking such great care of us during our visit!
I look forward to returning this winter to stay in the newly built $8 million dollar Costilla Lodge. Ranch employees say it rivals the Headquarters where we had been staying at during our trip.
Right now the Ranch is offering an introductory Winter rate of only $250 per person, per night. It includes: room, gourmet meals, winter activities including; ice fishing snow shoeing, Nordic skiing, sledding/tubing, wildlife viewing, and a guide.
Click here to see the story with more pictures on our Forum: http://www.fishenchantment.com/SMF/index.php?topic=3660.0
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