Gila National Forest (and Redstone Park)

[woody22075]

Hi All,

I am a new comer to the board. I live out east (Virginia) but will be travelling to NM this May for a week-long backpack in Gila NF. I am interested in doing a little bit of fishing for a day or two while hiking and have read that the Gila River and Redstone Park have fish. That is about all I have been able to find out. I would really appreciate any further info--e.g. general fishing conditions, types of fish (I hear it is smallmouth, trout and catfish in some places), anything that might be useful.

Thanks alot!

Marshall

[Al_HikesAZ]

In response to woody22075's reply:
Someone here might be able to help you. And I don’t want to seem unfriendly, but this is hikearizona.com not fishnewmexico.com . . . Gila NF is near Silver City, NM – about 65 miles east of the Arizona border and about 200 miles east of Tucson, AZ. There is a Gila River in AZ, but no Gila NF.

You might have better results if you do an advance search on google. With the exact phrase “New Mexico” and the words fishing, hike, hikes, hiking, . . .

Some of the results I found were
http://www.artesianews.com/fish.htm
http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recreat ... /index.htm

Enjoy your vacation.

[whereveriroam]

I went to Redstone Park (Whitewater Creek) on 2 trips last year and I did see some fish but they were small and since I'm not a fish person I can't tell you what they were. However on another backpack last year to Skunk Johnson cabin which sits at the junction of the N. Fork of Dry Creek and Dry Creek in the SE portion of the wilderness I met 3 different NM fisherman who told me that the best trout fishing in the Gila was right there. I do have to add that there was a lot of moisture up there last year (we got hailed on during Memorial day) but this year from what I hear it's been really dry over there so the Creeks will probably be running low or even dry. You can also try calling the Glenwood RD and they might be of more help than I. Hope you have a good trip and I must say the Redstone Park trail is on the very top of my list of favorite hikes, its a jewel.