New Mexico · Mixed · Southwest
Rio Chama — Chamita
Public-access reaches; flow is often regulated. Verify current regulations.
New Mexico · public-access reaches. This page is what the desk knows about the water itself. What it is doing today — flow, water temperature, weather, and the hazards those produce — is a reading with a date on it, and it lives in Trip Prep.
Plan a trip on Rio Chama — ChamitaStores this page so it opens with no signal. Live flow and weather are never stored.
Who manages it
New Mexico Department of Wildlife
These links were checked against the live agency site on 2026-10-27. Rules for a water change inside a season, so the agency’s own page on the day you go is the only current answer — this desk does not hold one.
Directory review
Review provenance unavailable
The fleet directory holds no record by this name in New Mexico, so there is no directory review to show.
The agency links on this page were checked on 2026-10-27; check the agency’s own page the day you go.
How access works here
Mixed — some drive-to, some walk-in
This reach mixes drive-to and walk-in access. Some sections are road-adjacent, others need a walk from public ground.
Launch · Launch type varies by access point. Confirm on the agency map before you tow a boat to it.
Parking · Parking is at designated access points. A pullout that looks fine is not automatically legal or safe to leave a vehicle in.
New Mexico publishes fishing maps and accessibility information; the state's stream-access law has changed in recent years, so check the current rule rather than an old one.
Gauge
A public gauge is mapped
Flow and water temperature for this water are read from USGS site 08290000, Rio Chama near Chamita, NM. It is an official public gauge, not a fishing pin: it describes the river at one point, and the reach you stand in may be doing something else.
Species · derived
5 plausible here
Derived from water class (mixed) and Southwest range — not a stocking record. Confirm species, seasons and any closures with New Mexico Department of Wildlife.
Rainbow trout
52–64°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Brown trout
54–67°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Cutthroat trout
48–62°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 66°F
Smallmouth bass
67–78°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 84°F
Largemouth bass
75–86°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 90°F