Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Visit To Aurelio's Heaven

I've got quite a few places on my personal bucket list and Costilla Creek Fishing Lodge is certainly a place that I would like to visit as it seems from a long list of discussions on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum to be a proving ground for light line weight glass.

Recently David Zor made a trip to Costilla Creek, met up with Aurelio Reed, and enjoyed a few days at his lodge and on a myraid of water nearby.


David wrote...  "I had read about the Costilla Creek Fishing Lodge on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum a while back and when I found out I had a big chunk of days off last week I decided to give the owner, Aurelio Reed, a ring and see if he had some space at the last minute. As it turns out he could fit me in and the next morning I was on my way. 

It's about an eleven hour drive from Phoenix and I planned on getting up there before sundown with a bit of fishing time left in the day.  However, enjoying the scenery, taking back roads and quality food stops took priority over what may have amounted to an hour on the water at most.  I did make it up there just in time for dinner and I was about to find out that when you show up at the Costilla Creek Fishing Lodge you'd better bring an appetite. 

Aurelio grew up on 'the Hill' in St. Louis which is known for it's great Italian food.  Turns out Aurelio cooked at a few of those famous restaurants when he lived there and carried his love of Italian cooking with him to New Mexico.  Being a native of St. Louis myself, Aurelio's cooking was like a taste of home. 

Besides cooking, Aurelio's other specialty is small creek fishing with light lined fiberglass rods. After dinner we spent the evening discussing the nearly endless water around his lodge for me to explore the next day as well as a lengthy discussion on glass rods.  The next few days I fished a variety of different waters from tiny meadow creeks to fast canyon rivers, all within an hour or so of the lodge. Aurelio's info and advice was spot on for the conditions and fish that I'd encounter.  We even got to spend an afternoon fishing together on his private stretch of Costilla Creek adjacent to the lodge where he let me borrow his 6'6" three weight Scott F2.  The F2 went right to the top of my must have list as it's super light in hand and deadly accurate.  It can lay out a great roll cast when you're in the tight stuff. 

I can't thank Aurelio and his wife MJ enough for the hospitality and for sharing their slice of New Mexico with me."









Visit the Costilla Creek Fishing Lodge website for more information and to schedule your visit to Aurelio's piece of heaven.

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