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<br />ooa3JO <br /> <br />Fish <br /> <br />Approximately 275 miles of trout streams originate within the unit. The best fishing streams <br />are the Conejos, the upper Rio Blanco, the Rio de los Pinos and the East Fork of the San <br />Juan Rivers and their larger tributaries. Fish populations occur in most of the streams within <br />the unit. The Alamosa River, however, contains little or no fish life due to natural water <br />pollution resulting from excessive amounts of iron in the water. <br /> <br />Fish species include brown, rainbow, book, and cutthroat trout. The population of <br />cutthroat trout is quite low in the larger waterways, but increases in many of the small <br />tributaries. Large numbers of trout, primarily rainbow, are stocked in the waterways each <br />year by the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the New Mexico Department of Game and <br />Fish. <br /> <br />Three reservoirs and about 25 high lakes contain fish. Species in the higher lakes are <br />primarily rainbow and cutthroat trout. Platoro Reservoir has a combination of brook. <br />rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout. <br /> <br />The majority of the better fishing streams are highly accessible by roads and trails parallel to <br />these streams. Most of the fishing occurs during the summer. Many of the high lakes are <br />fished heavily, although access is usually restricted to foot and horse, or in some cases, <br />motorcycle travel. <br />