32 Therma Dr, Eagle Nest, NM 87718
Kirk's Fly Shop occupies a landmark position along the Enchanted Circle in Eagle Nest, New Mexico, a small mountain village perched at 8,200 feet elevation in the Moreno Valley. The shop has been a fixture for fly anglers making their way through the region for decades, serving as the essential pit stop for anglers headed to the Cimarron River, Moreno Valley streams, Eagle Nest Lake, and the upper Red River drainage. Owner Kirk Westerfield built the shop around intimate local knowledge accumulated over years of fishing the high-country waters of Colfax and Taos counties, and that knowledge remains the shop's defining asset.
Kirk's offers guided wade and float trips on the Cimarron and its tributaries, known for their feisty wild brown trout in tight timber-lined corridors that demand accurate casting and a delicate touch. The shop also covers Eagle Nest Lake, a large alpine reservoir stocked with rainbow, brown, and kokanee salmon that fishes well from float tubes and kayaks. Fly selection emphasizes the attractor dry flies, hopper patterns, and small nymphs that dominate high-altitude New Mexico fishing. The shop stocks quality gear, tying materials, and fishing licenses, and provides the kind of candid, detailed local reporting that only comes from someone who was out there yesterday.
“Kirk's has been my first stop every time I visit the Enchanted Circle for the past eight years. The owner knows the Cimarron and the high-country streams better than anyone I've encountered. He sent us to a stretch of the Cimarron we'd never fished and we had a perfect morning — wild browns in gin-clear water under a canyon full of ponderosa. Irreplaceable shop.”
“Rented float tubes for Eagle Nest Lake from Kirk and got a full briefing on where the rainbows and kokanee were running. Everything he said turned out to be accurate — we were into fish within 20 minutes of launching. The shop is small but extremely well-run and the staff are refreshingly honest about conditions.”
“Essential stop for anyone fishing the northern New Mexico high country. Kirk has been fishing these waters forever and the advice is always current and specific. Good local fly selection, helpful staff. If you're heading to the Cimarron or up into the Valle Vidal, stop here first.”
