NM Game and Fish Fishing Report Sept 22, 2015

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This fishing report, provided by Bill Dunn and the Department of Game and Fish, has been generated from the best information available from area officers and anglers. Conditions encountered after the report is compiled may differ, as stream, lake and weather conditions alter fish and angler activities.

Check out the stocking report through Sept. 11. Lake levels and stream flows.

REMINDER: Saturday, Sept. 26 is free fishing day. No license required to fish public waters. All other fishing rules and regulations apply. Take the family and friends fishing.

Catches of the week:

Bluewater Lake: Landon Winner, 11, of Tome, caught and released a 33-inch tiger muskie Sept. 19. He was using a black and silver crank bait. Curtis Winner caught and released a 37-inch tiger muskie Sept. 19. He was also using a black and silver crank bait.
Brantley Lake: Robert Blackburn, 7, and Jordin Blackburn 9 of Artesia, caught and released 27 largemouth bass including two 4-pound beauties Sept. 20. They were using plastic worms and flukes. Anglers should practice catch and release for all fish here as high levels of pesticides have been found in some fish.
Cochiti Lake: Joshua Garcia, 13, of Albuquerque, caught and released a nice smallmouth bass Sept. 15. He was using a night crawler.
Pecos River: Hunter Charles, 4, of Albuquerque, caught his first two rainbow trout Sept. 19. He was using salmon eggs. Serenity Charles, 11, of Albuquerque, caught three nice rainbows Sept. 20. She was using salmon eggs and salmon peach PowerBait.
Rio Grande: Bert Scott of Albuquerque, caught a 22-inch brown trout Sept. 17. He was fishing the upper Rio and using a # 7 rainbow colored floating Rapala.

If you have a catch of the week story or just want to tell us about your latest New Mexico fishing experience, send it to us at fishforfun2@hotmail.com. We may include your story in our next report. For catches of the week, include name, age, hometown, date, and location, type of fish, length and weight if possible and bait, lure or fly used.

Sept. 22

Northeast

Charette Lakes: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Cimarron River: Stream flow on Monday below Eagle Nest was 25 cfs. Fishing was fair to good using San Juan worms, brassies, salmon eggs and worms for trout. Fishing at the Gravel Pit Lakes was fair using worms, PowerBait and salmon eggs for trout.

Clayton Lake: Fishing was fair using chicken liver and worms for catfish. Fishing was fair to good using PowerBait, worms and spinners for trout. We had no reports on other species.

Conchas Lake: Fishing was good using worms and curly tail grubs for bluegill. Fishing was very good using top water lures, chigger craws, tubes, senkos, grubs, sweet beavers and worms for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Fishing was fair to good using spoons and crank baits for white bass. Fishing was good using liver, shrimp, stink baits and night crawlers for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Cowles Ponds: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Coyote Creek: Fishing was fair to good using worms, salmon eggs and PowerBait for trout. Fishing at the Coyote Creek Pond was good using worms and salmon eggs for trout.

Eagle Rock Lake: Will reopen for fishing in early October.

Eagle Nest Lake: Trout fishing was fair to good using PowerBait from the bank and from anchored boats. A few trout were also caught by anglers using salmon eggs and spinners. Fishing was fair using worms for perch. We had no reports on kokanee or northern pike. The 23rd annual Fish Fest is underway and runs through Sept. 27. For more information, call 575-377-6941.

Gallinas River: Fishing was good using streamers, salmon eggs and worms for trout.

Hopewell Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Lake Alice: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Lake Maloya: Fishing was fair using PowerBait, salmon eggs, Panther Martins and Pistol Petes for trout.

Los Pinos: Fishing was good using streamers, wooly buggers, San Juan worms, salmon eggs and worms for trout.

Maxwell Lake 13: Fishing was slow for all species.

Monastery Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Morphy Lake: Trout fishing was fair using PowerBait, Pistol Petes, wooly buggers and spinners.

Pecos River: Stream flow on Monday was 57 cfs. Trout fishing was good using San Juan worms, chamois leeches, salmon eggs, Panther Martins, salmon peach PowerBait and worms. We had no reports on catfish. Terrance Charles, his wife Chris and their two youngsters had a great time on the river over the weekend as everyone caught fish. They were using salmon eggs and salmon peach PowerBait.

Red River: Stream flow below the hatchery on Monday was 48 cfs. Fishing was good using poundmeisters, San Juan worms, PowerBait and salmon eggs for trout.

Rio Costilla: Stream flow on Monday near Costilla was 49 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Rio Grande: Stream flow on Monday at the Taos Junction Bridge was 271 cfs. Fishing was good using wooly buggers, spinners, small jerk baits, PowerBait and salmon eggs for trout. Fishing was slow to fair using large streamers for northern pike. Fishing was fair using streamers near the John Dunn Bridge for smallmouth bass.

Rio Hondo: Stream flow on Monday was 20 cfs. Fishing was fair to good using worms, salmon eggs, copper John Barrs and poundmeisters for trout.

Rio Pueblo: Stream flow near Penasco was 6.1 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Santa Barbara: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Santa Cruz Reservoir: Fishing was good using Pistol Petes, PowerBait, salmon eggs, worms and spinners for trout. Anglers did well from boats and from the bank. We had no reports on other species.

Shuree Ponds: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Springer Lake: Fishing was slow for all species.

Storrie Lake: Fishing was slow for all species.

Stubblefield Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Ute Lake: Fishing was good using worms for bluegill. Fishing was good using slab spoons, blade baits, grubs and crank baits for white bass. Fishing was very good using chicken liver and stink bait in shallow water for catfish. We had no reports on other species. The surface water temp was in the mid to upper 70s.

Winsor Creek: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Northwest

Abiquiu Lake: Fishing was good using crank baits, jerk baits, wooly buggers, tubes, worms and night crawlers for smallmouth bass. Fishing was slow to fair using crank baits and spinner night crawler combinations for walleye. We had no reports on other species. The surface water temp was in the low 70s.

Animas River: Water flow near Aztec on Monday morning was 152 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Albuquerque Area Drains: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Bluewater Lake: Fishing was fair using hot dogs, homemade baits and liver for catfish. Fishing was fair to good using crank baits for tiger muskies. Fishing for all other species was slow.

Brazos River: Fishing was fair using small streamers and salmon eggs for trout.

Canjilon Lakes: Closed by the U.S. Forest service until further notice due to danger from falling trees.

Chama River: Monday morning water flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 978 cfs and 649 cfs respectively. Fishing below El Vado was fair using spinners, wooly buggers, PowerBait and salmon eggs for brown and rainbow trout. We had no reports from below Abiquiu.

Cochiti Lake: Fishing was fair using crank baits, spinner baits and jerk baits for smallmouth bass. Fishing was good using liver, shrimp and night crawlers for catfish. We had no reports on other species. The surface water temp was in the low 70s.

El Vado Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Fenton Lake: Fishing was fair using meal worms, earth worms, salmon eggs and Pistol Petes for trout.

Heron Lake: Fishing pressure was very light and fishing was slow. There were a few rainbow trout and one small lake trout caught by anglers using spinners.

Jackson Lake: Fishing was slow for all species.

Jemez Waters: Stream flow near Jemez on Monday morning was 13 cfs. Fishing on the Jemez was fair using worms, salmon eggs and small streamers for trout. Fishing on the Cebolla above and below Fenton Lake was very good using stimulators, San Juan worms, meal worms and earth worms for trout. Joshua Garcia, 13, and his dad, Wayne Garcia of Albuquerque, had a great fishing trip to the East Fork and San Antonio rivers on Sept. 19. They caught and released a large number of cutthroat and brown trout and kept limits of rainbows. Total number of fish caught was 45 and they were using Panther Martins, worms and salmon eggs.

Laguna Del Campo: Fishing was very good using Pistol Petes, PowerBait, salmon eggs and small crank baits for trout.

Lake Farmington: Fishing was slow for all species. Nonmotorized watercraft are now allowed on Lake Farmington. Fees are $50 for the season or $5 daily.

Manzano Lake: Fishing was fair using worms, spinners and Pistol Petes for trout. We had no reports on other species.

Navajo Lake: Fishing was fair to good using top water lures, worms, sweet beavers, tubes and crank baits for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Fishing for was fair to good using crank baits and jerk baits for northern pike. We had no reports on other species.

San Gregorio Lake: Fishing was slow.

San Juan: Water flow below Navajo Lake on Monday morning was 629 cfs. Fishing through the Quality Water section was good using parachute Adams, BWOs, midge clusters, bunny leeches, small pheasant tail nymphs and wooly buggers. Fishing through the bait waters was good using night crawlers, Gulp eggs, rainbow colored jerk baits, wooly buggers, wooly worms, copper John Barrs and San Juan worms.

Seven Springs Brood Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Tingley Beach: Fishing at the Central Pond was fair using shrimp, liver and worms for catfish. We had no reports on other species or from the other ponds.

Trout Lakes: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Southwest

Alumni Pond: Fishing was fair using liver and hot dogs for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Bear Canyon: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Bill Evans Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Caballo Lake: Fishing was fair using liver and night crawlers for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing was fair to good using crank baits, blade baits, spoons and curly tail grubs for white bass. Fishing for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass was slow to fair using plastic worms, tubes, sweet beavers, senkos and jerk baits. Fishing was fair to good using chicken liver, shrimp, night crawlers and cut bait for catfish. We had no reports on other species. The surface water temp ranged from the mid to high 70s.

Escondida Lake: Fishing was fair to good using beef liver, shrimp, night crawlers and hot dogs for catfish. Fishing for all other species was slow.

Gila River: Stream flow as of Monday morning was 99 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Glenwood Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Lake Roberts: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Percha Dam: Fishing was slow for all species.

Quemado Lake: Fishing was good using PowerBait, salmon eggs and worms for trout. Fidel Contreras reported good fishing as he and his group caught good numbers of rainbow trout up to 16 inches. They were using worms and PowerBait. We had no reports on tiger muskie.

Rio Grande: Stream flow as of Monday morning was .70 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Snow Lake: Fishing was fair to good using PowerBait, salmon eggs and spinners for trout.

Young Pond: Fishing for catfish was good early in the week but tapered off dramatically over the past weekend. Early week catches were by anglers using liver and hot dogs. We had no reports on other species.

Southeast

Bataan Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Black River: Stream flow at Malaga on Monday was 26 cfs. Fishing was slow for all species.

Blue Hole Park Pond: Fishing was fair to good using salmon eggs and PowerBait for trout. We had no reports on other species.

Bonito Lake: Closed until further notice by the city of Alamogordo due to fire damage.

Bosque Redondo: Fishing was slow for all species.

Bottomless Lakes: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Brantley Lake: Anglers should practice catch-and-release for all fish here as high levels of pesticides have been found in some fish. Fishing was very good using flukes, tubes, plastic worms and grubs for largemouth bass. Fishing was very good using worms and small grubs for bluegill. Fishing was slow to fair using small grubs and crank baits for crappie. Fishing was fair using crank baits and curly tail grubs for white bass. Fishing was good using night crawlers and shrimp for channel catfish and flat head catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Carlsbad Municipal Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Chaparral Park Lake: Fishing was fair using shrimp and worms for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

El Rito Creek: Fishing was fair to good using worms, PowerBait and salmon eggs for trout. A few catfish were caught by anglers using worms and liver. We had no reports on other species.

Eunice Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Green Meadow Lake: Fishing was fair using shrimp, worms and chicken liver for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Greene Acres Lake: Fishing was good using chicken liver and worms for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing was good using PowerBait, worms, salmon eggs and Pistol Petes under a bubble for trout. Fishing was fair to good using liver and worms for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Jal Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Lake Van: Fishing was slow with just a few catfish caught by anglers using liver and shrimp.

Oasis Park Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Pecos River: Stream flow below Sumner Lake as of Monday morning was 99 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Perch Lake: Fishing was fair to good using worms and liver for catfish. We had no reports on other species.

Ruidoso River: Stream flow at Hollywood on Monday was 8.1 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Santa Rosa Lake: Fishing was fair using chicken liver, shrimp and night crawlers for catfish. Fishing was fair using tubes, worms and crank baits for smallmouth bass. We had no reports on other species. The surface water temp was in the low to mid 70s.

Sumner Lake: Fishing was fair using deep diving crank baits, spinners and spoons for white bass. Fishing was fair to good using crank baits, tubes and grubs for smallmouth bass. Fishing was good using worms for bluegill. Fishing was fair using liver, shrimp and night crawlers for catfish. Fishing for walleye was slow but there were a few caught by anglers using crank baits.