New Mexico fishing and stocking reports for October 6

10/06/2020

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

This fishing report, provided by Dustin Berg of Go Unlimited (supporting disabled anglers) 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 latest stocking report

Get your New Mexico fishing license

(Valid April 1 to March 31; 2020-2021 licenses are on sale)

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT:

As COVID-19 continues to force all of us to make changes to our daily schedule, the Department would like to remind you that together we can make a difference. To help minimize the spread of the virus:

Practice social distancing
Wash your hands regularly
Avoid non-essential travel
Wear a face covering
Avoid interacting with large groups

Click the flyer to the right. Please share it with your friends and family.

Take the Bass Challenge!

To promote bass fishing opportunities in New Mexico and encourage anglers to branch out and discover new fishing waters and bass species, anglers can now participate in the New Mexico Bass Challenge. Catch the four bass species listed below that are found in and inhabit lakes within New Mexico (spotted bass, white bass, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass) to receive your certificate and a challenge coin.

The Department is continuing to adapt our ways of working to conserve wildlife for all New Mexicans. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Department biologists and conservation officers continue to conduct wildlife surveys, contact anglers and OHV recreationists and stock fish in open waters throughout the state.

Our teams are wearing personal protective equipment for everyone’s safety while working in small groups for maximum social distancing. We ask for your help to keep everyone safe and healthy by following the NMDOH public health emergency order by wearing PPE while staying at least six feet away from staff and equipment.

Catches of the week

Bluewater Lake: Mikayla Randall, age 13, of Albuquerque, caught a 35-inch tiger muskie using a jointed gold Rapala lure Oct. 3. Jessica Pacheco, of Albuquerque, caught and released a 38-inch tiger muskie using water dogs Oct. 3.

Chama River: Uriah Baldonado, of Belen, caught a 15-inch brown trout using a yellow and orange Panther Martin spinner Oct. 3. Marcus Mattmann, of Los Lunas, caught a 15-inch brown trout using a brown and white Rooster Tail spinner Oct. 3.

Eagle Nest Lake: Lucas Salas, age 13, of Albuquerque, took 3^rd Place at the Eagle Nest Fishing Tournament with a 20.5-inch rainbow trout caught using a Platte River Pistol Pete spinner Sept. 27.

Hopewell Lake: Aileen Contreras, of Los Lunas, caught an 18-inch rainbow trout using live worms Sept. 30.

Laguna del Campo: Brooke Martinez, age 6, of Espanola, caught a 22-inch rainbow trout using green PowerBait Oct. 2.

Navajo Lake: Matthew Medina, of Albuquerque, caught his limit of kokanee salmon using snagging hooks Oct. 1.

Red River: Robert Ortiz Sr. and Robert Ortiz Jr., of Rio Rancho, caught a 23 and 20-inch rainbow trout, respectively, using dry fly dropper setups Sept. 30.

The following reports came in late, but we thought they were worth mentioning.

Bluewater Lake: Warren Wolf, of Albuquerque, caught a 33-inch tiger muskie using an 8-inch horsehair fly Sept. 23.

Jemez River: Peyton Gonzales, age 3, caught her first fish, a 12-inch rainbow trout, at the Battleship Rock picnic area using salmon eggs Sept. 25.

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 funfishingnm@gmail.com. We may include your story in our next report.

For catches of the week, include name, age, hometown, date, location, type of fish, length, and weight if possible, and bait, lure or fly used.

Northeast Fishing Report

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

Charette Lakes: Fishing for trout was good using worms, salmon eggs and bead head nymph flies.

Cimarron River: Stream flow near Cimarron Monday morning was 10.5 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using fly dry dropper setups with zebra midges and tricos.

Clayton Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good using PowerBait and nightcrawlers. Fishing for catfish was fair to good using chicken liver and homemade baits.

Conchas Lake: Fishing for bass was fair to good using crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

Costilla Creek: Stream flow near Costilla Monday morning was 6.14 cfs. Portions closed Sept. 24 – Oct. 9, 2020: Rio Costilla, from Costilla Dam downstream to the Valle Vidal Boundary, including all tributaries and Comanche Creek, from the road culvert crossing on FR 1950 downstream to its confluence with Rio Costilla and all tributaries. FR 1950 is open for public travel, but stopping within the marked project area is prohibited. The primary goal of the overall project is to expand native Rio Grande cutthroat trout distribution in northern New Mexico by 120 miles, with the majority of the project already completed. This year’s project will remove nonnative fish within the closed area with a tentative restocking of Rio Grande cutthroat trout in Spring 2022. Places to fish nearby include Costilla Creek below the fish barrier, Upper Comanche Creek, Shuree Ponds, Middle Ponil Creek, Upper Powderhouse Creek, Little Costilla Creek, Vidal Creek and McCrystal Creek.

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

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

Eagle Nest Lake: Fishing for perch was good using worms. Fishing for trout was good trolling brown and black Woolly Buggers tipped with corn.

Eagle Rock Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Gallinas River: Fishing for trout was fair using worms.

Hopewell Lake: Fishing for trout was good using green Pistol Pete’s spinners and live worms.

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

Lake Maloya: Fishing for trout was fair using silver spinners.

Los Pinos River: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Maxwell Lake 13: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Monastery Lake: Closed due to COVID-19 health concerns. Check the Open Gate webpage for future updates.

Morphy Lake: Closed for a renovation project on the dam. No firm opening date is set.

Pecos River: Stream flow near the town of Pecos Monday morning was 18.6 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using Baetis nymph flies, salmon eggs, worms, hare’s ear nymphs and bead head nymph flies.

Red River: Stream flow below the hatchery Monday morning was 30.6 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using a dry fly with dropper setups with small nymphs and worms.

Rio Grande: Stream flow at the Taos Junction Bridge Monday morning was 159 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using crane fly nymphs with small Baetis bead head nymphs trailing and dry/dropper fly rigs.

Rio Hondo: Stream flow Monday morning near Valdez was 19.1 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair using small attractor dry flies.

Rio Mora: Stream flow Monday morning was 11.4 cfs.

Rio Pueblo: Stream flow near Penasco Monday morning was 2.56 cfs. Anglers reported that the water level was very low and not good for fishing.

Santa Cruz Reservoir: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

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

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

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

Ute Lake: Fishing for white bass was fair trolling Flicker Shad lures. Fishing for large and smallmouth bass was fair in 10- to 15-feet of water using Senko worms, chatterbaits and swimbaits. Fishing for walleye was fair using vibrating jigs in 30 to 40-feet of water on main lake points. Fishing for catfish was fair to good using chicken liver and nightcrawlers. The surface water temperature was in the mid 60’s and the water color was clear.

Northwest Fishing Report

Abiquiu Lake: Due to low water levels, anglers are advised to use four-wheel-drive vehicles to launch boats and watch for obstructions on the water.

Animas River: Water flow below Aztec Monday morning was 18.3 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Bluewater Lake: Fishing for tiger muskie was good using 8-inch streamer flies, jointed Rapala lures, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, spoons and water dogs. Fishing for trout was slow to fair using PowerBait. Fishing for catfish was very good using chicken liver and water dogs.

Brazos River: Fishing for trout was fair to good using bead-head nymph and Woolly Bugger flies.

Canjilon Lakes: Fishing for trout was good using black dry flies.

Chama River: Monday morning flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 99.5 cfs and 102 cfs, respectively. Fishing for trout below El Vado Lake was fair to good using orange and yellow Panther Martin spinners, brown and white Rooster Tail spinners, nightcrawlers and PowerBait. Fishing for trout below Abiquiu Lake was fair using black Woolly Buggers, eggs and San Juan worms.

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

El Vado Lake: The lake is open for the salmon snagging season. Park hours are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Fenton Lake: Fishing for trout was good using black leech flies, salmon eggs, PowerBait and worms.

Heron Lake: Salmon snagging season starts Nov. 9. Fishing was reported as slow.

Jemez Waters: Stream flow on the Jemez River near the town of Jemez Monday morning was 5.96 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good using salmon eggs and worms.

Laguna del Campo: Fishing for trout was good using yellow and green garlic-scented PowerBait.

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

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

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

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

Navajo Lake: Fishing for bass was fair using watermelon plastic tubes and crankbaits. Fishing for kokanee salmon using snagging hooks was very good. Trolling for kokanee salmon was fair to good 85-feet deep.

San Gregorio Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

San Juan River: Stream flow Monday morning was 721 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was good using size 24 black, crème and brown midges, chocolate foam wing emergers, red annelids and small Baetis nymph flies.

Seven Springs Brood Pond: The pond is closed due to Covid-19 health concerns. Check the Department’s Alerts page for future updates.

Tingley Beach: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Southwest Fishing Report

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

Bear Canyon Lake: Fishing for crappie was fair to good using grey flies and minnows.

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

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

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for white bass was good trolling white crankbaits and casting Sassy Shad. Fishing for walleye was fair to good trolling crankbaits close to the lake bottom. Fishing for catfish at night was good using cut carp and liver. Fishing for bass was good using lipless rattle trap lures.

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

Gila River: Stream flow Monday morning was 25.0 cfs. Fishing for rainbow and Gila trout was good near Middle Fork using peacock nymph flies.

Glenwood Pond: Fishing for trout was good using mayflies.

Lake Roberts: Fishing for catfish was good using beef liver and worms. Fishing for trout was good using pink and orange PowerBait, flavored salmon eggs and gray/black flies.

Percha Dam: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Quemado Lake: Fishing for trout was good using PowerBait and worms.

Rancho Grande Ponds: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Rio Grande: Stream flow below Elephant Butte Monday morning was 0.0 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Trees Lake: Fishing for catfish was fair using liver and worms.

Young Pond: Anglers reported fishing as slow and there is a lot of moss in the pond.

Southeast Fishing Report

Alto Lake: Fishing for trout was good using green and yellow PowerBait. Fishing for catfish was fair using Fireballs.

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

Black River: Stream flow at Malaga Monday morning was 6.49 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Blue Hole Park Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Bonito Lake: The lake is closed until further notice by the city of Alamogordo due to fire damage. It appears now that the lake will be out of commission until 2022.

Bosque Redondo Lake: Fishing for catfish was fair to good using hotdogs.

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

Brantley Lake: Fishing for bass was good using watermelon and pumpkin-colored plastic worms.

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

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

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

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

Green Meadow Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Greene Acres Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing for trout was good using peach salmon PowerBait.

Jal Lake: Fishing for catfish was good using cut bait and homemade dough bait.

Lake Van: Fishing for catfish was good using chicken liver ad worms.

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

Pecos River: Stream flow below Sumner Lake Monday morning was 92.3 cfs. Fishing for catfish was good using hotdogs and worms.

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

Ruidoso River: Stream flow Monday morning at Hollywood was 3.09 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.

Santa Rosa Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Tips and Tricks

Selecting the Right Fishing Line

As a general standard, I have found a six-pound test fishing line to be a great all-around line for catching trout and bass. When selecting a fishing line, there is a general balance to achieve between your line being strong enough while, at the same time, being small/flexible enough to go undetected by the fish. It goes without saying that your fishing line needs to be strong enough to withstand the fight of a fish, but the second element, the line being small/flexible, is often overlooked. You want your line to be small and flexible enough so that your bait or lure appears natural to the fish you are after. For example, if you are using a heavy pound test line, such as 20-pound, with a 2- or 3-inch lure, the stiffness of the heavy pound test line will limit the wobble and shake of the lure upon retrieve. Restricting the movement of the lure takes away from the action that provokes a fish to bite. Using a heavy pound test line with a small bait such as a salmon egg makes the bait look stiff and limits the amount of movement underwater. You, and the fish, want the bait to move naturally with the water current.

Now let’s talk about selecting monofilament or fluorocarbon fishing line. The first thing to know is that fluorocarbon line sinks, whereas monofilament line has more buoyancy. This is an important issue; deciding which line to use depends on the type of fishing you are doing. If you are fly-fishing and using dry flies that float on the water’s surface, you run the risk of submerging your fly if you use a fluorocarbon line that wants to sink. For dry fly-fishing, the monofilament line is better. The monofilament line is also less expensive, which makes it a budget-friendly line to use.

The fluorocarbon fishing line is known to be less visible to the fish and has less line stretch. This is important if you are fishing for finicky fish or fish that bite your hook lightly, and you need to feel the fish bite. The more the line stretches, the less sensitivity you can feel through your rod. Bass fishing subsurface is a good example of when fluorocarbon line is the line to use. For example, if you are using a jig and bouncing it along the bottom of the lake, you want to feel when a fish picks up your jig. In this example, the fish also has plenty of time to inspect your jig before deciding to bite. The use of fluorocarbon might limit the bass’s ability to detect the fishing line because it is less visible.

Finally, it is easy to think that the fluorocarbon line is less visible to the fish and, therefore, the obvious line choice. Do not count monofilament line out. There was a time not long ago when monofilament was the only fishing line available, and it caught plenty of fish.

Closure Information:

The Department reminds anglers it is their responsibility to be aware of closures and contact land managers for properties of interest when restrictions are lifted.