New Mexico fishing and stocking reports

Cochiti Lake: Michael Baros, age 15, of Rio Rancho caught a 24-inch pike using a 2-inch spinner with a copper blade, white body and red dots April 25. Bryan Novotny of Rio Rancho caught an 18.75-inch smallmouth bass using a shallow diving lipless crankbait April 21.

Conchas Lake: Christian Carter of Las Vegas caught a 4-pound smallmouth bass using a crank bait lure April 24.

Eagle Nest Lake: Sabin Pacheco, age 9, of Santa Fe caught a 21-inch rainbow trout using green PowerBait April 24.

Elephant Butte Lake: Michelle Koons of Albuquerque caught and released an 8.5-pound walleye using a white crankbait April 24.

Fenton Lake: Daxon Ferguson, age 2.5, of Los Lunas caught his first fish, a 12-inch rainbow trout, using worms April 22.

Gallinas River: Eli Madrid, age 2, of Las Vegas caught his first fish, a brown trout, using a night crawler April 10.

Grindstone Reservoir: Emmy Lynn Valles, age 4, of Alamogordo caught her very first rainbow trout using pink PowerBait April 19. Audrey Ruiz, age 4, and Adrianne Ruiz, age 3, of Las Cruces caught their limits of rainbow trout ranging in size from 10 to 15-inches using rainbow and yellow garlic PowerBait April 17.

Monastery Lake: Donovan Candelaria and family of Cochiti Pueblo caught their limits of trout using PowerBait April 24.

Pecos River: Martin Castillo of Carlsbad caught a 5-pound largemouth bass below Sumner Lake using a River2Sea Whopper Plopper lure April 10.

Quemado Lake: Jose Padilla of Belen caught a 23-inch rainbow trout using a red Z-Ray spoon April 16.

San Juan River: Shannon Boulanger of Edgewood caught a 19-inch brown trout and a 21-inch rainbow trout using a size 26 midge April 17.

Santa Cruz Reservoir: Ambrose Manzanares Jr., age 6, of Chimayo caught a 13-inch trout using rainbow PowerBait April 23. Bernadette Gallegos of Los Lunas along with friends and family caught their limits of trout using Florida orange PowerBait April 18.

Ute Lake: Ben Sloan, age 13, of Sandia Park caught a 4-pound largemouth bass using a Texas rigged 4-inch worm April 21.

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.

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

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

Cimarron River: Stream flow near Cimarron Monday morning was 24.7 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good using worms and flies.

Clayton Lake: Fishing for trout was good using various colors of scented PowerBait.

Conchas Lake: Conchas Lake State Park has closed access to all boat ramps due to dropping water levels. The boat ramps on the south side of the lake managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are open. Fishing for bass was fair using shallow diving crank bait lures. Fishing for white bass was good using chartreuse lipless and medium diving crankbait lures.

Costilla Creek: The Department has implemented the final phase of a project to expand Rio Grande cutthroat trout in 120 miles of the Costilla watershed in northern New Mexico. The final phase involved removal of fish within a designated area (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) with a tentative restocking of Rio Grande cutthroat 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. The Department anticipates completion of this final phase in the fall of 2021. Please check the Department website for additional information on the project and to identify alternative angling opportunities in the interim.

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 trout was good using salmon peach PowerBait and green PowerBait.

Eagle Rock Lake: Fishing for trout was good using PowerBait and pink PowerBait mice tails.

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

Gallinas River: Fishing for trout was good using nightcrawlers and beadhead nymph flies.

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

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

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

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

Maxwell Lake 13: Anglers reported the lake had little to no water.

Monastery Lake: Fishing for trout was good using green PowerBait, Pistol Petes, worms and Woolly Buggers.

Morphy Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good using Pistol Pete flies and beadhead nymph flies.

Pecos River: Stream flow near the town of Pecos Monday morning was 82.2 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using spinners, Blue Fox spinners, flashback beadhead nymph flies, salmon eggs and worms.

Red River: Stream flow below the hatchery Monday morning was 65.8 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair using salmon eggs and beadhead nymph flies.

Rio Grande: Stream flow at the Taos Junction Bridge Monday morning was 387 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using caddis nymph and caddis dry flies. Fishing for pike was fair using tube jigs near Pilar.

Rio Hondo: Stream flow Monday morning near Valdez was 23.6 cfs.

Rio Mora: Stream flow Monday morning near Terrero was 128 cfs.

Rio Pueblo: Stream flow near Penasco Monday morning was 50.1 cfs.

Santa Cruz Reservoir: Fishing for trout was good trolling spinners and fishing from the bank using orange, rainbow and peach PowerBait.

Shuree Ponds: Closed until July 1, 2021.

Springer Lake: Fishing for pike was good using yellow jigs and rainbow-colored #5 Mepps spinners.

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 to good trolling on the east end of the lake. Fishing for walleye was fair to good using Berkley Gulp minnows and live minnows. Fishing for bass was good using vibrating jigs, swimbaits and crawdad lures. Fishing for catfish was fair in the upper Canadian and Ute Creek. Fishing for crappie was slow to fair using live minnows. The water surface temperature was in the mid 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the main lake color was clear.

Abiquiu Lake: Fishing for walleye was fair to good jigging and trolling crankbaits.

Animas River: Water flow below Aztec Monday morning was 77.2 cfs.

Albuquerque Area Drains: Fishing for trout was slow to fair using worms and plastic minnows.

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

Brazos River: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Chama River: Monday morning flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 701 cfs and 603 cfs, respectively. Fishing for trout below El Vado Lake was slow using nightcrawlers. Anglers reported high water flows below Abiquiu Lake and poor fishing conditions. Please remember, from the river-crossing bridge on U.S. Highway 84 at Abiquiu upstream seven miles to the base of Abiquiu Dam is special trout waters with a bag limit of two trout only.

Cochiti Lake: Visitors to the lake need to make a reservation by purchasing a ticket at least 24 hours in advance through www.recreation.gov. Tickets and reservations will NOT be sold at the lake. Fishing for bass was good using shallow diving lipless crankbaits. Fishing for pike was fair to good using lipless crankbaits and copper, white and red spinners.

El Vado Lake: El Vado Lake Dam Day Use area is open.

Fenton Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good using PowerBait, spoons, spinners, pheasant tail nymph flies, leech pattern flies, hare’s ear pattern flies and worms. Please remember, only two cutthroat trout are allowed to be harvested per day within the regular five fish limit.

Heron Lake: The lake is open for fishing. All boat ramps are closed due to low water levels. Paddle craft can be launched from the shoreline. Limited campgrounds are open and camping is by reservation only.

Jemez Waters: Stream flow on the Jemez near the town of Jemez Monday morning was 70.4 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good using spinners and worms.

Laguna del Campo: Closed for the season; will open May 1, 2021.

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

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

McGaffey Lake: Fishing for trout was good using spinners.

Navajo Lake: Fishing for bass was fair using perch shad rap crank baits and jigs. Fishing for pike was fair using joined Rapala lures. Fishing for catfish was slow to fair using cut carp bait. Fishing for crappie was slow using minnow imitation lures.

Rio Grande: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

San Juan River: Stream flow Monday morning was 732 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was good using red San Juan worms, red annelids, crystal flash midges, egg pattern flies and leech pattern flies. Fishing for trout in the bait waters was good using worms, salmon eggs and jerk baits.

Seven Springs Brood Pond: Closed due to COVID-19 health concerns. Check the Department’s Alerts page for future updates.

Tingley Beach: Fishing for trout was slow to fair using PowerBait. Fishing for bass was fair using plastic worms.

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

Alumni Pond: Fishing for trout was slow.

Bear Canyon Lake: Fishing for trout was good using corn and cheese flavored PowerBait, gold with red Pistol Pete spinners and black with red Pistol Pete spinners. Fishing for crappie was good using gold and red flies.

Bill Evans Lake: Fishing for trout was good using dark-colored dry flies and PowerBait. Fishing for catfish was fair to good using cut carp bait and live worms. Fishing for bass was slow.

Caballo Lake: Fishing for bass was fair using chatter baits, jerk baits and stick worms. Fishing for walleye and crappie was fair using curly tail grubs.

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for white bass was good using white crankbaits, jerk baits and swim baits. Fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass was fair to good using swimbaits and crawdad plastic jigs. Fishing for walleye was fair to good using white crankbaits.

Escondida Lake: Fishing for trout was fair using pink PowerBait.

Gila River: Stream flow Monday morning was 44.4 cfs. Fishing for Gila trout was fair using small worm and nymph pattern flies.

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

Lake Roberts: Fishing for trout was fair using worms and garlic-scented PowerBait.

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

Quemado Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good using spinners and Z-Ray spoons.

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

Rio Grande: Stream flow below Elephant Butte Monday morning was 0.04 cfs. Fishing for catfish north of Elephant Butte Lake was good using cut bait.

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

Trees Lake: Fishing for bass was good using spinner baits and motor-oil-colored 6-inch plastic worms.

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

Alto Lake: Fishing for trout was good using green PowerBait, nightcrawlers and nymph flies.

Bataan Lake: Fishing for trout, catfish and bluegill was fair to good using worms and dough bait. Fishing for bass was fair using plastic jigs.

Black River: Stream flow at Malaga Monday morning was 3.22 cfs.

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

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

Bosque Redondo Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Brantley Lake: Fishing for crappie was fair to good using small yellow jigs.

Carlsbad Municipal Lake: Fishing for bass was fair using plastic jigs and worms.

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: Fishing for largemouth bass and crappie was fair to good using nightcrawlers.

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

Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing for trout was good using yellow garlic PowerBait, pink PowerBait and rainbow PowerBait.

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

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

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

Pecos River: Stream flow below Sumner Lake Monday morning was 75.2 cfs. Fishing for bass was fair to good using River2Sea Whopper Plopper lures.

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

Ruidoso River: Stream flow Monday morning at Hollywood was 3.67 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair using small beadhead nymph flies.

Santa Rosa Lake: Fishing for walleye and bass was fair using minnows and curly tail grubs.

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