Fishing report

Elephant Butte Lake: Olivia and Sam Gonzales, ages 5 and 10, of Alamogordo caught a 6-pound and 10-pound blue catfish using cut bait Dec. 4. Brandon May of Elephant Butte caught and released a 3-pound smallmouth bass using a watermelon green plastic worm Nov. 29.

Lake Maloya: Alfonso Sanchez and Hunter Sanchez, ages 4 and 9, of Raton caught their limits of trout using homemade orange garlic dough balls Dec. 4.

Navajo Lake: Carter Polkovitz, age 4, of Rio Rancho caught his limit of kokanee salmon using snagging hooks Nov. 28.

Pecos River: Rachel Lovato of Santa Fe caught a 24-inch cutbow using Balls O’ Fire salmon eggs Nov. 28.

Tingley Beach: Naya Rehnberg, age 4, of Albuquerque caught and released 5 rainbow trout ranging in size from 12 to 15 inches using garlic PowerBait Nov. 26.

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 atfunfishingnm@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: Closed for the season. The lake will reopen in March 2022.

Cimarron River: Streamflow near Cimarron Monday morning was 2.62 cubic feet per second (cfs). Fishing for trout was good when using small worms and grey nymph flies.

Clayton Lake: Closed for the season. The lake will reopen in March 2022.

Conchas Lake: New winter season hours – open for day-use access only Thursday-Sundayfrom 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Please contact State Parks at 1-888-667-2757with any questions.

Costilla Creek: Fishing for trout was good when using caddis dry flies. 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. 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: New winter season hours – open for day-use access only Thursday-Sundayfrom 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The Moreno and Six Mile free access areas for New Mexico licensed anglers and hunters at Eagle Nest will remain open for day-use daily. Please contact State Parks at 1-888-667-2757 with any questions. Fishing for trout was slow to fair when using peach PowerBait. Fishing for perch was fair when using worms.

Eagle Rock Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using streamer flies and pink PowerBait.

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

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

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

Lake Maloya: Fishing for trout was good when using homemade orange garlic dough balls.

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

Maxwell Lake 13: Closed for the season. The lake will reopen in March 2022.

Monastery Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using PowerBait.

Morphy Lake: Closed for the season. The lake will reopen in March 2022.

Pecos River: Streamflow near the town of Pecos Monday morning was not measured due to ice. Fishing for trout was good when using Balls O’ Fire salmon eggs and yellow Panther Martin spinners.

Red River: Streamflow below the hatchery Monday morning was 35.1 cfs. Fishing for trout was good when using dry flies with dropper nymph flies.

Rio Grande: Streamflow at the Taos Junction Bridge Monday morning was 399 cfs. Fishing for trout near Pilar was good when using size 18 mayfly dry flies, emerger flies, worm pattern flies and leech pattern flies.

Rio Hondo: Streamflow Monday morning near Valdez was 5.05 cfs.

Rio Mora: Streamflow Monday morning near Tererro was not measured due to ice.

Rio Pueblo: Streamflow near Peñasco Monday morning was 3.82 cfs.

Santa Cruz Reservoir: Fishing for trout was slow to fair when using orange PowerBait.

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 and walleye was fair to good when using vertical jigging blade baits, slab spoons, grubs and swimbaits in 20 to 25 feet of water near the main lake channel. The water surface temperature was in the low 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the water’s color was stained.

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

Animas River: Waterflow below Aztec Monday morning was 204 cfs.

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

Bluewater Lake: Fishing for tiger muskie was fair to good when using floating orange Rapala lures.

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

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

Chama River: Monday-morningflows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 97.3 cfs and 752 cfs, respectively. We had no reports this week from below El Vado Lake. Fishing for trout below Abiquiu Lake was slow and anglers reported high water flow. Please remember, from the river-crossing bridge on U.S. Highway 84 at Abiquiu upstream 7 miles to the base of Abiquiu Dam is special trout waters with a bag limit of two trout only.

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

El Vado Lake: A release of water from the El Vado dam has begun to lower the lake in preparation for dam reconstruction. Fishing for kokanee salmon was fair when using snagging hooks north of where the Chama River enters El Vado Lake. Snagging is allowed between the Heron Lake release and the El Vado Lake dam. Snagging is prohibited in the quality waters upstream from the Heron Lake release as it violates quality waters rules.

Fenton Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using nymph flies, salmon eggs, Woolly Bugger flies and green PowerBait. Please remember, only two cutthroat trout are allowed to be harvested per day within the regular five-fish limit.

Heron Lake: All boat ramps are currently closed. Small watercraft such as kayaks and paddleboards can launch from the shoreline. Fishing for kokanee salmon was fair to good when using snagging hooks near Sierra Vista boat launch at Ridge Rock and at the bottom corner of the dam at Ridge Rock.

Jemez Waters: Streamflow on the Jemez near the town of Jemez Monday morning was 14.1 cfs. Fishing for trout was good when using gold and silver spinners.

Laguna del Campo: Closed for the season. The lake will reopen in May 2022.

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

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

McGaffey Lake: Due to extremely low water levels and unstable ground conditions, stocking efforts have been suspended. Lake conditions will be monitored and stockings will resume once conditions improve.

Navajo Lake: Fishing for kokanee salmon was good when using snagging hooks near the dam.

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

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

San Juan River: Streamflow Monday morning was 280 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was good when using red annelid flies and size 22-26 black, grey and olive midge pattern flies. Fishing for trout in the bait waters was good when using worms and yellow streamer flies.

Seven Springs Brood Pond: Fishing for trout was good when using garlic dough bait, green PowerBait and worms.

Tingley Beach: Fishing for trout was good when using garlic PowerBait.

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

Alumni Pond: Fishing for trout was good when using beetle imitation flies, marshmallows, salmon peach PowerBait and garlic PowerBait.

Bear Canyon Lake: Fishing for all species was slow.

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 bass was fair to good when using watermelon green plastic worms. Fishing for catfish was good when using cut carp bait and shad.

Escondida Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using PowerBait, worms and salmon eggs.

Gila River: Streamflow Monday morning was 57.3 cfs. Fishing for trout near the Catwalk Recreation Area in Glenwood was good when using size 18 hare’s ear flies and barbless egg worm combo flies.

Glenwood Pond: Fishing for trout was good when using egg worm combo flies.

Lake Roberts: Fishing for trout was good when using beaded egg and worm flies.

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

Quemado Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using pink and salmon peach PowerBait.

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

Rio Grande: Streamflow below Elephant Butte Monday morning was 0.08 cfs.

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

Trees Lake: Fishing for trout was very good when using chartreuse PowerBait, orange Gulp PowerBait, salmon peach PowerBait and small bluegill swimbaits. Fishing for bass was fair when using live worms. Fishing for bluegill was good when using beadhead nymph flies and Beetle Bou jigs.

Young Pond: Fishing for trout was slow to fair when using garlic PowerBait and Velveeta cheese.

Contribution from Joe Valdez

Lauren and her twin sister Jaclyn Valdez are recent UNM graduates, both from the medical field, in Albuquerque. They ventured out to Navajo Lake on Nov. 28 to do some salmon snagging and see if they could de-stress after passing the state board exam.

With the hospitals full of COVID-19 patients and other patient care situations, medical staff are tired and stressed out.

The girls had never done any snagging before and had heard it was a great form of exercise and stress relief.

With the sun shining and the weather offering a pleasant day, the girls made their way down to the water. They found a place to start casting their treble hooks into the water and let them sink to the bottom where salmon were spawning. Then they’d start jerking their poles back, hoping to set the hook into a spawning salmon.

This process was repeated over and over. Then the fun began – the line tightening with a salmon pulling as hard as it could.

Soon, a scream of excitement broke the air, and their hearts pumped with excitement. The first salmon was reeled in, and then another!

Soon, their stringer was full and heavy. What a great method of exercise. The excitement of each cast and hookup releases dopamine into the brain, and that good feeling of enjoyment brought smiles and laughter!

The psychological effect is just as great: a mental state of happiness and release of stress. The mind is only set on one thing: pulling in another fish. At the end of the day, people are hugging each other and enjoying the time together! All of this is beneficial to physical and mental wellness.

Fishing: good for the body and mind! Health tip of the week!

Let us know how your fishing trip goes! Share your tips and tricks with your fellow anglers by emailing us at funfishingnm@gmail.com and let’s help the next generation of anglers find success.

Thanks for reading and supporting our angling community!