Fishing Report

Bear Canyon Lake: Joseph Uresti of Silver City caught a 16.5-inch rainbow trout using mixed PowerBaits Jan. 29.

Eagle Nest Lake: Stephen Pattinson of Santa Fe caught a 17-inch kokanee salmon using a small tungsten ice jig Jan. 28. Liciano Brashear, age 12, of Springer caught a 23-inch rainbow trout Jan. 22 using a green jig head fly he tied himself.

Elephant Butte Lake: Brianna Romo and Vince Amaya of El Paso, Texas caught a 10-pound largemouth bass using live bait Jan. 25.

Lake Van: Santiago Olivas and his grandpa of Hagerman caught their limits of rainbow trout using yellow PowerBait Jan. 22.

Perch Lake: Joseph Campos of Santa Rosa caught and released 20 trout using Kastmaster lures and peach PowerBait Jan. 29.

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: Ice fishing for brook trout was good when using small glow tungsten ice jigs with glow plastics. The roads were snow-packed and slippery.

Charette Lakes: Closed for the season. The lake will reopen in March.

Cimarron River: Streamflow near Cimarron Monday morning was 19.8 cubic feet per second (cfs).

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

Conchas Lake: New winter season hours – open for day-use access only Thursday-Sundayfrom 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For updated lake conditions visit the park’s webpage or call the park office at (575) 868-2270.

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 this spring. 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: Ice fishing for trout was fair when using tungsten ice jigs, Swedish Pimple lures tipped with worm and pink Trout Magnet lures. Ice fishing for perch was good when using tungsten ice jigs, Swedish Pimple lures tipped with worm, PowerBait and Trout Magnet lures. Anglers also caught pike and salmon when using tungsten ice jigs. For updated lake conditions visit the park’s webpage or call the park office at (575) 377-1594.

Eagle Rock Lake: Anglers reported inconsistent ice conditions.

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

Hopewell Lake: Anglers reported the lake was frozen and the entrance gates are locked until spring. Ice fishing for trout was very good when using orange PowerBait and nightcrawler worms.

Lake Alice: Temporarily closed due to recent weather conditions and ice forming on the lake. State Park officials have deemed the lake unsafe at this time. For updated lake conditions visit the park’s webpage or call the park office at (575) 445-5607.

Lake Maloya: Open for ice fishing at your own risk. Ice measurements as of Jan. 22 ranged from 9 to 14 inches thick, but ice can be inconsistent, so please use caution when venturing out onto the ice.  For updated lake conditions visit the park’s webpage or call the park office at (575) 445-5607.

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

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

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

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

Pecos River: Streamflow near the town of Pecos Monday morning was not measured due to ice. Fishing for trout was fair to good when using salmon eggs and black Woolly Bugger flies.

Red River: Streamflow below the hatchery Monday morning was 40.0 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair when using zebra midge flies and RS2 flies.

Rio Grande: Streamflow at the Taos Junction Bridge Monday morning was 429 cfs. Fishing for trout was good when using brown Joe’s Fly spinners, small beadhead nymph flies, midge flies and gold Panther Martin spinners.

Rio Hondo: Streamflow Monday morning near Valdez was not measured due to ice.

Rio Mora: Streamflow Monday morning near Tererro was not measured due to ice. Fishing for trout was slow to fair when using dark-colored spinners.

Rio Pueblo: Streamflow near Peñasco Monday morning was not measured due to ice.

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

Shuree Ponds: Closed for the season. The ponds will reopen in July.

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 all species was slow.

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

Bear Canyon Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using salmon peach PowerBait and salmon eggs.

Bill Evans Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using PowerBait, red Rooster Tail spinners and gold Panther Martin spinners.

Caballo Lake: Fishing for bass was fair when using lipless crankbaits.

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for catfish was good when using cut gizzard shad bait and live bait. Fishing for white bass was slow to fair when using live bait. Fishing for drum was slow to fair when using live bait. Fishing for largemouth bass was fair when using live bait and white plastic baits.

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

Gila River: Streamflow Monday morning was 63.9 cfs.

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

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

Percha Dam: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using yellow and orange PowerBait.

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

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

Rio Grande: Streamflow below Elephant Butte Monday morning was 0.21 cfs.

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

Trees Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using pink and chartreuse garlic PowerBait.

Young Pond: Fishing for trout was good when using Velveeta cheese, corn, nymph scented PowerBait, green streamer flies and gray dry flies.

Alto Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using salmon eggs and red PowerBait.

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

Berrendo Creek: Please visit the Open Gate webpage for more information on this property.

Black River: Streamflow at Malaga Monday morning was 7.08 cfs. Fishing for catfish was fair when using cut bait.

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 later this year.

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

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

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

Carlsbad Municipal Lake: Fishing for trout was fair when using yellow PowerBait.

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 trout was good when using salmon peach PowerBait.

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

Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing for trout was good when using marshmallows, and yellow, white and chartreuse PowerBait.

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

Lake Van: Fishing for trout was good when using yellow PowerBait and homemade dough bait.

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

Pecos River: Streamflow below Sumner Lake Monday morning was 15.5 cfs.

Perch Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using Kastmaster lures and peach PowerBait.

Ruidoso River: Streamflow Monday morning at Hollywood was 3.67 cfs.

Santa Rosa Lake: The lake is open to boating, but due to low lake levels, Santa Rosa Lake State Park will operate as a no-wake lake until conditions improve. Fishing for all species was slow.

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

By Marc Biggins of La Veta, Colo. 

From Jan. 2-4, I fly-fished the Gila River up near the hot springs just west of the highway bridge about 3 miles downstream from the confluence. I was using a 9.5-foot 5 weight fly rod, with a heavy wet line, with a 9-foot, 8-weight tippet, a black/silver Woolly Bugger and an olive Woolly Bugger. I also caught Gila trout with a big black and silver Pistol Pete spinner fly.

I landed and released all fish in good condition: six beautiful Gila trout from 14 to 18 inches long. I did not have time to weigh them, as I wanted to quickly get them back in the water, but I did do a quick measure using my 6-inch fly boxes for scale. I caught all the fish in the deeper, quieter holes where the rock face descended vertically straight down into the water channel. I made my casts from the top of the channels and drifted as far as I could downstream, letting my fly sink for at least 20 seconds. I used a retrieve of light jigs and smooth retrieves slowly all the way back up the channel trying to keep my fly deep. If it felt like the fly was rising too much, I would let slack off and let the current take the fly back downstream and deeper. I caught all my trout between 3:45 and 5 p.m. I fished from around 10 a.m. all day but never got so much as a nibble nor saw any trout until around 3:45 p.m. Conditions were sunny, but very cold with some snow. I saw no other anglers the whole time I fished. It’s really nice to be able to fish wilderness water during midwinter, because where I live in Colorado, it’s all frozen. I’m looking forward to going back to the Gila in mid-April for dry fly fishing.

Catching a Gila trout gets you one step closer to completing the New Mexico Trout Challenge.View the official rules here and check out this podcast episode featuring all of our fishing challenges.

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!