Fishing Report

Alumni Pond: Makayla Frietze of Las Cruces caught her limit of rainbow trout using cheese PowerBait Dec. 17.

Grindstone Reservoir: Joseph Gonzales of Roswell caught four rainbow trout, 16-18 inches long, using nightcrawler worms Dec. 13.

Hopewell Lake: Peter Duran and Julian Sisneros of Los Lunas, along with Matthew Medina of Albuquerque, caught and released over 20 trout each using glow ice jigs tipped with mealworms or wax worms Dec. 18. Peter Duran, age 19, of Los Lunas caught a 21.5-inch rainbow trout using a small, tungsten jig tipped with wax worms Dec. 18.

Oasis Park Lake: Mario Velasco and son Mario Jr. of Portales caught their limits of rainbow trout using PowerBait Dec. 18.

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. Fish weights and measurements are provided by the angler and printed here as received.

Cabresto Lake: Fishing for brook trout and cutthroat trout was good when using ice jigs tipped with wax worms or mealworms. Anglers reported lake ice was about 10 inches thick.

Charette Lakes: Closed to boating and fishing until March 2023.

Cimarron River: Streamflow near Cimarron Monday morning was not measured due to ice.

Clayton Lake: Closed to boating and fishing until March 2023.

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

Costilla Creek: The department recently stocked 90,000 Rio Grande cutthroat trout, including 1,000 catchable-sized fish, into Costilla Creek and its tributaries as part of a long-term project to expand the distribution of Rio Grande cutthroat trout in 120 miles of the Costilla watershed in northern New Mexico. The department anticipates stocking Rio Grande cutthroat trout into this area over the next several years to assist with establishing a self-sustaining population of Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The public is reminded of the existing catch and release regulation for streams on the Valle Vidal and to release all fish at their point of capture—do not move fish above waterfalls, culverts or other fish barriers. The Valle Vidal remains open to fishing through Dec. 31.

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

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

Eagle Nest Lake: The lake surface is closed to boating and ice fishing. Ice is beginning to form on the lake but is not yet safe for ice fishing. Parks staff will monitor the ice on a weekly basis and provide updates when the lake is open for ice fishing. For updated lake conditions, visit the park’s webpage or call the park office at 575-377-1594.

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

Gallinas River: National Forest closures have been in place restricting fishing access.Visit the Santa Fe National Forest webpage or call the Santa Fe National Forest office at 505-438-5300 for the latest closure information.

Hopewell Lake: Fishing for trout was very good when ice fishing using glow ice jigs tipped with mealworms or waxworms. Anglers reported the ice was 13 inches thick.

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

Lake Maloya: The lake is frozen and anglers reported no fishing activity while waiting for safe ice fishing conditions.

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

Maxwell Lake 13: Closed to boating and fishing until March 2023.

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

Morphy Lake: Closed to boating and fishing until March 2023.

Pecos River: Streamflow near Pecos Monday morning was not measured due to ice.

Red River: Streamflow below the Red River Hatchery Monday morning was 39 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good when using small nymph and beadhead flies.

Rio Grande: Streamflow below the Taos Junction Bridge Monday morning was 348 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good when using nymph flies.

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

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

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

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

Shuree Ponds: We had no reports from anglers this week. The Valle Vidal remains open to fishing through Dec. 31.

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: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Animas River: Streamflow below Aztec Monday morning was 149 cfs.

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

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.

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

El Vado Lake: El Vado Lake can be accessed at Hargroves Day Use Area off State Road 322 and the Main Park area off State Road 112. The Rio Chama can be accessed at the North El Vado Day Use Area on State Road 95, 10 miles west of U.S. Highway 84. Lake levels are steady but expected to drop as crews work on the El Vado Dam. The Dam Day Use Area is closed due to the ongoing construction. State Road 112 over the dam will experience periodic closures. For more information, visit El Vado Lake State Park’s webpage or call 575-588-7247.

Fenton Lake: Closed to fishing due to unsafe ice conditions.

Grants Riverwalk Pond: The city is in the final stages of repairs; stocking will resume soon.

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

Jemez Waters: Streamflow near Jemez Monday morning was 24 cfs.

Laguna del Campo: Closed to fishing until March 2023.

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

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

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

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

Rio Chama: Streamflow below El Vado Lake and below Abiquiu Lake Monday morning was 103 cfs and 101 cfs, respectively. Fishing for trout below Abiquiu Lake was good when using egg-pattern flies, streamer flies, nymph flies, nightcrawler worms, salmon eggs and PowerBait. 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.

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

Riverside Park Pond (Aztec Pond #1): Fishing for trout was fair to good when using streamer flies.

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

San Juan River: Streamflow near Archuleta Monday morning was 357 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was fair when using egg-pattern flies and size-20 red annelid flies. Fishing for trout in the bait waters was fair when using orange glitter PowerBait and black leech-pattern flies.

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

Tiger Park Reservoir: Fishing for trout was very good when using purple and green leech-pattern flies, black and tan Woolly Bugger flies, and black, olive and tan streamer flies.

Tingley Beach: Fishing for trout was good when using Pistol Pete spinner flies and olive leech-pattern flies. Fishing for trout in the catch-and-release pond was good when using single-barbless-hook, black streamer flies.

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

Alumni Pond: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using red salmon eggs and salmon-peach PowerBait. Fishing for bass was fair when using white and gray, weedless lures.

Bear Canyon Lake: Fishing for rainbow trout and crappie was fair to good when using size-10, barbless hare’s ear jig flies under an indicator.

Bill Evans Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using gold Panther Martin spinners with an orange-and-black tail and Flicker shad lures. Fishing for bass was slow.

Caballo Lake: Fishing for catfish was fair to good when using cut bait.

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for catfish was fair to good when using cut carp bait and cut shad bait.

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

Gila River: Streamflow near Gila Monday morning was 281 cfs. Anglers reported fishing for trout was slow near the Gila Hot Springs and the Catwalk.

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

Lake Roberts: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using chartreuse PowerBait and flies.

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

Quemado Lake: Anglers reported fishing for trout was slow.

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

Rio Grande: Streamflow below Elephant Butte Dam Monday morning was 0 cfs.

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

Trees Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using green PowerBait and homemade, garlic dough bait.

Young Pond: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using dough bait mixtures containing salmon-flavored cat food, salmon-peach PowerBait and live worms.

Alto Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using worms fished with a bobber and PowerBait.

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

Berrendo Creek: Fishing for bass was fair when using plastic creature baits. Please visit the Open Gate webpage for more information on this property.

Black River: Streamflow at Malaga Monday morning was 9 cfs. Fishing for trout was very good when using worms and PowerBait.

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.

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 to good when using PowerBait.

Chaparral Park Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using sweet corn.

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 fair to good when using worms fished with a bobber.

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

Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing for trout was good when using nightcrawler worms and black, leech-pattern flies

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

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

Oasis Park Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using PowerBait.

Pecos River: Streamflow below Sumner Lake Monday morning was 1 cfs.

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

Rio Bonito: Fishing for brook trout was fair to good when using size-16, pheasant-tail flies and size-14, hand-tied rainbow warrior-variant flies a few hundred yards above the closed reservoir.

Rio Ruidoso: Streamflow at Hollywood Monday morning was 12 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair when using size-12, black stonefly flies near Hondo.

Rock Lake Hatchery Kids’ Pond: 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.

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

Many anglers are practicing catch-and-release fishing these days. Below are a  few tips and tricks that may help increase survival of released fish to support future fishing opportunities:

1. If at all possible, do not take your fish out of the water but instead unhook it while still in the water where its gills can process oxygen. If you do remove your fish, including to take pictures, limit the amount of time it is out of the water as much as possible.
2. Do not use a cloth to hold your fish while removing the hook. Cloths remove a lot of the protective slime that is on the fish; this slime is important for fish health and to prevent infection. Also, when using a cloth, the tendency is to squeeze the fish, which can cause internal damage.
3. Lower your fish into the water very carefully when releasing it. Throwing a fish back into the water can injure it.
4. If you have been fighting a fish for a while, it might be necessary to do “fish CPR” before releasing. If you’re in a river, you can hold your fish by the tail and face it downriver so that water and oxygen are pushed through its gills. If you’re on a lake you can hold it by the tail and move the fish back and forth through the water to again get oxygen through its gills.

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!