NORTHEAST

NORTHEAST CATCH OF THE WEEK

Ice fishing for trout was fair when using red worms, small jigs tipped with Salmon Peach PowerBait, and small jigs tipped with wax worms last week at Eagle Nest Lake.

NORTHEAST FISHING REPORT

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

Charette Lakes: Closed until March 1.

Cimarron River: Streamflow near Cimarron Monday morning was not measured due to ice. Fishing for trout was slow.

Clayton Lake: Closed until March 1.

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

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

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 red worms, small jigs tipped with Salmon Peach PowerBait, and small jigs tipped with wax worms. Ice fishing for perch was fair to good when using Rapala Jigging Rap lures tipped with meal worms. Fishing for pike was fair when using tube jigs and hot dogs. The lake remains open to ice fishing; however, it is restricted to foot traffic only. Avoid ice fishing near feeder streams or known springs, brush, logs, plants, docks or areas with multiple cracks or ice that is popping or otherwise weak. 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: Ice fishing for trout was good when using small jigs tipped with worms.

Lake Alice: The lake surface is closed due to unsafe ice conditions.

Lake Maloya: Ice fishing for trout was fair to good when using Garlic PowerBait. The ADA dock is open to anglers, with priority given to mobility-impaired persons.

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

Maxwell Lake 13: Closed until March 1.

Monastery Lake: The lake is closed due to unsafe ice conditions. Monastery Lake is part of the Department’s Open Gate Program. Please visit our website for more information about this property.

Morphy Lake: Closed until March 1.

Pecos River: Streamflow near Pecos Monday morning was not measured due to ice. Fishing the lower portion of the river was good when using bait and spinners.

Red River: Streamflow below the Red River Hatchery on Monday morning was 38 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Rio Grande: Streamflow below the Taos Junction Bridge on Monday morning was 465 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair when using black, leech-pattern flies and Panther Martin spinners.

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 Peñasco Monday morning was not measured due to ice.

Santa Cruz Reservoir: Closed for the season.

Shuree Ponds: Closed until July 1.

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

Storrie Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using worms.

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

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

NORTHWEST

NORTHWEST CATCHES OF THE WEEK

Fenton Lake: Harold Lucero of Corrales caught a 20-inch cutthroat trout while ice fishing using shrimp bait on Jan. 31.

Rio Chama: Layla Rodriguez, age 4, of Rio Rancho caught four trout below Abiquiu Lake using bait on Jan. 28.

NORTHWEST FISHING REPORT

Abiquiu Lake: Fishing for all species was slow when using worms. The boat ramp will be closed periodically until April as part of dam maintenance efforts. Contact the Abiquiu Lake Main Office at 505-685-4371 for updated lake conditions and closure information.

Animas River: Streamflow below Aztec Monday morning was 195 cfs.

Albuquerque Area Drains: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using salmon eggs and worms. Fishing for smallmouth bass was fair when using lime-green jigs.

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: Closed due to dam construction project. For more information, visit El Vado Lake State Park’s webpage or call 575-588-7247.

Fenton Lake: Ice fishing for trout was good when using gold Kastmaster lures, shrimp bait, small jigs tipped with wax worms and silver Super Duper lures. The lake remains open to ice fishing. Chainsaws are not allowed to cut holes in the ice. Fires are not allowed on the ice. In areas around the shoreline, the ice is thin due to runoff—be aware of where you step onto the ice. As of Sunday, ice measurements are 3.5 inches of clear ice and 9 inches of white ice 6 feet from shore, and 6 inches of clear ice and 9 inches of white ice at 20 feet out. For updated lake conditions and potential closure information, visit the park’s webpage or call the park office at 575-829-3630.

Grants Riverwalk Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Jemez Waters: Streamflow near Jemez Monday morning was 13 cfs.

Laguna del Campo: Closed until March 1.

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

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

Liam Knight Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

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

Rio Chama: Streamflow below El Vado Lake Monday morning was 99 cfs; streamflow below Abiquiu Lake Monday morning was 56 cfs. Fishing for trout below Abiquiu Lake was good when using bait. 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 only two trout.

Rio Grande: Fishing for white bass was fair to good when using off-white swim grubs downstream of the Albuquerque Riverside Drain and Rio Grande junction.

Riverside Park Pond (Aztec Pond #1): We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

San Juan River: Streamflow near Archuleta Monday morning was 382 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was fair to good when using midge, emerger-pattern flies and Red Annelid flies.

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

Tiger Park Reservoir: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Tingley Beach: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using white worms and leech-pattern flies.

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

SOUTHWEST

SOUTHWEST CATCH OF THE WEEK

Young Pond: Antoinette and her grandfather caught several trout on Feb. 3.

SOUTHWEST FISHING REPORT

Alumni Pond: Closed for repairs until further notice.

Bear Canyon Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Bill Evans Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when trolling with spinner baits.

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

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for catfish was fair when using cut carp bait.

Escondida Lake: Fishing for trout was fair when using salmon eggs and live worms.

Estancia Park Lake: The Department is looking into reports of a fish die-off at the lake.

Gila River: Streamflow near Gila Monday morning was 262 cfs.

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

Lake Roberts: Fishing for trout was good when using Natural Scent Glitter PowerBait.

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

Quemado Lake: fishing for trout was good when using pink-colored PowerBait Power Eggs with a worm. The lake remains open; however, the Gila National Forest strongly advises against ice fishing or going on the ice for any reason because of dangerously thin ice conditions caused by recently warming weather. Anglers reported most of the lake was open water.

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

Rio Grande: Streamflow below Elephant Butte Dam on Monday morning was 511 cfs.

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

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

Young Pond: Fishing for trout was good when using Cheese PowerBait.

SOUTHEAST

SOUTHEAST CATCHES OF THE WEEK

Alto Lake: Rob Vigil of Española caught his limit of rainbow trout using Salmon Peach PowerBait on Feb. 5.

Oasis Park Lake: Chavi and Atali Fuentes, ages 3 and 10, of Portales caught a 12-inch rainbow trout using PowerBait on Jan. 30.

SOUTHEAST FISHING REPORT

Alto Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using Salmon Peach PowerBait.

Bataan Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using spinners.

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

Black River: Streamflow at Malaga Monday morning was 8 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. The lake is full but needs time for aquatic habitat to develop in order to sustain a healthy fish population. The city hopes to reopen the lake for recreational purposes in June.

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: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

Dennis Chavez 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: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Harry McAdams Park Pond: Fishing for crappie was fair when using plastic swimbaits.

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

Lake Van: Fishing for trout was good when using Kastmaster lures and Yellow Garlic PowerBait.

Ned Houk Ponds: 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 10 cfs. Fishing for bass was fair to good when using a Z-Man Crawz lure.

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

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

Rio Ruidoso: Streamflow at Hollywood Monday morning was 9 cfs.

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.

Tips, Tricks and Stories – Quick Swapping Spinners Without a Swivel

I personally rarely fish for trout or bass using a swivel because I think the fish see it and recognize something is not right. It’s unfortunate, because using a swivel sure makes it quick and easy to change spinners or lures. Fortunately, Tom Chrobocinski has a solution. Tom is a regular when it comes to providing New Mexico fishing reports and wanted to share this nifty trick with his fellow anglers. The “proof is in the pudding,” and he is consistently catching big, beautiful trout.

Here are Tom’s tips for using this method:

Something that I do to make life easier while on the water, and that I think helps catch more fish, is instead of tying my leader directly onto my lure, I tie a loop at the end of my leader. I then slide this loop through the eye of the lure and loop it on by placing the lure through the loop. This way, if I want to change lures, I don’t have to cut it and the fishing line off. I just back the line out, take that lure off and put another one on. Many people like to use swivels at the end of the leader, which I used to do. But if fish are skittish, the more bling you have on the end of your line, the less likely they are to want to take that lure.

*When using his nifty trick, I tied a perfection-loop knot. Here is a good demonstration that I used to tie my knot, and that I think you will find easy to use.

Using a loop at the end of your leader to attach your lure.

Once the fishing line loop is threaded through the eye of the lure, take your lure and pass it back through the loop. Pull tight and fish. To remove the lure, reverse the process and push the line back through the eye of the lure so that you create a big enough loop to pass the lure through, freeing the lure from the line.

Tom Chrobocinski with a 21-inch rainbow trout that he caught using his loop technique on the Rio Grande near Pilar.

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!