Fishing Report

Berrendo Creek: Valerie Wyatt of Roswell caught a 22-inch largemouth bass using a red-and-black Senko worm Feb. 24.

Eagle Nest Lake: Josh Harris and Stephen Pattinson of Santa Fe caught 30 perch, with the largest being 12 inches long, using green-and-yellow tungsten jigs in 40 feet of water Feb. 17.

Escondida Lake: Taton Lam, age 3, of Socorro caught his first fish, a 12-inch rainbow trout, using salmon-peach PowerBait Feb 25.

Fenton Lake: Evan Montoya and Lisa Montoya of Albuquerque caught eight rainbow trout using yellow jig heads tipped with wax worms Feb. 19.

Jemez River: George Smithson of Edgewood caught and released a 14-inch brown trout using a size-14 Parachute Adams fly on the lower river Feb. 20.

Oasis Park Lake: Mario Velasco of Portales caught a 16-inch rainbow trout using PowerBait on Feb. 25.

San Juan River: Matt Steck of St. Louis caught a 24-inch rainbow trout using a leech-pattern fly Feb. 19.

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: We had no reports from anglers this week.

Charette Lakes: Closed to boating and fishing until March.

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

Clayton Lake: Closed to boating and fishing until March.

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

Costilla Creek: The Valle Vidal is closed to fishing until July.

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 good when using salmon-peach PowerBait and green tungsten jigs. Ice fishing for perch was good when using green and yellow tungsten jigs. 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.

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

Lake Alice: Closed due to unsafe ice conditions.

Lake Maloya: Ice fishing for trout and perch was good when using tungsten jigs tipped with wax worms and chartreuse, shad-pattern minnows.

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

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

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

Morphy Lake: Closed to boating and fishing until March.

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

Red River: Streamflow below the Red River Hatchery on Monday morning was 44 cfs.

Rio Grande: Streamflow below the Taos Junction Bridge on Monday morning was 484 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair when using gold 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: Gates are open Thursday-Sunday from 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Shuree Ponds: Closed to fishing until 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: 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 209 cfs.

Albuquerque Area Drains:Fishing for trout was fair when using peach PowerBait.

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: Fishing for catfish was fair to good when using cut carp bait in deeper water near the river channel.

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 yellow jig heads tipped with wax worms.

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

Heron Lake: Open to ice fishing. Park staff would appreciate reports on any fish caught.

Jemez Waters: Streamflow near Jemez Monday morning was 28 cfs. Fishing for trout on the lower Jemez River was fair to good when using Parachute Adams flies.

Laguna del Campo: Closed to fishing until March.

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 Monday morning was 100 cfs; streamflow below Abiquiu Lake Monday morning was 72 cfs. Fishing for trout below Abiquiu Lake was fair to good when using black-and-gold Panther Martin spinners. 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): 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 302 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was good when using leech-pattern flies and orange and red beadhead annelid flies. Fishing for trout in the bait waters section was good when using black-and-gold Panther Martin spinners.

Seven Springs Brood 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 PowerBait eggs.

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

Alumni Pond: Fishing for trout was good when using Pistol Pete spinner flies fished with a bobber and salmon-peach PowerBait. Fishing for bass was slow to fair when using small spoons.

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

Bill Evans Lake: The department is conducting a boater and angler improvement project at Bill Evans Lake from February to April. Improvements include the installation of a new concrete boat ramp and dock; improvements to the existing boat ramp; the installation of rock, fishing jetties; road improvements; and re-grading the north camping access area. Anglers should expect road and lake closures during construction. For current conditions, contact the department’s Fisheries Management Division at505-476-8055. Anglers are encouraged to visit surrounding lakes such as Bear Canyon Lake, Lake Roberts and Trees Lake for alternate fishing locations.

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

Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for crappie was good when using small, dark-colored jigs and live minnows. Fishing for catfish was good when using worms and chicken liver.

Escondida Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using salmon-peach PowerBait.

Gila River: Streamflow near Gila Monday morning was 749 cfs.

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

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

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

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 Dam on Monday morning was 0 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 Pistol Pete spinner flies, Velveeta cheese, canned corn, salmon-peach PowerBait and blue-and-silver, midge-pattern flies.

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

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

Berrendo Creek: Please visit the Open Gate webpage for more information on this property. Fishing for bass was fair to good when using red-and-black Senko worms.

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.

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: We had no reports from anglers this week.

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

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

Eunice Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using corn-flavored PowerBait.

Green Meadow Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using worms fished beneath a bobber.

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

Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing for trout was slow when using spinners and PowerBait.

Harry McAdams Park Pond: Fishing for trout was very good when using homemade dough bait. 

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

Oasis Park Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using yellow and salmon-peach PowerBait.

Pecos River: Streamflow below Sumner Lake Monday morning was 88 cfs.

Perch Lake: Fishing for trout was good when using orange, garlic PowerBait.

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

Rio Ruidoso: Streamflow at Hollywood Monday morning was 27 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: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using worms.

By Bryan Novotny

As the weather begins to warm and the water temperatures reach and stay in the high 40s to low 50s, bass will start moving out of the deeper holding areas where they wintered following migration routes of large schools of bait, such as shad. Main lake and secondary points with chunk rock or pea-gravel banks, as well as shallower pockets off the main lake, will begin to hold groups of fish. Water depths between 5-15 feet will be the key, and the fish will be willing to chase down lipless and medium-depth crankbaits, spinnerbaits and vibrating jigs. Cliff banks with larger boulders in direct sunlight will be great areas to pitch a 1/2-ounce jig as the crayfish begin to emerge. If you come across clear water with 3-4 feet or greater visibility and you are marking suspended bass in 10-15 feet of water, the deep-diving suspending jerkbait fished on light line will be hard to beat.

As the water temperatures begin to rise and stay in the mid to high 50s, look for calm and protected coves with a pea-gravel bottom. These spawning coves and the points or channels near them will begin to load up with fish preparing for the spawn. Smaller males, also known as “buck bass,” will be much easier to catch in the shallower water on moving baits as they aggressively feed up for the spawn.