Sports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post
Colder weather with high temperatures only reaching the 30’s and 40’s is forecast later this week. This will likely cause some larger lakes in Northern New Mexico like Eagle Nest to start freezing over.
Smaller lakes, especially those at higher elevations will freeze over if they have not already. Significant snowfall will also make these smaller lakes difficult to access.
The Canjilon Lakes, Trout Lakes, Lagunitas Lakes and Hopewell Lake, as well as others, will not be fishable until spring. Fenton Lake also will likely start to freeze over as well.
Small streams are likely starting to ice over and become difficult to fish. Larger rivers can remain ice free, although floating chunks of ice can make fishing difficult. Often the best fishing in rivers during the winter will be found in the tailwaters below large dams. The San Juan River remains ice-free all winter. The Chama River below El Vado and Abiquiu Dams also remains free of ice.
This past week the Bureau of Reclamation increased streamflows below El Vado Lake to over 1,000 cubic-feet-per second. It has since been lowered to 100 cubic-feet-per-second.
Streamflows below Abiquiu Dam and Cochiti Lake were also increased to over 1,000 cubic-feet-per-second. They still remain high. Streamflows throughout New Mexico can be seen at the United States Geological Survey website: waterdata.usgs.gov/nm.
Fenton Lake State Park in the Jemez Mountains is open. Camping is allowed by reservation only. It was stocked Nov. 19 with 779 catchable-size rainbow trout. Fenton also has wild brown trout. It received a stocking Sept. 20 of 326 catchable-size Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Only two cutthroat trout may be kept per-day as part of the five-trout-per-day bag limit. Parts of this lake are starting to ice over at times. Call (575).829.3630 for current conditions at Fenton.
The Rio Cebolla below Fenton Lake is stocked with rainbow trout and also has wild brown trout. It was stocked Oct. 20 with 601 rainbow trout.
San Gregorio Lake is open. This lake requires anglers to park and hike in. There are reports of vehicles being broken into at the parking area. Lock your vehicles and secure your valuables. This lake is likely frozen over.
The Seven Springs Brood Pond at Seven Springs Fish Hatchery is open. It is also known as the Kid’s Pond. It was stocked Aug. 31 with 100 rainbow trout averaging 18.7 inches in size. It was stocked Oct 20 with 435 catchable-size rainbow trout. There are a few big brown trout in this pond. The fishing is for anglers under 12 years old.
The trout fishing has been fair in the Jemez River. The streamflow is now 12.1 cubic-feet-per-second. This is slightly lower than last week. The fish are concentrated in deeper pools. It was stocked Nov. 19 with 749 rainbow trout.
The smaller streams in the Jemez Mountains are lower. The San Antonio River was stocked Nov. 3 with a total of 5,314 Rio Grande cutthroat trout fingerlings. All the streams in the Jemez Mountains have wild brown trout.
The Rio Guadelupe in the Jemez Mountains was stocked Oct. 27 with 1,011 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout and with 577 cutthroat trout averaging 6.3 inches in size.
Eagle Nest Lake State Park is open and boating conditions are listed as good. The Lake View campground is now closed and the docks have been taken out of the water. The Main Area and Visitors Center are now open Thursday-Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Six-Mile and the Marina are open daily. Please do not park on the boat ramp. Rainbow trout fishing is picking up and some big fish have been landed. The fishing for perch has been fair. Northern pike fishing has been fair. Some good-sized kokanee salmon were caught this year. A potential new state-record kokanee weighing 5 pounds was caught this summer. Kokanee salmon snagging season began Friday (Oct. 1) at Eagle Nest. It was reported as very slow. For more information and current conditions, call (575).377.1594.
Heron Lake State Park is open. The boat ramps are closed. Bank fishing should be at least fair for rainbow trout. You may catch a lake trout this time of year. The lake level is still low. Kokanee salmon snagging season opened Nov. 12 at Heron Lake. Some anglers have been able to catch their limit of 12 salmon-per-day. Some are not doing as well. The fish are scattered. The best areas are near the dam and at the Sierra Vista boat-launching area. The banks are very muddy due to the low water level.
El Vado Lake has rainbow trout, brown trout, perch and small smallmouth bass. Call (575).588.7470 for conditions at both Heron Lake and El Vado Lake. The main park is now open. Boating is closed. Water level is low. The North Day Use Area has had fair-to-good fishing for trout. Kokanee salmon snagging season began Oct.1 at El Vado. It is reported to be fair at the North End Day Use area where the Chama River enters the lake Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. The campground is open. Camping is by reservation only.
It is managed by the Corps of Engineers. Reservations may be made at www.reservation.gov.
The water level is low at Abiquiu. A four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended for launching boats. The fishing has been slow for walleye. The fishing is slow for smallmouth bass. Fishing for catfish has been fair-to-good but may slow down as the water cools. Trout fishing should pick up. There are some good-sized trout in Abiquiu. Call 505.685.4371 for more information.
The Chama River below Abiquiu Dam is flowing at 758 cubic-feet-per-second. This is very high. The water here is murky.
The fishing could be at least fair for stocked and holdover rainbow trout. There are some big, wild brown trout here. Fly Fishermen should use flies with a little flash to them. It was last stocked Oct. 18 with 761 rainbow trout. The limit here is two-fish-per-day.
The Chama River below El Vado Dam is flowing at 97.3 cubic-feet-per-second. This is lower than last week. The fishing has been fair-to-good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout. The state-record brown trout was caught here. It was last stocked Oct. 1 with 440 rainbow trout.
The streamflow in the Chama River above El Vado Lake is higher than last week. The streamflow at La Puente is 28.6 cubic-feet-per-second. It was stocked Oct. 1 with 792 rainbow trout in the area around the town of Chama. Try fishing below the outflow from Heron Dam. A big lake trout was recently caught below Heron Dam.
The streamflow in the Brazos River was not reported. It was stocked Oct. 13 with 385 rainbow trout. The Brazos River also has wild brown trout. It is icing over.
Laguna del Campo near Los Ojos is closed for the season.
The Rio de los Pinos near the Colorado border was running a little low. It was stocked Oct. 19 with 1,349 rainbow trout. It is beginning to ice over.
Santa Cruz Lake near Chimayo is currently open Thursday-Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Overlook campground is open. The North Shore campground is closed. The fishing has been slow. It should pick up as the water cools and stocking resumes. It was stocked Nov. 4 with 2,629 rainbow trout. It also has wild brown trout. The boat ramp is open.
Santa Cruz normally does not freeze over. For updated conditions, check the Bureau of Land Management website.
The Cimarron River in Cimarron Canyon State Park is open. Fishing has been good for stocked rainbow and wild brown trout. It was last stocked Oct. 13 with 2,019 rainbow trout. Streamflow below Eagle Nest Dam is 0.23 cubic-feet-per-second. This is really low and not beneficial for spawning brown trout. Streamflow is at 2.42 cubic-feet-per-second near the town of Cimarron.
The Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes at Maverick campground were last stocked Oct. 13 with 98 rainbow trout.
Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton is open daily. Lake Alice and Lake Maloya are open for fishing. Camping is available by reservation only. Lake Alice is a small lake and the fishing is primarily for recently-stocked rainbow trout. It was stocked Nov. 8 with 188 rainbow trout. Lake Maloya is bigger and is capable of producing larger, holdover trout. It was stocked Nov. 23 with 1,315 catchable-size rainbow trout. Call (575).445.5607 for current conditions. These lakes should begin to ice over.
Clayton Lake and the Charette Lakes are closed for the season.
Morphy Lake State Park is closed for the season.
Storrie Lake State Park is open. It was last stocked Oct. 18 and fishing is likely slow. Boating is closed.
Cochiti Lake is open. Fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass has been fair. Crappie, catfish and northern pike are being caught as well. The boat ramp is open. Reservations are no longer needed to enter the lake. Camping reservations can be made at www.recreation.gov. They are not sold at the lake. The Tetilla Peak Recreation Area is closed. This lake is managed by the Corps of Engineers.
Tingley Beach in Albuquerque is now being stocked. Stockings here will continue through the winter. It was stocked twice last week with a total of 1,801 catchable-size rainbow trout.
The drainage ditches in the Albuquerque area are now being stocked with catchable=size rainbow trout. The Corrales Riverside ditch will not be stocked. The Albuquerque, Albuquerque South, Belen Riverside and Peralta drains were not stocked last week.
Over in the Four Corners Navajo Lake State Park is open. Camping is by reservation only. The bass fishing has been fair.
The fishing for northern pike has been fair. Snagging season for kokanee salmon began Oct. 1 at Navajo Lake. The snagging is still being reported to be very good. It is usually best in the Navajo Dam area. The flesh of the salmon may be getting soft and the season coming to an end. Boating conditions are good. Call (505).632.2278 for conditions.
The best river in the state and well-known throughout the angling world is the San Juan River below Navajo Dam. The streamflow here is 284 cubic-feet-per-second. This is well-below normal. It offers world-class fly fishing for big trout.
The fishing has been good with a variety of fly patterns in the four miles of Quality Water below the Dam. The fishing here is catch-and-release with flies and lures having a single, barbless hook. The Quality Water is stocked with small rainbow trout that grow quickly in the fertile waters. There are big, wild brown trout in the Quality Water. Some of these fish would likely shatter the state record if they could be kept and weighed.
The Quality Water was stocked Nov. 17 with 4,912 sub-catchable rainbow trout.
The fishing in the Bait Water of the San Juan below the Quality Water has been fair-to-good with flies, bait and lures. A regular daily limit of five trout may be kept here. There are some big brown trout here too. It was stocked Nov. 2 with 2,299 rainbow trout.
Tiger Park Pond and Aztec Pond #1 in Aztec are now being stocked. Tiger Park Pond was stocked Dec. 1 with 787 catchable-size rainbow trout. Aztec Pond was stocked Dec.1with 82 catchable-size rainbow trout. There may be some bigger trout left over from earlier stockings.
Jackson Lake north of Farmington is now being stocked. It was stocked Nov. 23 with 770 rainbow trout.
Lake Farmington is being stocked again. It was stocked Nov. 9 with 1,397 rainbow trout.
Bluewater Lake State Park is open. Boating conditions are listed as good. Camping is allowed by reservation only. Lake water level is low. The trout fishing should pick up. It was stocked Nov. 15 with 2,076 rainbow trout. Tiger muskies are being caught and the fishing for them has been good using big crank baits and waterdogs. Fishing for catfish was fair using hot dogs, but will slow down. Expect traffic delays on westbound Interstate 40 at Laguna. Call (505).876.2391 for current conditions.
The Rio Grande streamflow is 411 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is about like last week and a little below normal. The fishing has been good for rainbow and brown trout. The Rio Grande at Pilar was stocked Nov. 22 with 1,498 rainbow trout. The Rio Grande Gorge above Pilar was stocked with 188 rainbow trout.
From the Colorado state line downstream to the Taos Junction Bridge, the limit is two-trout-per-day in the Rio Grande.
The streamflow in the Rio Pueblo near Penasco is 7.72 cubic-feet-per-second. The flow is higher than last week. The fishing should be fair for stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout.
The Red River near the Red River Fish Hatchery is flowing at 45.0 cubic-feet-per-second. The fishing is normally fair-to-good here for stocked rainbow trout and some wild brown trout. It was stocked Nov. 17 with 525 rainbow trout.
The Red River Hatchery Pond is now open but may ice over soon. It was stocked Oct. 20 with 298 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 80 rainbow trout averaging 15.5 inches in size. The fishing here is for anglers under 14 years-of-age and over 65 years old. The limit here is three fish per-day.
Eagle Rock Lake near Questa is open. This little lake is right off the highway between Questa and Red River. Some icing over may be occurring on parts of this little lake. It was stocked Oct. 28 with 374 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 50 rainbow trout averaging 15.5 inches in size.
The Pecos River above the town of Pecos ran well this summer thanks to monsoon rains. The streamflow at Pecos was not reported and the river is icing up. The fishing has been fair for stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout. It was last stocked Oct. 13 with 2,250 rainbow trout. The stockings in winter move south to Villanueva State Park. It was stocked Nov. 16 with 374 rainbow trout. Stockings will also be made below Sumner Dam during the winter.
The Gallinas River near Las Vegas is running a little lower than last week. The streamflow was 3.57 cubic-feet-per-second. Some good-sized holdover trout have been caught.
Monastery Lake is open to fishing. It was stocked Nov. 24 with 188 catchable-size rainbow trout. Please pick up your trash here as this is private property and should be respected. Fishing here is possible through the State Game and Fish Department’s Open Gate Program. It draws a crowd on weekends. It may ice over and ice fishing is not allowed at Monastery Lake.
Credit: Source link
