By GEORGE MORSE
Sports and Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post

The weather has finally settled down and spring I definitely here. Flowers and fruit trees are blooming. The land gets a little greener every day.

Spring hunting season for wild turkeys opened April 15. You will need to purchase an over-the-counter (OTC) turkey hunting license. The season ends May 15. New Mexico has three species of wild turkeys. The most common is the Merriam’s, which is found throughout the state in mountainous areas, mostly in ponderosa pine forest. The Rio Grande wild turkeys are found in riparian areas of Eastern New Mexico. The Gould’s wild turkey is very limited in habitat and found only in the Bootheel portion of Southwestern New Mexico.

If you are wading, be careful. A dunking in the cold heavy currents of spring runoff  can turn life-threatening in a hurry.

Streamflows increased dramatically this past week in Northern New Mexico. Nearly all the tributaries of the Rio Grande are flowing well-above normal. The main stem of the Rio Grande remains a little below normal. It should continue to rise. The Pecos River is running above normal, as well as the Jemez River and the Chama River.

Spring runoff has begun in the Gila River drainage with all streams running above normal.

Unless otherwise noted, all the stockings referred to in this report are with catchable-size rainbow trout.

The Winter Stocking Program ended in March. Waters in Southern New Mexico that cannot support trout fishing during the summer will no longer be stocked until October.

The State Game and Fish Department stocked 197,726 kokanee salmon in Navajo Lake last week. Heron Lake was stocked with 63,170 kokanee. Eagle Nest Lake received 34,002  kokanee. These were small fish averaging 1.8 inches in size.

Over 1 million walleye fry averaging just 0.3 inches in size were stocked in Conchas Lake last week. Abiquiu Lake and Clayton Lake received smaller stockings of walleye fry.

Clayton Lake State Park and the Charette Lakes are open for fishing. The Charette Lakes  between Springer and Wagon Mound should be good for some nice, holdover trout. The Charette Lakes also have yellow perch. They were stocked April 8 with 3,327 rainbow trout.

Clayton Lake is now open. Clayton Lake was stocked April 3 with 2,519  rainbow trout. I The state-record walleye was caught here. Clayton Lake is a designated trophy bass water. The limit is two largemouth bass-per day at least 14 inches or more in length. There  are also catfish here. Be sure to check out the dinosaur tracks at Clayton Lake.

Note: Laguna del Campo near the village of Los Ojos opens May 1 for the 2024 season.

Fenton Lake State Park now has open water. It was recently-stocked with rainbow trout and has some wild brown trout. Anglers have been catching a few cutthroat trout. It was stocked April 16 with 800 Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Only two cutthroat trout may be included in the daily bag limit of five-per-day. For more information and lake conditions call 575.829.3630.

The Rio Cebolla, which flows into and below Fenton Lake, was stocked April 3 with 485 rainbow trout. It also has wild brown trout.

The Jemez River streamflow Sunday was 342 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and above normal. The Jemez River was stocked April 16 with 862 rainbow trout.

The upper tributaries of the Jemez River are open. They will be running high and roads will be muddy. They may be difficult to reach and to fish. The Rio de las Vacas was stocked  April 16 with 701 rainbow trout. The San Antonio River was stocked with 523 rainbow trout.

The Seven Springs Brood Pond, also known as the Kid’s Pond, is open. It is located at the Seven Springs Fish Hatchery. The fishing is for anglers 11-years of age or younger. It was stocked April 16 with 314 rainbow trout. It also has some wild brown trout and some Rio Grande cutthroat trout from an earlier stocking. The limit is three trout-per-day.

The Bureau of Land Management manages Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area near Chimayo. It reopened March 1. It will be open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. It was stocked April 15 with 3,911 rainbow trout.

For updated conditions, check the Bureau of Land Management website at: blm.gov/visit/santa-cruz-lake-recreation-area or call 505.351.1438.

The Bureau also manages the Orilla Verde Recreation Area along the Rio Grande at Pilar. Camping is on a first-come basis. No reservations. The Rio Grande streamflow was 570 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is higher than last week and below normal. The Rio Grande at Pilar was stocked April 11 with 1,401 rainbow trout. The Rio Grande also has wild brown trout, some northern pike and smallmouth bass. In the Albuquerque area, there are channel catfish.

From the Colorado state line downstream to the Taos Junction Bridge, the limit is two-trout-per-day in the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande Gorge above Pilar was stocked April 11 with 176 catchable-size  rainbow trout. It was stocked Nov. 27 with 43,846 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout.

Eagle Nest Lake has open water, fishing should be good for rainbow trout, yellow perch, northern pike and an occasional kokanee salmon. It was stocked April 16 with 9,977 rainbow trout averaging 9.3 inches.

Remember, if you catch a pike at Eagle Nest, you cannot put it back in the lake. You have to kill it. For more information and current conditions, call 575.377.1594.

The streamflow in the Cimarron River below Eagle Nest Dam was 13.6 cubic-feet-per-second. Near the town of Cimarron it measured 33.8 cubic-feet-per-second. It was last stocked Oct. 11 with 2,426 rainbow trout. Check the Carson National Forest website to see if campgrounds are open.

The Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes at Maverick Campground are open. They were frozen, but may be open now. They have not yet been stocked.

Lake Maloya and Lake Alice at Sugarite State Park near Raton are open. Lake Maloya was stocked April 16 with 2,098 catchable-size rainbow trout. Lake Alice now open for fishing and ice-free.  It was stocked April 16 with 351 rainbow trout. Lake Maloya has open water. Call  575.445.5607 for current conditions.

Heron Lake State Park is open now. There is open water for bank fishing, which has been fair for rainbow trout. It was stocked April 16 with 23,577 sub-catchable rainbow trout. No ice fishing. 

Call 575.588.7470 for conditions at both Heron Lake and El Vado Lake. El Vado Lake State Park is closed. Try fishing at the north end of the lake where the Chama River comes in. 

Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas is open. It was stocked April 1 with 4,980 rainbow trout. 

The fishing for bass, walleye crappie and white bass should be improving as the water warms up at Conchas Lake State Park.

The streamflow at Pecos Canyon State Park was measured at 317 cubic-feet-per-second. This is high and above normal. The fishing has been fair-to-good for rainbow trout and wild brown trout. Pecos Canyon was stocked twice last week with a total of 2,100 rainbow trout. The Pecos River at Villanueva was stocked April 9 with140 rainbow trout. The streamflow at Anton Chico was lower than last week at 340 cubic-feet-per-second. This is above normal.

The Mora Fork of the Pecos River was stocked April 4 with 280 rainbow trout.

The Cowles Ponds were stocked April 18 with 140 rainbow trout.

Morphy Lake State Park is now open. Fishing is good for stocked rainbow trout and some cutthroat trout. It was stocked April 17 with 2,098 rainbow trout.

Monastery Lake near Pecos is now open again as the ice has melted. It was stocked April 15 with 250 rainbow trout.

Coyote Creek State Park was stocked for the first time this season April 8 with 561 rainbow trout. The Coyote Creek Pond was stocked with 420 rainbow trout.

Over in the Four Corners, Navajo Lake State Park is open. Camping is by reservation only. Trolling minnow-imitating lures like Rapalas could produce a trophy brown trout. It was stocked April 10 with 26,624 sub-catchable rainbow trout. Fishing for northern pike has been fair-to-good. Bass fishing has been fair. Boating conditions are good. Navajo Lake does not freeze over. Call 505.632.2278 for conditions.

Bluewater Lake State Park was stocked March 12 with 4,199 rainbow trout. Fishing will be good until most of these trout are caught or eaten by tiger muskies. Musky fishing may be slow.

McGaffey Lake near Grants was stocked April 18 with 1 350 rainbow trout.

Other lakes in the Four Corners area are now being stocked. Lake Farmington was stocked April 16 with 1004 rainbow trout. Aztec Pond Number 1 was stocked April 3 with 244 rainbow trout. Tiger Park Pond in Aztec was stocked April 3 with 800 rainbow trout.

Popular fishing locations on Carson National Forest include the Canjilon Lakes, the Trout Lakes near Cebolla and Hopewell Lake between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla. They are frozen and may be inaccessible due to snow.

Hopewell may be reached by snowmobile. The ice fishing was reported to be very good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout. Use caution especially near the inlet.

The Rio de los Pinos is near the border of Colorado north of Tres Piedras. It was stocked Oct. 3 with 1,799 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout. It was iced over but the ice is likely starting to break up.

The best river in the state and well-known throughout the angling world is the San Juan River below Navajo Dam The streamflow on the San Juan was 352 cubic-feet-per-second. This is lower than last week. The San Juan offers world-class 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. It is heavily-stocked with small rainbow trout that grow quickly in the fertile waters. It was stocked April 15 with 7,879 sub-catchable rainbow trout. 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 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 April 16 with 2,230 rainbow trout.

Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. Boat ramp may be closed periodically. Camping is open. The Corps of Engineers manages it. Reservations may be made at www.recreation.gov. The fishing has been slow for walleye, catfish and smallmouth bass. There are some good-sized trout in Abiquiu. Call 505.685.4371 for more information.

The Chama River below Abiquiu Dam is flowing at 991 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and above normal. The water is murky. The fishing is likely fair for stocked and holdover rainbow trout. There are a few big, wild brown trout here. It was stocked April 8 with 741 rainbow trout. The limit here is two-fish-per-day.

Streamflow in the Chama River below El Vado Dam was 980 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and above normal. It has wild brown trout. It was stocked Oct. 25 with 36,990 one-inch Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The state-record brown trout was caught here. It was stocked April 16 with 446 rainbow trout.

Above El Vado Lake, streamflow on the Chama River at La Puente was 916 cubic-feet-per second. It was stocked April 816 with 669 rainbow trout. Above the town of Chama streamflow was measured at 241 cubic-feet-per-second.

The streamflow in the Brazos River was measured at 304 cubic-feet-per-second. It was stocked April 8 with 419 rainbow trout.

The Rio Pueblo near Penasco streamflow was measured at 223 cubic-feet-per-second. This is above normal. It was stocked April 8 with 840 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout.

The Red River below the Fish Hatchery is flowing at 71.8 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and above normal. It was stocked April 15 with 488 rainbow trout.

The Red River Hatchery Pond is not frozen. Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger and 65 years old or older. The limit is now five-fish-per day. It was stocked April 4 with 280 catchable-size rainbow trout.

Eagle Rock Lake near Questa is open. It was stocked April 8 with 348 rainbow trout. It now has open water.

The Shuree Ponds on the Valle Vidal are closed until July 1.

Cabresto Lake, a small, high-elevation lake accessible by four-wheel drive vehicle near Questa, has good ice fishing for wild brook trout and wild cutthroat trout. It is frozen over but the ice is deteriorating. Use caution.