By GEORGE MORSE
Sports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post

One of the most popular fishing holes for Los Alamos anglers opened just in time for the 2022-2023 fishing season. Fenton Lake was opened for fishing March 30 after being closed most of the winter due to unsafe ice conditions. It was just in time for the April 1 start of the 2022-2023 season. 

Fenton Lake is heavily-stocked with rainbow trout. It also has some big, wild brown trout. Rio Grande cutthroat trout are occasionally stocked from Seven Springs Fish Hatchery where cutthroat trout are raised. Anglers need to remember that only two cutthroat trout may be kept as part of the five trout-per-day bag limit at Fenton. 

Spring turkey season opens April 15 in New Mexico. Hunters will need to purchase an over-the-counter spring turkey license either online or from license vendors across the state. The limit is two turkeys with a visible beard, which is a tuft of hairy feathers located on the chest of male turkeys.

The species of turkeys most often hunted in New Mexico is the Merriam’s. There is some hunting for Rio Grande wild turkeys in Eastern New Mexico. New Mexico is one of the few states with a small population of Gould’s wild turkeys, which are found in the Southwestern corner of the state. A very limited number of highly-sought-after permits are available for hunting Gould’s turkeys. These permits are available through auction or lottery drawing only.

Be sure to purchase your new fishing license before going out. 

Eagle Nest Lake at Eagle Nest State Park is still closed to anglers due to deteriorating ice conditions. Despite being still mostly frozen it was stocked March 31 with 9,950 sub-catchable rainbow trout. For more information and current conditions, call (575).377.1594. 

Lake Maloya at Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton is now open to bank fishing. No boating. Lake Alice, also at Sugarite State Park, is now free of ice and open for fishing. Call (575).445.5607 for current conditions. 

Morphy Lake State Park opened March 1 for fishing. There is open water on Morphy Lake. Open-water fishing should be good for holdover rainbow trout and there are a few cutthroats here. It was stocked March 29 with 2,706 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 300 rainbow trout averaging 15-4 inches in length. Call (575).387.2328 for current conditions. 

Clayton Lake State Park opened March 1 for fishing. It is stocked with rainbow trout and has big walleye. The state-record walleye was caught here. It was stocked March 23 with 3,988 rainbow trout. Call (575).374.8808 for current conditions.

Fenton Lake State Park in the Jemez Mountains is now open for bank fishing. It was stocked March 30 with 2,115 rainbow trout. Camping is allowed by reservation only. Call (575).829.3630 for current conditions at Fenton.

Heron Lake State Park has open water for bank fishing. Be aware that the banks are very muddy. The boat ramps are closed. The lake level is still low. 

Call (575).588.7470 for conditions at both Heron Lake and El Vado Lake.

El Vado Lake has rainbow trout, brown trout, perch and small smallmouth bass. Boating is closed. Water level is low.  There is open water for bank fishing. The banks are very muddy. 

Santa Cruz Lake near Chimayo has open water and fishing has been good. It was stocked April 1 with 4,980 rainbow trout. The lake is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. For updated conditions, check the Bureau of Land Management website or call (505).351.1438.

The Rio Cebolla, which flows into and out of Fenton Lake, was stocked March 1 with 309 rainbow trout.

The Seven Springs Brood Pond, also known as the Kid’s Pond, is open. It was stocked March 30 with 470 rainbow trout. There are a few big, wild brown trout here. Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age and younger. This pond is just north of Fenton Lake.

The trout fishing has been good in the Jemez River. The streamflow is now 64.8 cubic-feet-per-second. This is lower than last week.  The fish are concentrated in deeper pools. It was stocked Feb. 15 with 1,560 rainbow trout. Headwater tributaries of the Jemez River are losing their ice.

Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. Camping is closed. It is managed by the Corps of Engineers. Reservations for later in the year 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 and smallmouth bass. Trout fishing could 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 147 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week. The water here is murky. It was stocked April 1 with 1,001 rainbow trout. The fishing is at least fair-to-good for stocked and holdover rainbow trout. There are a few big, wild brown trout here. Fly Fishermen should use flies with a little flash to them. 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 about like last week.. The fishing has been fair-to-good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout. You may hook a cutthroat trout here. The state-record brown trout was caught here.

Above El Vado Lake, the streamflow in the Chama at La Puente was not measured due to ice. Try fishing below the outflow from Heron Dam. A big lake trout was caught this winter below Heron Dam.

Hopewell Lake between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras is frozen over and the gate is locked. Anglers may park and hike to the lake. Ice fishing has been good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout. Use caution fishing here as the ice is likely thinning. Hopewell is usually ice-free by mid-May.

The Cimarron River in Cimarron Canyon State Park is open. Streamflow below Eagle Nest Dam was 0.79 cubic-feet-per-second, which is very low. Streamflow near the town of Cimarron was 5.99 cubic-feet-per-second

The Charette Lakes between Wagon Mound and Springer have good fishing for good-sized, holdover rainbow trout.

Storrie Lake State Park is open and some trout are being caught from the bank. It was stocked twice last week with a total of 5,820 rainbow trout. Call (505).425.7278 for current conditions.

Cochiti Lake is open. 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 best fishing is for catfish. 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 March 29 with 2,176 catchable-size rainbow trout.

Over in the Four Corners Navajo Lake State Park is open. Camping is by reservation only. Navajo Lake does not freeze. The best fishing is likely from the bank for rainbow trout near the salmon runs. Trolling minnow-imitating lures like Rapalas could produce a trophy brown trout. Fishing for northern pike has been fair. It was stocked March 28 with 29,470 sub-catchable rainbow trout. 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 338 cubic-feet-per-second. This is slightly higher than last week and less than 50-percent of 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. 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 March 23 with 40,073 sub-catchable rainbow trout.

Tiger Park Pond and Aztec Pond #1 in Aztec are now being stocked. Tiger Park Pond was stocked March 15 with 1040 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 150 rainbow trout averaging 16.8 inches in size.  Aztec Pond was stocked March 15 with 104 rainbow trout averaging 13.3 inches in size.

Lake Farmington has been stocked again. On March 24, it was stocked with 3,107 rainbow trout. This lake is managed by the City of Farmington.

Bluewater Lake State Park is open. Camping is allowed by reservation only. Lake water level is low. The Prewitt Side is open. The trout fishing should pick up. It was stocked March 30 with 5,225 rainbow trout. Tiger muskies are being caught and the fishing for them is slow using big crank baits and waterdogs. The limit on tiger muskies is one-per-day at least 40 inches in length. Boating is closed. Expect traffic delays on westbound Interstate 40 at Laguna. Call (505).876.2391 for current conditions. 

The Rio Grande streamflow is 688 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is much higher than last week. The fishing had been fair for rainbow and brown trout. The Rio Grande at Pilar was stocked March 24 with 2,955 rainbow trout. The Rio Grande above Pilar in the Gorge was stocked with 500 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 Red River near the Red River Fish Hatchery is flowing at 40 cubic-feet-per-second. This is about the same as last week. The fishing is normally fair-to-good here for stocked rainbow trout and some wild brown trout. It was stocked March 17 with 700 rainbow trout. The upper Red River is iced over.

The Red River Hatchery Pond is now open. It was stocked March 17 with 399 rainbow trout. Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger and 65 years old or older. The limit 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. The ice is breaking up. Use extreme caution now because the ice here is deteriorating. It was last stocked March 24 with 500 catchable-size rainbow trout.

Cabresto Lake near Questa is a small, high-elevation lake open for ice fishing. It has wild brook trout and cutthroat trout. The road into the lake is rough and snow-packed. You will need a good four-wheel drive vehicle.

The Pecos River above the town of Pecos is opening up and the ice is melting. The streamflow at Pecos was 65.7 cubic-feet-per second. This is about like last week and near normal. The fishing had been fair for stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout. The deeper pools will hold the most trout.

The stockings of trout in the winter on the Pecos move south to Villanueva State Park. It was stocked March 15 with 500 rainbow trout. From Villanueva to Interstate 40, the Pecos was stocked March 31with 162 rainbow trout. Stockings will also be made below Sumner Dam during the winter. It was stocked March 28 with 239 rainbow trout. Streamflow below Sumner Dam was 60.2 cubic-feet-per-second.

Monastery Lake is now open. It was last stocked March 21 with 503 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. Call Lisboa Springs Fish Hatchery (505).757.3630 for conditions at Monastery Lake and the Pecos River.