By GEORGE MORSE
Sports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post

Now is a good time for hunters to start planning for the upcoming big-game hunting seasons. The deadline to apply for a license in the big-game license lottery drawing is March 20.

New Mexico has some of the best big-game hunting in North America . Trophy-class mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk and pronghorn antelope are taken every year. 

New Mexico also offers the unique opportunity to hunt exotic species such as oryx, Ibex and Barbary sheep.

Applications for the license drawing can be submitted online. The 2024-2025 New Mexico Hunting Rules & Info is available online. 

The drainage canals in the Albuquerque area are now being stocked with rainbow trout. However, the Albuquerque, Albuquerque South, Belen Riverside, Bernalillo, Corrales and Peralta drains were not stocked last week.

Tingley Beach in Albuquerque is now being stocked with rainbow trout. It was not stocked last week.

Fenton Lake State Park is now open for ice fishing. Use caution. It was stocked Jan. 3 with 833 rainbow trout. For more information and current lake conditions call (575).829.3630. The ice is checked daily.

The Rio Cebolla, which flows into and below Fenton Lake, was stocked Oct. 26 with 501 rainbow trout. It also has wild brown trout.

The Jemez River streamflow Monday was 21.6 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little higher than last week and below normal. The Jemez River was stocked Jan. 23 with 830 rainbow trout.  

The upper tributaries of the Jemez River are icing up and will be difficult to fish.           

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 Oct. 26 with 661 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. This Pond is likely frozen.

The Bureau of Land Management manages Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area near Chimayo. It has closed for the season and will reopen March 1.

For updated conditions, check the Bureau of Land Management website 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 447 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is higher than last week and below normal. The Rio Grande at Pilar was stocked Jan. 23 with 2,184 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 Rio Grande Gorge above Pilar was stocked Jan. 23 with 267 catchable-size rainbow trout. It was stocked Nov. 27 with 43,846 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout

Eagle Nest Lake is now open for ice fishing. Foot traffic only allowed on the ice surface. Fishing should be good for rainbow trout, yellow perch  northern pike and an occasional kokanee salmon.

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 Cimarron River streamflow was not measured below Eagle Nest Dam or near the town of Cimarron. It was 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 are starting to freeze over.

Lake Maloya and Lake Alice at Sugarite State Park near Raton are open. Lake Maloya was stocked Dec. 8 with 2,979 catchable-size rainbow trout. Lake Alice is closed to fishing due to unsafe ice conditions. Lake Maloya is open for ice fishing. 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 Jan. 18 with 93.370 sub-catchable rainbow trout. Kokanee salmon snagging season started Nov. 11 and was reported as very slow. It is now closed. 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 Oct. 3 with 4,008 rainbow trout.

The streamflow at Pecos Canyon State Park was not measured due to ice. The fishing has been fair-to-good for rainbow trout and wild brown trout. Pecos Canyon was stocked Oct. 25 with 1,498 rainbow trout. The Pecos River at Villanueva was stocked Jan. 18 with 402 rainbow trout.

Monastery Lake near Pecos is closed due to unsafe ice conditions. Ice fishing is not allowed here.

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 six times last week with fish from three different hatcheries for a total of 94,519 sub-catchable rainbow trout. Fishing for northern pike has been fair-to-good. Bass fishing has been slow. Kokanee salmon snagging season began Oct. 1. Early reports described the snagging as slow. Fishing has improved a little and was fair. It is now over closed Dec. 31. Boating conditions are good. Navajo Lake does not freeze over. Call (505).632.2278 for conditions.

Bluewater Lake State Park was stocked Jan. 22 with 4,800 rainbow trout. Fishing will be good until most of these trout are  caught or eaten by tiger muskies. Musky fishing may be slow. Thin ice may be forming on the lake.

Other lakes in the Four Corners area are now being stocked. Lake Farmington was stocked Jan. 9 with 1,494 rainbow trout. Aztec Pond Number 1 was stocked Feb. 1 with 821 rainbow trout. Tiger Park Pond in Aztec was stocked Feb. 1 with 1,688  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 will soon start freezing over and be inaccessible due to snow. 

Hopewell may be reached by snowmobile. The ice fishing is reported to be very good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout.

The Rio de los Pinos is near the border of Colorado north of Tres Piedras. II was stocked Oct. 3 with 1,799 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout. It is iced over.

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 was338 cubic-feet-per-second. That is the same as 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 three times four weeks ago with over 110,000 fingerling rainbow trout. It was stocked Oct. 30 with another 11,618 fingerling 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 twice last week with a total of 3,228 rainbow trout.

Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. Boat ramp may be closed periodically. Camping is open. It is managed by the Corps of Engineers. 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 49.5 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little lower than last week and well-below 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 Jan.24 with 415 rainbow trout. The limit here is two-fish-per-day.

Streamflow in the Chama River below El Vado Dam was 98.8 cubic-feet-per-second. This is about the same as last week and below normal. It has wild brown trout. It was stocked Oct. 25 with 36,990 one-inch Rio Grande cutthroat trout.

Above El Vado Lake, streamflow on the Chama River at La Puente was not measured due to ice. Above the town of Chama streamflow was not measured.

The Rio Pueblo near Penasco streamflow was not measured due to ice. It has wild brown trout. 

The Red River below the Fish Hatchery is flowing at 42.4 cubic-feet-per-second. Above Questa, the river is icing up. This is higher than last week and above normal. It was stocked Jan. 18 with 561 rainbow trout. 

The Red River Hatchery Pond is likely 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 Oct. 16 with 400 catchable-size rainbow trout. It is likely frozen.

Eagle Rock Lake near Questa is open. It was stocked Nov. 8 with 500 rainbow trout. It may be freezing over. Use caution as ice may be unsafe.

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.