By GEORGE MORSESports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post
Streamflows in Northern New Mexico remain very high and fishing is difficult in the major rivers.
The streamflows in the smaller tributaries is high but appears to be dropping slightly. Some snow is forecast for later this week at very high elevations above 10,000 feet, so places like Hopewell Lake and the Canjilon Lakes will likely still be hard to reach and possibly still iced over. Streamflows are likely to stay high for at least another two weeks, but some of the smaller streams are offering good fishing now.
The good news is that water levels are rising in the lakes and reservoirs. This is the best time of the year to be bank fishing, as trout and other gamefish should be cruising the shallow water where it is warmer and there is more food.
The boat ramp at Abiquiu Lake is now open and boats can be launched more easily. This opens up the fishing for anglers.
The fishing has been fair-to-good for smallmouth bass. The walleye fishing has been slow-to-fair. The wind can make fishing here difficult. This is a good time of year to catch a big trout at Abiquiu. If you can hit it on a calm day it should be very good.
The Chama River below Abiquiu Dam and below El Vado Dam is running very high and the fishing is slow and difficult.
The Chama River below Abiquiu was stocked May 1 with 1,026 rainbow trout. The Chama River below El Vado was stocked with 855 rainbow trout.
El Vado Lake has been fair-to-good for a mixed bag of perch, brown trout and smallmouth bass.
Heron Lake has been good for rainbow trout from the bank. The water here is rising and murky.
The Chama River above El Vado was stocked May 1 with 1,026 rainbow trout. The streamflows here are still high but you might try the Public Fishing Area just south of the town of Chama.
Laguna del Campo near Los Ojos has been good for trout. It was stocked May 1 with 362 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 80 rainbow trout averaging over 15 inches in size. They caught some nice rainbow trout here last week. The fishing here is for anglers 14 years-of-age or younger and 65 years-of-age and older. An adult angler may fish when in direct supervision of younger anglers. The limit here is three fish-per-day.
Some of the best trout fishing right now is at Fenton Lake State Park, which is a favorite of Los Alamos anglers. The fishing has been excellent for trout using just about everything. Most of the catch here is stocked rainbow trout, but there are also some big, wild brown trout in Fenton. Fenton Lake was stocked May 2 with 1,506 rainbow trout.
The Jemez River is still running high, but seems to be slowly coming down. The fishing is slow. The fishing is better in the smaller tributaries and headwater stream. The Rio San Antonio near La Cueva and the East Fork of the Jemez have been good, as has the Cebolla River that flows out of Fenton Lake. All these streams are stocked with rainbow trout and have wild populations of brown trout. The Rio San Antonio was stocked may 2 with 750 rainbow trout.
The fishing has been very good at the Seven Springs Brood Pond north of Fenton Lake at the Seven Springs Fish Hatchery. The fishing here is for anglers under 12 years-of-age. A 25-inch trout was caught last week.
Santa Cruz Lake near Chimayo is full and flowing over the spillway. The fishing has been slow-to-fair.
The Rio Grande is flowing at 1,850 cubic-feet-per-second. The fishing is slow due to the high flows.
The fishing in the Red River below Questa has been fair. The streamflow is high at 175 cubic-feet-per-second. The fishing has been good at the Red River Fish Hatchery Pond.
Eagle Rock Lake near Questa has been good for stocked rainbow trout.
Eagle Nest Lake has been very good fishing for trout from boats and some fish are being caught from the bank. The fishing for northern pike has been good. The perch fishing is picking up. Eagle Nest Lake was stocked May 3 with 23,760 small rainbow trout.
The Cimarron River below Eagle Nest Lake in Cimarron Canyon State Park was slow-to-fair. The fishing in the Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes was very good. These lakes are near Maverick Campground. There will be a Children’s Fishing Derby May 11. Call Lee Ferguson at (575).377.6271 for information.
The fishing at Maxwell Lake 13 on the Maxwell Lakes National Wildlife Area has been fair.
The Fishing has been good at Lake Alice and at Lake Maloya at Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton.
The fishing has been fair for trout at the Charette Lakes between Springer and Wagon Mound. No reports on the perch fishing.
Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas has been good for trout. It was stocked May 2 with 4,049 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 450 rainbow trout averaging over 14 inches in size.
The fishing has been fair-to-good in the Gallinas River near Las Vegas.
The Pecos River is flowing strong at 639 cubic-feet-per-second. The fishing has been slow-to-fair due to the high water. It was stocked April 30 with 2,499 rainbow trout between Cowles and the village of Pecos.
There were no reports from Monastery Lake near Pecos. The fishing should be good as it was stocked April 30 with 901 rainbow trout.
The fishing has been good at the Cowles Ponds north of Pecos. They were stocked April 30 with 181 rainbow trout.
The fishing at Conchas Lake on the Canadian River has been good to excellent for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.
The fishing has been good for white bass, crappie, walleye, catfish and bluegill.
The fishing has been eexcellent at Santa Rosa Lake on the Pecos River near Santa Rosa for largemouth and smallmouth bass. It has been good for crappie and walleye.
The fishing at Sumner Lake on the Pecos River below Santa Rosa Lake has been excellent for crappie and catfish. It has been good for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and walleye.
Over in the Four Corners, the fishing has really picked up at Navajo Lake. The fishing for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass has been good. The fishing for crappie has been good. The fishing for northern pike has been fair-to-good. The fishing for trout has been fair. Navajo Lake was stocked last week with a total of 61,722 small rainbow trout.
The San Juan River below Navajo Dam is flowing at 403 cubic-feet-per- second and that is low for this time of year. The water is still murky and the fishing in the Quality Water has been slow. The fishing is better in the Bait Water, which has been good with worms and Power Bait. The Bait Water was stocked May 2 with 5,906 rainbow trout.
If you find yourself in Aztec, the fishing at Tiger Park Pond should be good. It was stocked May 2 with 1,068 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 150 rainbow trout averaging over 15 inches in size.
Cochiti Lake has been slow, but the panfish are starting to bite.
Tingley Beach in Albuquerque has been fair for what trout are still left from earlier stockings. The trout fishing will soon be done here as the water warms up.
The fishing at Elephant Butte Lake has been good for just about everything. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, walleye, crappie and catfish are all biting well. At Caballo Lake downstream from Elephant Butte, the fishing has been very good for walleye and white bass. It has been good for crappie.
The fishing at Lake Roberts near Silver City has been fair for catfish. It is slow-to-fair for trout.
