By GEORGE MORSE
Sports and Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post

Probably well-over 90-percent of the trout caught each year in New Mexico are triploid rainbow trout that began life in one of New Mexico’s fish hatcheries. Each year, the State Game and Fish Department stocks literally tons of these trout every week in New Mexico.

Triploid rainbow trout are sterile and cannot reproduce. They are created by subjecting the fertile trout eggs to either irradiation or high heat during development. It has been a number of years that New Mexico has only stocked this type of rainbow trout. Much smaller numbers of Rio Grande cutthroat trout and Gila trout, the state’s two native species, are stocked in selected locations.

One reason New Mexico stocks sterile fish is to eliminate the possibility of cross-breeding with the native species, which fertile rainbow trout will readily do.

Other surrounding states stock more species of trout. Colorado, Utah and Arizona have all stocked tiger trout in many of their rivers and lakes.

Tiger trout are a hybrid of a female brown trout and a male brook trout. This hybrid occurs very rarely in the wild and most tiger trout are bred in hatcheries. There is a 35-percent mortality rate among the eggs. The remaining offspring are strikingly-marked, often with vertical markings along the sides. Tiger trout cannot reproduce naturally.

Tiger trout grow rapidly and are known to exceed 20 pounds in weight. They have proven to be very popular wherever they have been stocked. New Mexico should consider stocking tiger trout to add some variety to their stocking program. For now, you’ll have to cross the border into Colorado in order to catch one.

Fenton Lake State Park is open for camping. Lake is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Camping by reservation only. It is heavily-stocked with rainbow trout. It also has some wild brown trout and some Rio Grande cutthroat trout from earlier stockings. It was stocked Oct. 5 with 2,200 rainbow trout. For more information and current lake conditions call 575.829.3630.

The Rio Cebolla, which flows into and below Fenton Lake, was stocked twice two weeks ago with a total of 401 rainbow trout. It also has wild brown trout.

The Jemez River streamflow Monday was 14.5 cubic-feet-per-second. This is slightly higher than last week and below normal. The Jemez River was stocked Oct. 4 with 999 rainbow trout. 

The Rio San Antonio, a Jemez River tributary, was stocked Sept. 28 with 12,424 fingerling Rio Grande cutthroat trout. It was stocked Oct. 4 with 751 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 Oct. 4 with 350 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 will be open 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The fishing should be good for stocked rainbow trout and some wild brown trout. It was stocked Oct. 5 with 3,172 rainbow trout. The water level is low, but the boat ramp is still open. The cooler weather may have trout moving into shallow water.

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 271 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is higher than last week and below normal. The Rio Grande at Pilar was stocked Sept. 25 with 2,000 rainbow trout. Fishing conditions are very good on the Rio Grande now. The wild brown trout are active prior to spawning.

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 Sept. 25 with 251 rainbow trout.

Eagle Nest Lake at Eagle Nest State Park is open. Boating is open and docks are in.

Fishing should be good for rainbow trout, yellow perch, northern pike and an occasional kokanee salmon. Eagle Nest has been receiving heavy stockings of catchable-size and larger hatchery fish, which is unusual. Larger trout are being stocked in hopes of mitigating the losses to predation by northern pike. 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 below Eagle Nest Dam was 28.6 cubic-feet-per-second. This is the same as last week. The Cimarron River near the town of Cimarron streamflow was measured at 29.5 cubic-feet-per second. It was stocked Sept. 27 with 2,422 rainbow trout. Check the Carson National Forest website to see if campgrounds are open.

The Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes at Maverick Campground are open now. They were stocked Sept. 27 with 400 rainbow trout.

Lake Maloya and Lake Alice at Sugarite State Park near Raton are open. Lake Maloya was stocked Sept. 21 with 3,009 catchable-size rainbow trout. Lake Alice was stocked Sept. 21 with 499 rainbow trout. 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. The boat marina and boat ramp are now open. The lake level is higher than in previous years..

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.

Laguna del Campo, a popular, small lake near Los Ojos, opened for fishing. It was stocked Sept. 25 with 296 rainbow trout. Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger and 65 years old or older. Limit is three-fish-per-day.

Clayton Lake State Park is open. It was stocked Sept. 25 with 4,000 rainbow trout. It also has catfish . The state-record walleye was caught here. Be sure to check out the dinosaur tracks at Clayton Lake.

Morphy Lake State Park near Mora has reopened. It was stocked Sept. 19 with 3,001 rainbow trout.

The Charette Lakes have good fishing for holdover rainbow trout. There are also yellow perch here. They were stocked June 27 with 2,497 rainbow trout.

Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas is open. It was stocked Oct. 3 with 4,008 rainbow trout.

Pecos Canyon State Park is open. In the Canyon, streamflow was measured 24.3 cubic-feet per second. This is lower than last week and below normal. The fishing has been fair-to-good for rainbow trout and wild brown trout. Pecos Canyon was stocked Sept. 18 with 1,506 rainbow trout.

Monastery Lake near Pecos has been fair. It was stocked Sept. 21 with 1,002 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. Fishing for northern pike has been fair-to-good. Bass fishing has been fair. The kokanee salmon have begun to school up near the dam at 50-60 feet in depth. Kokanee salmon snagging season began Oct. 1. Early reports describe the snagging as slow. Boating conditions are good. Call 505.632.2278 for conditions.

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.  

Canjilon was stocked Sept. 25 with 1,184 rainbow trout and has small brook trout. The Trout Lakes were stocked Sept. 25 with 740 rainbow trout.

The campground at Hopewell Lake is open. The fishing has been good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout. It was stocked Oct. 5 with 2,520 rainbow trout.

The Lagunitas Lakes have been stocked and the fishing for stockers has been very good. They were stocked Sept. 6 with 1,499 rainbow trout.

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

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 now 603 cubic-feet-per-second, which is a little higher than last week. The San Juan 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. It is heavily-stocked with small rainbow trout that grow quickly in the fertile waters. It was stocked three times last week with over 110,000 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 Oct. 4 with 2,318 rainbow trout.

Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. Camping is open. It is managed by the Corps of Engineers. Reservations may be made at www.recreation.gov. Water levels are dropping as a lot of water is being released. The fishing has been fair 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 1,230 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little lower 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 Sept. 18 with 1,043 rainbow trout. The limit here is two-fish-per-day.

Streamflow in the Chama River below El Vado Dam was 105 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and below normal. It has wild brown trout. It was stocked Sept. 18 with 522 rainbow trout.

Above El Vado Lake, the Chama River at La Puente is clearing and streamflow was 39.6 cubic-feet-per-second. This is higher than last week and below normal. It was stocked Sept. 18 with 1,043 rainbow trout.

Brazos River’s streamflow is not being measured. It was stocked Sept. 18 with 820 rainbow trout.

The Rio Pueblo near Penasco streamflow was measured at 10.1 cubic-feet-per-second. This is lower than last week and just below normal. It was stocked Sept. 26 with 2,001 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout.

Sipapu Pond was stocked Aug. 29 with 67 rainbow trout.

The Red River below the Fish Hatchery is flowing at 48.9 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a lower than last week and a little below normal. It was stocked Sept. 20 with 700 rainbow trout. The Red River above Questa was stocked Sept. 13 with 2.900 rainbow trout.

The Red River Hatchery Pond is open. 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. 2 with 401 catchable-size rainbow trout.

The East and West Forks of the Red River were each stocked Aug. 22 with 300 rainbow trout.

Eagle Rock Lake near Questa is open. It was stocked Sept. 25 with 501 rainbow trout.

The Shuree Ponds on the Valle Vidal were stocked July 24 with 105 rainbow trout averaging 15.2 inches in size.

Cabresto Lake, a small, high-elevation lake accessible by four-wheel drive vehicle near Questa, has good fishing for wild brook trout and wild cutthroat trout.