By GEORGE MORSESports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post
Talk about a change in the weather.
Sunday morning was cold and the sky very clear. The temperature had dropped dramatically in parts of New Mexico with Angel Fire recording a temperature of 17 degrees!
Tuesday morning early the fog was thick down in the Espanola Valley thanks to the cold temperature and high humidity. The air likely reached the dew point where it is 100-percent saturated.
Later this week, a cold front is forecast to move into the Rocky Mountains bringing snow and cooler temperatures. This includes New Mexico and Colorado. Perhaps the Sangre de Cristos and Southern San Juan mountain ranges will have a coating of white at higher elevations this time next week. The scenery this time of year can be particularly beautiful with the golden aspens and snow-capped peaks.
Long range, however, the forecast is for temperatures to be much-above average from October through December. We’ll wait and see how that works out.
Some sad news from Colorado. The Colorado Parks and Widlife Division reports up to 80-percent of the trout in the Animas River, which flows through the town of Durango and later through Aztec, NM were lost due to runoff from the 416 fire. The 416 fire burned 54,000 acres in 2018 and ash-laden, heavy spring runoff this year killed fish and other aquatic life in the river. Once a Gold Medal trout stream, it will take years for this river to recover.
The Animas (actually, I prefer the Spanish name “Rio de las Animas Perdidas” meaning “River of Lost Souls”) has taken it on the chin lately. In 2015, a spill from an old gold mine turned the river a sickly, yellow color and was full of toxic heavy metals. The river had a history of good fishing. I remember in the 1960’s they caught a then-state record brown trout weighing over 23 pounds from the Animas right in the town of Durango.
The cooler weather will make trout more active in many of the lakes and rivers thanks to the lower water temperatures.
Brown trout will be entering their spawning season and this time of year is a great time to be out fishing.
The fishing at Fenton Lake in the Jemez Mountains has been good and should just get better as the weather cools down.
It was stocked Sept. 18 with 1,764 rainbow trout. There are some big, wild brown trout here that may be caught this time of year.
The Seven Springs Brood Pond near Seven Springs Fish Hatchery continues to produce big trout for little anglers under 12 years old. It was stocked Sept. 18 with 451 rainbow trout.
Streams in the Jemez area are all running low. All of them have populations of wild brown trout. The fly-fishing should be good and the size of some of these trout in these small streams could surprise you. The Rio San Antonio was stocked Sept. 18 with 750 rainbow trout. The Rio Cebolla near Fenton Lake was stocked Sept. 18 with 400 rainbow trout.
The Rio Grande is looking better and better as the streamflow drops and the water clears. Now is a good time to hike into the Rio Grande Gorge near Questa and try to hook some of the big, wild brown trout found here. The hike in and the hike out should be a lot more pleasant now that the weather has cooled down.
Personally, I prefer the Rio Grande above the confluence with the Red River. The turnoff to reach this area is north of Questa.
The fishing in the Rio Grande in the Orilla Verde Recreation area should also be good, as should the fishing between Pilar and Velarde along US Highway 68.
The fishing in the Rio Pueblo near Penasco has been good. There are stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout here.
In the Red River/Questa area, the heavy stocking of trout continues to be done by the State Game and Fish Department.
The Red River below Questa was stocked Sept. 17 with 698 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 400 rainbow trout averaging 15.1 inches in size. The Red River Hatchery Pond was stocked with 400 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 200 rainbow trout averaging 15.8 inches in size. The fishing has been good.
Although not stocked last week, the fishing has been good at Eagle Rock Lake near Questa. There are still some big, stocked rainbow trout here.
Still no reports on the fishing at the Shuree Ponds on the Valle Vidal. The scenery should be beautiful in this area and the Ponds have been well-stocked with good-sized rainbow trout. This area has a big elk herd and the bulls should be bugling now that the weather has turned cooler.
The fishing in the Chama area should get better with the cooler weather and the scenery should be beautiful as the aspens start to turn golden this fall. The streamflows in the Chama River above the town of Chama and at La Puente are at a good level for fishing. The fishing should be good in the Chama River below Heron Dam if they are not releasing too much water from beneath Heron Dam. The Upper Chama River above El Vado Lake was stocked Sept. 17 with 1,477 rainbow trout.
The fishing has been very good in Southern Colorado and the scenery should be spectacular along the Conejos River. If you have a Colorado fishing license, this would be a great area to fish now. Many of the lakes and streams in this area contain brook trout and brown trout, which are both entering their spawning season. Platoro Reservoir near the headwaters of the Conejos River also has splake trout, which is a hybrid between a lake trout and a brook trout.
The Canjilon Lakes near the town of Canjilon and the Trout Lakes near Cebolla have been good for stocked trout. There are still some big trout left from earlier stockings at Canjilon.
Laguna del Campo near Los Ojos has been good and it has been stocked twice with some big rainbow trout averaging over 18 inches in size.
The fishing has been slow at El Vado Lake and Heron Lake. Kokanee salmon snagging season begins at El Vado Lake next Tuesday (Oct. 1). Snagging season does not begin until Nov. 1 at Heron.
The Chama River below El Vado Dam has been very good for brown and rainbow trout. This area produced New Mexico’s state-record brown trout of over 20 pounds and still has good fishing for big brown trout. It was stocked Sept. 16 with 844 rainbow trout.
The fishing for walleye and smallmouth bass at Abiquiu Lake has been fair-to-good. The fishing for catfish has been fair.
There is a kokanee salmon snagging season at Abiquiu that begins Oct. 1, but I have never heard of anyone snagging salmon at Abiquiu.
The water level at Abiquiu remains low and a four-wheel drive vehicle is still recommended. Swimming is prohibited at Abiquiu due to the presence of blue-green algae. Do not let pets drink water from the lake.
The Chama River below Abiquiu Dam was stocked Sept. 16 with 1,266 rainbow trout. The fishing is improving here and has been fair. There are some very big brown trout here.
Hopewell Lake between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras has been good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout.
The fishing has been very good at the Lagunitas Lakes for stocked rainbow trout.
The Rio de los Pinos north of Tres Piedras near the Colorado border has been running low and clear. The fly-fishing has been good and the wild brown trout should be active.
Eagle Nest Lake has been good for rainbow trout. The fishing for perch has been fair-to-good. The fishing for northern pike has been fair. There have been few reports so far this season on kokanee salmon. Snagging season for kokanee begins next Tuesday (Oct. 1) at Eagle Nest.
The fishing has been good in the Cimarron River in Cimarron Canyon State Park. There are stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout here. The Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes at Maverick Campground were not stocked last week, but should have some trout left over from earlier stockings.
No reports from Maxwell Lake 13 or Stubblefield Lake. Maxwell Lak 13 should be worth a try as there are some good-sized holdover rainbow trout here that should start to bite as the water cools down. Stubblefield Lake should be worth a try for largemouth bass and walleye.
The fishing has been good at Lake Maloya in Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton. It was stocked Sept. 16 with 3,000 catchable-size rainbow trout and with 200 rainbow trout averaging 15.8 inches in size.
Storrie Lake near Las Vegas was stocked twice with a total of 3,035 rainbow trout. The fishing has been slow here, but should improve with the stockings and cooler weather.
The streamflow in the Pecos River is low and clear. The fishing has been good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout. It was stocked twice last week with a total of 2,499 rainbow trout. The fall fishing here can be very good.
The fishing has been good at Monastery Lake near the town of Pecos and good at the Cowles Ponds near Cowles.
Over in the Four Corners, the streamflow Tuesday in the San Juan River below Navajo Dam was 772 cubic –feet-per-second and was scheduled to be lowered to 600 cubic-feet-per-second Wednesday. The fishing has been good with various fly patterns in the Quality Waters. There has been some good dry-fly action using Griffith’s Gnats and midge clusters. No reports on the Bait Water, but it should be fair if not better.
The fishing for kokanee salmon at Navajo Lake continues to be good trolling spinners tipped with corn at 60fet deep. The kokanee salmon fishing has been good all summer at Navajo. That bodes well for the kokanee salmon snagging season which opens next week Oct. 1. The fishing for northern pike has been fair.
The fishing for catfish at Tingley Beach in Albuquerque has been slow. The fishing has been fair for bass and bluegill in the Albuquerque area drainage canals.
The stocking of trout has not yet resumed at Tingley Beach or in the Albuquerque area drainage canals.
The fishing for white bass has been very good at Elephant Butte Lake jigging slab spoons and Kastmasters. The fishing for bass and walleye has been slow. The fishing for catfish has been good.
The trout fishing Alto Lake and at Grindstone Reservoir near Ruidoso has been good in the morning. Alto Lake was stocked Sept. 16 with 1,001 rainbow trout. Grindstone Reservoir was stocked Sept.16 with 1,503 rainbow trout.
Lake Roberts near Silver City was stocked a week ago with catchable-size Gila trout. It also has rainbow trout, largemouth bass and catfish. The fishing for catfish has been good.