By Bill Dyroff
Of the Journal Catches Of The Week: At Heron Lake, April 29, Boris Costa-Guerra of Santa Fe caught a 27 1/2-inch, 10 1/4-pound lake trout, jigging at 35 feet; guided by Don Wolfley, Heron Lake Guide Service out of Stone House Lodge.. . . During the Clayton Lake Trout Derby over the weekend, Michael Blan of Clayton caught an 18.26-pound channel catfish. . . . At Nambe Pueblo, two late reports from April 26-28: Sidney Quintana of Chimayo caught a 20 1/4-inch, 3-pound rainbow on PowerBait. Jerry Pacheco of Albuquerque caught a 20-inch rainbow on a Rooster Tail. . . . Tuesday at Isleta Lakes, Edmund Trujillo of Albuquerque caught a 24-inch channel catfish — while jigging for trout.
NAVAJO LAKE: Fair for smallmouth and largemouth on the San Juan and Pine Arms with soft plastic, tubes and crankbaits. Picking up for crappie on jigs in Frances, La Jara and Bancos Canyons. Fair for northern pike with spinnerbaits and tubes in La Jara Canyon and the San Juan Arm.
Carol Brown, boat officer SAN JUAN RIVER: As of Tuesday. Flowing at 2,400 cubic feet a second — with clarity at 18 inches to two feet. Flow rate scheduled to go to 3,000 cfs on Friday (May 9), to 4,000 cfs on Friday (May 16), and to 5,000 cfs on Friday (May 23). Expected to stay at 5,000 cfs for about two weeks then return to 500 cfs by June 27 (a Friday). Quality water has fished good for catch and release of 6- to 20-inch trout, mostly rainbows. Some of the best flies have been orange San Juan Worms, Oregon cheese color egg patterns, red Larva, chocolate Foam-Wing Emergers, black Zebra Midges and black Scintilla Midges. Best reports on regular water came from the Cottonwood Campground area — where a few 8- to 14-inch trout, mostly rainbows were caught. That area also produced some reliable reports of 18-inch trout caught.
Peggy Harrell at Abe's JICARILLA APACHE LAKES: As of Tuesday. Some nice rainbows taken at STONE LAKE, but there have been some frustration days out there as well. A silver and orange Kastmaster worked for one pair of anglers, and a rainbow Krocodile produced an 18-inch rainbow weighing 6 pounds — yes, 6 pounds. And several 20-inch, 4-pound rainbows were reported by float tubers. No information on specific flies used. MUNDO LAKE has been hit or miss this week. Best reports on spinners, Woolly Buggers, Pistol Petes and beadhead nymphs. Largemouth are starting to get active; best reports on grubs and plastic worms. Lake is still murky with visibility at two to three feet. ENBOM LAKE was stocked last Wednesday (April 30) with about 7,500 8-inch rainbows, but fishing was poor over the weekend. We plan to stock MUNDO and ENBOM on Tuesday (May 13) with 1,500 pounds of 16- to 22-inch rainbows. HORSE LAKE has been stocked with 15,000 6-inch rainbows — but it won't really be fishable until August.
Kevin Terry, fisheries biologist, Jicarilla Game & Fish HERON LAKE: As of Monday. Lake level is coming up fast — now at 7,154 feet and expected to be at 7,176 feet by July. Fishing has been slow — trolling, jigging and from the bank. Best early morning before the winds come up. Trolling and jigging for lake trout best at 35 to 40 feet. A 27 1/2-inch laker caught — see Catches of the Week above. Some smaller lakers at about 21 inches reported caught. Slow from the bank. A few small rainbows at 8 to 12 inches caught on chartreuse PowerBait. Best reports from the spillway area.
Marilyn Morrison, Stone House Lodge RIO CHAMA below EL VADO: Flowing Tuesday at 1,000 cfs, with a green color. Fairly light fishing pressure. Over the weekend, some rainbows to 18 inches were caught on PowerBait and salmon eggs — near the water gauge, about a 1/4-mile downriver from our cabins. Just above our campground area, one angler caught and released eight 16- to 18-inch browns on night crawlers.
David Cooper, El Vado Guest Ranch FENTON LAKE: As of Monday. Excellent for limits of 12-inch-average rainbows. Best reports on salmon eggs, night crawlers and white PowerBait. One rainbow at about 16 inches was caught Saturday morning on salmon eggs. Water level is OK. Winds usually pick up in late afternoon.
Paul Lisko, park manager ISLETA LAKES: Very good for 12- to 18-inch rainbows and 12- to 20-inch channel catfish. Best reports on PowerBaits, lures and worms. Water temperatures are still rising.
Jason Wiebenga, Aquatic Consultants, for Isleta Lakes TINGLEY BEACH: Fair for trout at Central and Children's Ponds with salmon eggs. Good for catfish with stink bait and for bass with Rapalas. Kids will have a lot of fun catching bluegill at the Children's Pond. Good for trout at the South/Catch and Release Pond with leeches, dry mayflies and egg patterns.
Rebecca Houtman, curator, Tingley Beach SHADY LAKES: We stocked 1,500 pounds of rainbow trout on Friday — stocking included 100 16- to 20-inch rainbows (average size is 10 to 12 inches). Best for rainbows with night crawlers, salmon eggs and PowerBait. Largemouth are hitting artificial worms and flashing spinner lures, and bluegill are biting on worms.
Jan Phillips, director SANTA CRUZ LAKE: As of Tuesday. About the same as the last two weeks. Slow from the bank and fair to good from boats (trolling or still-fishing). Best with PowerBait, corn, and salmon eggs plus Rooster Tails, Kastmasters and Pistol Petes.
Gerald Martinez, Bureau of Land Management at the lake NAMBE PUEBLO: Good for rainbows to 20 inches on PowerBait, salmon eggs, Rooster Tails and Panther Martins. Best in the afternoon. Two 20-inch rainbows caught — see Catches of the Week above. We plan to stock this week with rainbows averaging 5 pounds.
The lake will be closed on Friday. On Saturday, we will have a fishing derby -- 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry fee is $25 per person.
Joe Vigil, head ranger HOPEWELL LAKE: As of Tuesday. U.S. 64 is now open from Tres Piedras to Tierra Amarilla. As of Sunday, Hopewell Lake (about 20 miles west of Tres Piedras) had some open water at the inlet end. However, the lake area still has one to two feet of snow, and access to the lake remains difficult. No reports on any fishing yet — but it should be good.
Francisco Cortez, wildlife biologist, Tres Piedras Ranger District NOTES from GAME & FISH: As of Tuesday unless noted otherwise. Slow to fair at COCHITI LAKE using night crawlers and doughbaits for catfish. A few black bass taken on live bait, spinnerbaits and jigs. Flow of the RIO GRANDE at Taos Junction Bridge was 1,870 cfs on Monday morning. Fishing was slow for all species. Flow of the RED RIVER below the hatchery was 196 cfs. Trout fishing was slow with the high water, but there were a few fish taken by anglers using night crawlers, Woolly Buggers, small jigs and spinners. Crappie fishing was very good at UTE LAKE in six to 10 feet of water with live bait, small tubes and grubs. Most of the fish caught were males. Very good with cut bait, doughbait and live bait at night for catfish. Anglers reported catching most of the cats in three to four feet of water. Fair to good for black bass using jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, tubes and Sweet Beavers. Slow for white bass, but a few were taken trolling for walleye.
Bill Dunn's Report for the Department of Game & Fish SPRINGER AREA: As of Monday. Some bad winds here almost every afternoon; boaters especially should be alert for them. A couple of northern pike have come out of SPRINGER LAKE on live bait; best reports from boaters with minnows and water dogs. Some stocker rainbows and occasional trout in excess of 20 inches reported caught at MAXWELL No. 13 on PowerBait. Sporadic action at CHARETTE. But most days the fishing has been real good in the morning for stockers — best from the bank with PowerBait or worms and best from boats trolling cowbell rigs baited with worms.
Jim Angel at Sky Chief in Springer EAGLE NEST: As of Monday. Continues good from the bank all along the west and northeast sides for 15-inch-average rainbows. Best reports on roe sacs, PowerBait and salmon eggs. A few 13-inch rainbows taken trolling; best reports on Panther Martins and Pistol Petes with or without PowerBait. A few perch caught on worms in the boat ramp area.
Sue Finley, Mountain View Cabins MALOYA and LAKE ALICE: Pretty good for stocker rainbows on PowerBait, doughbaits and Rooster Tails (black or brown).
Bob McIvor, manager, Sugarite Canyon State Park CLAYTON LAKE: As of Tuesday. Good for rainbows on Colorado Spoons, some taken on PowerBait and worms. Two 4-pound rainbows taken — details not known.
At the Clayton Lake Trout Derby over the weekend: The Grand Prize was a 14-foot aluminum V-hull boat with gas motor, trailer and life jackets, winner to be determined by a drawing. It was won by Chance Massey, a teenager of Clayton. The cash prize ($500) for the biggest trout caught was won by Tommy Cruz of Clayton with a 2.03-pound rainbow. Biggest catfish prize, a barbecue grill, went to Michael Blan of Clayton with an 18.26-pound channel catfish.
Deanne Knotts, Knotts Sportsman Supply in Clayton SUMNER LAKE: Good for walleye on Bottom Bouncer-night crawler rigs, minnows, Wally Divers and jigs. Many of these fish have been hanging at 15 feet and off the rocks in deep water; some have also been taken in shallow water off the gravel points. Good for black bass with spinnerbaits, tube jigs and Rat-L-Traps. A few reports of crappie caught; but they were large at 1 to 2 pounds. At the American Legion Annual Tournament, 40-plus teams caught over 500 pounds of fish.
Lewis Hancock, park ranger BLUEWATER LAKE: Fishing has been picking up this past week for 12- to 14-inch rainbows on corn and PowerBait. Some boat fishing done for tiger muskies — but no reports.
Gary Jewell, park superintendent ELEPHANT BUTTE: As of Monday. The water is getting muddy from runoff all above Long Point. Good for white bass from the dam area up to McRae Canyon — off both sides of the lake. A few stripers reported caught; no details. Fair throughout the lake, except in the muddy water, for black bass. Best with soft plastic from the bank out to about 15 feet of water. Still excellent for catfish up north with cut shad on trotlines.
JR McManus Desert Bass Guide Service
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