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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Bill Dyroff's Fishing Line Fishing Weather Report Submit Your Fish Story

Fishing Line



      CATCHES of the WEEK: On Veterans Day on the Rio Chama (below El Vado and about 1.5 miles downriver from Cooper's Cabins), Kurt Duerre of Los Alamos caught two 24-inch browns (4 pounds and 5.5 pounds) — on an orange, jointed Rapala.
    AROUND THE STATE
    NAVAJO LAKE: As of Tuesday. No reports on any snagging. In general, fishing has been pretty much nonexistent — very few, if any, fishermen observed. No reports.
    Doris Goode, park superintendent
    SAN JUAN RIVER: Flowing Monday at 481 cubic feet a second, and clear to 3 or 4 feet. Good for most anglers in the Quality Water for catch and release of rainbows to 21 inches; best reports on Midge Pupa and Midge, plus nymph and mayfly patterns. Good on cloudy days with Parachute Baetis, Parachute Adams and Griffith's Gnats. The Bait Water has been fair to good for 9- to 14-inch rainbows and browns — on night crawlers and Pautzke Balls of Fire.
    Jerry Richards at Abe's
    JICARILLA LAKES: As of Tuesday. The recent storm left the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes unblemished for the most part. The sun will soon heal the messy roads, but care should be taken at Enbom and Stone Lakes when using the dirt roads. STONE LAKE fishing remains tough this week. Was fair to good just before the recent storm, and then catch rates dropped substantially on Saturday and Sunday. The biggest fish reported was at 27 inches. Precise weight is unknown, but Rosenberg Tafoya, our fisheries technician, weighed the headless, tailless and gutless specimen at over 8 pounds. There were also several fish in the 24- to 25-inch class. The average Stone Lake rainbow is just over 20 inches and 5 pounds. Before the storm we were able to see some of the smallest fish — 14- to 15-inch footballs, the smaller end of the 6-inch fish stocked in late April. It would be a guess this week as to what is working best— in my opinion it is good to go big and flashy, whether it be flies or lures. Catch rates this week were somewhere in the neighborhood of one fish per four hours. Our Jicarilla Game & Fish Department and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are planning to team up this week for fall sampling at Stone Lake — we should have population and size information to report in a few weeks. MUNDO LAKE is fishing well for 10- to 12-inch-average rainbows. The only substantial pressure has been from bait anglers using orange, pink and chartreuse PowerBait near the shore along the dam. Catch rates have varied, but a 6-fish limit should be attainable in three hours or less. One 20-inch rainbow was caught late last week on PowerBait. Overall, pressure has been minimal at Mundo. ENBOM LAKE has been devoid of anglers going on two weeks. There are still fish at Enbom, but they are few and far between. Consider this for the coming week — You won't need a butterball if you have a 10-pound Stone Lake trout on the table.
    Kevin Terry, fisheries biologist, Jicarilla Game and Fish
    HERON LAKE: As of Monday. Snagging for kokanee salmon opened here Friday morning. The salmon were in good shape and a lot of anglers took snagging limits; best reports from the Salmon Run area, and the dam and spillway areas. We had rain and snow on Saturday, and not many fishermen were out. A few (very few) fishermen have been out in boats during the week — no reports of any success by boaters.
    Marilyn Morrison, Stone House Lodge
    RIO CHAMA below EL VADO: Flowing Monday at 150 cubic feet a second, and greenish — same as last Monday. Pretty good fishing during the week for 17- to 19-inch brown trout on Panther Martins and Rapalas. Good for 10- to 14-inch rainbows with worms, salmon eggs and PowerBait. Two 24-inch brown trout caught (see Catches of the Week, above)
    David Cooper, El Vado Guest Ranch
    ISLETA LAKES: As of Wednesday. Biweekly stocking of rainbow trout continues, and five-fish limits are commonly reported. Most fish range from 14 to 18 inches, with several exceeding 18 inches caught each week. Success has been reported on baits from PowerBait to lures.
    Chris Martinez, Aquatic Consultants, for Isleta Lakes
    TINGLEY BEACH: As of Tuesday. Fishing at Central and Children's ponds has been good for rainbow trout. Fishing with Pistol Petes (olive or red) or PowerBait (white or rainbow) has produced the most catches. The New Mexico Department of Game & Fish Red River Hatchery plans to stock these ponds with 1,500 rainbow trout by the weekend. Trout fishing at the South/Catch and Release Pond has been good. Best reports from anglers using Foam Beetles, green Leeches and big egg patterns (peach or white).
    Rebecca Houtman, Tingley Beach curator
    SHADY LAKES: The lakes are now closed for the 2009 season. We will reopen in February 2010 — on weekends, and weather permitting.
    Jan Phillips, director of Shady Lakes
    SANDIA PUEBLO LAKES: As of Wednesday. Sandia Lakes will have a cash-prize "Tag Tournament" (fish tagged with a coded number for cash prizes), beginning Wednesday, Dec. 2, and running through Sunday, Dec. 6. Recent stockings of rainbow trout (11- to 26-inch fish) have produced excellent catch rates. Most success reported on flies and lures. Anglers are reporting consistent five-trout limits. Our lakes are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
    Michael Bridges, manager, Sandia Lakes Recreation Area
    NOTES from GAME & FISH: As of Tuesday, except where indicated otherwise. RIO GRANDE flow Monday morning at Taos Junction Bridge was 393 cfs (was 365 last week). Trout fishing was fair using Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymphs, Woolly Buggers, spinners and night crawlers. Slow to fair using streamers and jerkbaits for northern pike. RED RIVER flow below the hatchery was 45 cfs (was 60 cfs last week). Trout fishing was slow to fair using Woolly Buggers, San Juan Worms, PowerBait and salmon eggs. Water flow of the CIMARRON RIVER below Eagle Nest Lake as of Monday was 11 cfs (26 cfs last week). Trout fishing was slow. Fishing at COCHITI LAKE was slow for all species. Water flow on the JEMEZ RIVER as of Monday morning was 33 cfs (27 cfs last week) near Jemez Springs. Fishing on the Jemez was fair using salmon eggs and Parachute Adams for trout. Prior to the latest cold front, fishing at UTE LAKE was good using slab spoons, blade baits and minnows on Lindy Rigs at 25 to 45 feet of water for walleye and white bass. Fishing for all other species was slow. No reports this week from anglers at FENTON LAKE. No reports from anglers at QUEMADO LAKE. Fair at ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE using spoons and grubs for white bass. Best reports again this week came from Ash Canyon and near Kettle Top. Fishing was fair using spinnerbaits and crankbaits for largemouth. Fishing for catfish was fair using live bait and cutbait. At BILL EVANS LAKE, trout fishing was slow to fair using Woolly Buggers, salmon eggs, PowerBait, corn and Pistol Petes. Trout fishing was slow to fair at GRINDSTONE RESERVOIR using Pistol Petes under a bubble and PowerBait. BLUEWATER LAKE is closed until Spring of 2010. The main area of the park is scheduled to open on March 1.
    Bill Dunn's Report for the Department of Game and Fish
    EAGLE NEST LAKE: As of Monday afternoon. A little bit of snow, not much, still on the ground from weekend snowfall. No reports on any trolling activity. Snagging for 17-inch-average kokanee salmon continues good in the dam area, the South Boat ramp area and at the Six-Mile Creek entrance to the lake — from the bank and from boats not far off shore. Fair from boats or the bank along the west side for 14-inch rainbows with PowerBait or salmon eggs, and for perch with worms.
    Sue Finley, Mountain View Cabins
    SPRINGER AREA: As of Monday. The water level at SPRINGER LAKE is high and the ramp usable. No reports on fishing. The season at MAXWELL and CHARETTE LAKES is closed until March.
    Jim Angel at Sky Chief in Springer
    MALOYA and LAKE ALICE: Not much change from last week. As of Wednesday. Good at both lakes for 9- to 13-inch rainbows on PowerBait or spinners.
    Leila Haver, park ranger
    SUMNER LAKE: As of Monday. Fishing continues slow for all species at the lake. Fair below the dam for trout; Pistol Petes and PowerBait worked best.
    Derek Drew, park ranger