Time to gear up for 2012 fishing season

Updated: Wednesday, 28 Mar 2012, 1:53 PM MDT
Published : Wednesday, 28 Mar 2012, 11:54 AM MDT

SANTA FE (KRQE) - The 2012 fishing season begins next week, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is out with a roundup of lake and stream conditions plus news of what's biting.

NEW MEXICO FISHING REPORT March 27, 2012

This fishing report, provided by Bill Dunn and the Department of Game and Fish, has been generated from the best information available from area officers and anglers. Conditions encountered after the report is compiled may differ, as stream, lake and weather conditions alter fish and angler activities.

REMINDER: April 1 is the beginning of the new fishing license year! If you plan to fish Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend, have your current and new license in your possession.

CATCHES OF THE WEEK:

Heron Lake: March 21, Frank Ortiz caught a 10-pound lake trout. He was using a horsehead jig.
Quemado Lake: March 23, Hamp Vandever of Thoreau caught a 20-inch rainbow trout. He was using salmon eggs.
Elephant Butte Lake: March 25, Aaron Smith of Los Lunas caught and released a 4.19-pound largemouth bass. He was using a jerk bait.

If you have a catch of the week story or just want to tell us about your latest New Mexico fishing
experience, send it to us at fishforfun2@hotmail.com. We may include your story in our next report.
For catches of the week, include name, date, and location, type of fish, length and weight if possible and bait, lure or fly used.

Northeast

Animas River: As of Monday morning flow below Aztec was 829 cfs. Fishing was slow.
Charette Lakes: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Cimarron River: Water flow below Eagle Nest Lake as of Monday was 3.8 cfs. Trout fishing was slow with very light fishing pressure.
Clayton Lake: Trout fishing was fair using Power Bait for fish up to 16 inches. We had no reports on other species. The lake level is low and boat access is limited to kayaks, canoes and other small non-motorized boats.
Conchas Lake: Fishing for white bass and walleye slowed down considerably this past week. Crappie are moving into the shallows and should really turn on in the next week or so. We have had no reports on other species. The surface temp is on the increase and temps ranged between 55 and 59 degrees over the weekend.
Eagle Nest Lake: The lake has opened for bank fishing. This past weekend anglers reported fishing as sporadic with just a few trout taken on salmon peach Power Bait and a few northern pike taken on Kastmasters. We had no reports on perch.
Lake Alice and Lake Maloya: Lake Maloya has opened to fishing and anglers did very well using Power Bait, salmon eggs, worms, corn and spinners for trout.
Maxwell Lake 13: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Monastery Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Morphy Lake: Opens April 1.
Pecos River: Water flow near the town of Pecos on Monday was 162 cfs. Trout fishing was fair-to-good using salmon eggs, bead-head pheasant tails, Copper John Barrs and worms. Our best reports came from anglers using worms and fishing the Villanueva area.
Red River: Water flow below the hatchery was 66 cfs. Trout fishing below the hatchery was good using baetis, egg patterns, bead-head San Juan worms, salmon eggs and worms.
Rio Grande: The water flow Monday at the Taos Junction Bridge was 1,120 cfs. Fishing on the upper Rio was slow for all species.
Shuree Ponds: Closed for the season. Opens July 1.
Springer Lakes: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Storrie Lake: Trout fishing from the bank was very good with several limits of 12- to 15-inch fish reported. Best baits were salmon peach Power Bait and salmon eggs.
Ute Lake: Fishing for white bass was good trolling and casting white crank baits and small swim baits. Fishing for walleye slowed a bit but a few were taken shallow in the late evening hours. Best baits were jerk baits and grubs. Fishing for black bass was spotty at best. A few largemouth and smallmouth bass were taken on jigs, plastics and spinner baits. We had no reports on other species. The surface water temp was 53 degrees on the main lake and up to 58 degrees at the upper end of the Ute and Canadian arms.

Northwest

Abiquiu Lake: Fishing pressure remained light this past week but there were a few walleye caught by anglers using bottom bouncer/minnow rigs. Fishing for all other species was slow.
The surface water temp was about 46 degrees.
Albuquerque area drains: Fishing on the Albuquerque and Bernalillo drains was slow. We had no reports from Corrales, Peralta or Belen.
Bluewater Lake: Trout fishing was good using corn and yellow Power Bait. Fishing for tiger musky was fair using swim baits and jerk baits. The surface water temp was about 41 degrees.
Chama River: Monday morning water flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 166 cfs and 253 cfs respectively. Fishing below El Vado was good during the week for anglers using midges, San Juan worms and spinners. Action slowed over the weekend. Fishing below Abiquiu was

Cochiti Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
El Vado Lake: Fishing was slow for all species.
Fenton Lake: The boat ramp area was free of ice over the past weekend and fishing was very good for anglers using yellow Power Bait and corn. Warm weather should take care of the rest of the ice by the end of this week.
Heron Lake: Trout fishing from the bank was slow but a few good-size rainbow trout were taken on salmon peach Power Bait, salmon eggs and corn. Fishing for lake trout was slow with just a few taken on horsehead jigs and jigging spoons.
Jackson Lake: Trout fishing was fair using Power Bait, salmon eggs and corn.
Lake Farmington: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Jemez Waters: Water flow on the Jemez as of Monday morning was 243 cfs and murky. Fishing the Jemez streams was slow.
Manzano Lake: Trout fishing was slow-to-fair using salmon peach and yellow Power Bait, corn and salmon eggs.
McGaffey Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Navajo Lake: Fishing was fair-to-good using jerk baits, swim baits and big flies for northern pike. Fishing was slow-to-fair using jigs and swim baits for largemouth and smallmouth bass. We had no reports on other species. Water surface temps ranged from 43 to 46 degrees.
Ramah Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
San Juan: Water flow below Navajo Lake as of Monday morning was 464 cfs. Trout fishing through the Quality Waters was very good using egg patterns, small midges, ants, Griffith’s gnats and small streamers. There was some decent dry fly action in the late evening hours. Fishing through the bait waters was good using salmon eggs, Power Bait and jigs.
Santa Cruz Lake: Trout fishing was good using salmon eggs and Power Bait.
Tingley Beach: Trout fishing at the Central Ponds was good using Power Bait, corn and salmon eggs. Fishing at the Catch-and-Release Pond was fair using small RS2s and zebra midges.

Southwest

Bear Canyon: Trout fishing was fair-to-good using salmon eggs, garlic cheese, worms, spinners and Power Bait.
Bill Evans Lake: Trout fishing was fair using salmon eggs and yellow Power Bait. We had no reports on other species.
Caballo Lake: White bass fishing was fair trolling white crank baits and drifting minnows on the east side of the lake. A few walleye were taken by anglers drifting jig and minnow combinations and trolling bottom bouncer/minnow combinations.
Elephant Butte: Fishing was slow-to-fair using minnows, grubs, crank baits and jigs for white bass and crappie. A few largemouth and smallmouth bass were taken on tubes, shallow crank baits and jerk baits. We had no reports on other species. Surface temps on the main lake ranged from 52-to-58 degrees.
Escondida Lake: Trout fishing was slow-to-fair using salmon eggs, yellow Power Bait and corn.
Gila River: Water flow on the Gila as of this past Monday was 114 cfs. Trout fishing on the Forks was slow.
Glenwood Pond: Trout fishing was fair using Power Bait.
Lake Roberts: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Quemado Lake: Trout fishing was fair using Power Bait, worms and salmon eggs. We had no reports on tiger musky. The lake is full and looks good for spring fishing.
Rio Grande: Water flow below Elephant Butte on Monday was 422 cfs. Fishing was slow but should pick up in a few days with the increased flow. Water is also being released from Caballo Lake downstream.

Southeast

Bataan Lake: Trout fishing was slow to fair using Power Bait and salmon eggs.
Bonito Lake: Opens April 1.
Bosque Redondo: Trout fishing was fair using salmon eggs, Power Bait, wet flies under a bubble and spinners.
Bottomless Lakes: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Brantley Lake: Anglers are to practice catch-and-release for all fish here as high levels of DDT were found in several fish.
Carlsbad Municipal Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Grindstone Reservoir: Fishing for trout was slow-to-fair using Power Bait, salmon eggs and corn.
Jal Lake: Trout fishing was slow-to-fair using Power Bait and salmon eggs.
Lake Van: Trout fishing was good using worms, Power Bait, salmon eggs and spinners.
Oasis Park Lake: Trout fishing was fair using Power Bait and salmon eggs.
Pecos River: Water flow on Monday below Sumner Lake was 62 cfs. The area below the lake is closed due to high water release
Perch Lake: Trout fishing was fair using Power Bait, corn and Pistol Petes under a bubble.
Ruidoso River: Water flow at Hollywood on Monday was 12 cfs. Trout fishing was fair using salmon eggs.
Santa Rosa Lake: Fishing was slow. A few walleye and crappie were taken by anglers using jig and minnow combinations and curly tail grubs. We had no reports on other species.
Sumner Lake: The lake level has dropped considerably but the boat ramp remains open. Walleye fishing was very good using grubs, bottom bouncer/night

crawler combinations, minnows, spinners and jigs. We had no reports on other species.

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Time to gear up for 2012 fishing season

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