FISHING LINE
CATCHES OF THE WEEK
Jeff Martinez of Albuquerque caught a 40-pound blue catfish Feb. 26 at Elephant Butte Lake. He was using cut bait. At Ute Lake, Art Cordova of Logan caught a 7.12-pound walleye on Feb. 22. He was using a Sling Blade. … Mike Dorgelo of Logan caught an 8.70-pound walleye on Feb. 27. He was using a jig and grub combination.
AROUND THE STATE
SANDIA LAKES: Fishing at all three lakes has been good. Anglers have had the most success using salmon eggs, various PowerBaits and spoons. We will be having a fly fishing tournament on March 18, 8 a.m.noon. Weekly trout stockings through March. Cassandra Espinosa
OPENINGS: Charette Lakes, Morphy Lake, Red River City Ponds and Clayton Lake opened for the season this week. Due to low water conditions, the boat ramp at Clayton Lake will be open to small craft only.
NOTES from GAME & FISH: Trout fishing at TINGLEY BEACH’S Central and Youth ponds was very good using Velveeta cheese, PowerBait, homemade dough bait and salmon eggs. A few trout were also caught by anglers using small spoons, Pistol Petes, San Juan worms and woolly buggers. Fishing on the ALBUQUERQUE, BELEN, BERNALILLO and PERALTA DRAINS was good using salmon eggs, wax worms, earth worms and PowerBait for trout. Fishing on the CORRALES DRAIN was good using worms, salmon eggs and small bead-head nymphs for trout. Fishing at COCHITI LAKE was slow for all species. Streamflow on the JEMEZ RIVER near Jemez Springs on Monday morning was 48 cfs. Fishing on the Jemez was fair using worms for trout. Trout fishing on the CEBOLLA above Fenton Lake was fair using salmon eggs. Fishing on the SAN ANTONIO was slow. Monday morning water flows on the CHAMA RIVER below El Vado and Abiquiu were 117 cfs and 79 cfs, respectively. Fishing below Abiquiu was very good using a wide variety of small bead-head nymphs, worms and salmon eggs for trout. At MONASTERY LAKE, fishing was good using PowerBait, worms, salmon eggs and Pistol Petes for trout. Streamflow on the RIO GRANDE on Monday at the Taos Junction Bridge was 644 cfs. Fishing was slow to fair using spoons and worms for trout. Streamflow on the PECOS RIVER near Pecos on Monday was 37 cfs. Fishing was good using salmon eggs and worms for trout. LAKE MALOYA is free of ice and open to bank fishing. Trout fishing was good for anglers using green PowerBait. Fishing pressure was light. Fishing at SANTA CRUZ RESERVOIR was fair using Pistol Petes, Fisher Chick spinners, PowerBait and salmon eggs for trout. At UTE LAKE, fishing was slow to fair using Sling Blades, spoons and jig and grub combinations for walleye. At EAGLE NEST LAKE, there was open water along the shoreline for bank fishing. For updated conditions, call the state park office at 575-377-1594. Streamflow on the SAN JUAN RIVER from Navajo Reservoir on Monday was 534 cfs. Trout fishing through the high-quality waters was about the same as last week, with bright colors working best. Red annelids, Desert Storms, princess nymphs, OJs and egg patterns were some of the patterns that produced. A few fish were also caught by anglers using woolly buggers and bunny leeches. Fishing through the bait waters was fair using salmon eggs, PowerBait, worms, red copper John Barrs and jerk baits Water flow on the ANIMAS RIVER near Aztec on Monday morning was 440 cfs. Fishing was fair using worms, copper John Barrs and red annelids for trout. At JACKSON LAKE, fishing was fair using Pistol Petes under a bubble, PowerBait and salmon eggs for trout. Fishing at ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE was good using jerk baits, crank baits and spoons for white bass. Fishing was fair using jigs, crank baits and jerk baits for largemouth bass. Fishing was fair using cut bait and liver for catfish. At YOUNG POND, fishing was very good using salmon eggs and PowerBait for trout. Fishing at SUMNER LAKE was good using jigs and minnows for walleye.