FISHING LINE
CATCHES OF THE WEEK
Jordan Richburg, 9, of Roswell caught a 28.5-inch catfish, and
Kade Richburg, 7, of Roswell caught an albino catfish at Lake Van on Saturday. They were using night crawlers.
Kerry Guyette of Amarillo caught and released a 5.2-pound smallmouth bass Saturday at Conchas Lake. He was using a white chatter bait.
AROUND THE STATE
HERON LAKE: State Department of Game and Fish officers have been here conducting their annual salmon trapping. The salmon they trap provide us with as many as 5 million eggs annually. The eggs are taken to Los Ojos Fish Hatchery. There, the eggs yield thousands of fish, which are stocked back into the lake. Salmon snagging begins this year on Nov. 9 at 12:01 a.m. Once again, the camping will be great, with many prime sites available. The daily limit is 12 salmon per person and 24 in possession. Water is still being released from the dam. The water level appears to be the lowest since the lake was first filling up in 1969-70. Piedra Cove, which seemed the best spot for catching fish the first days of last year’s season, is now without water, so the best place might be in the area by La Laja boat ramp or the area west of the dam. All the boat ramps are now out of the water. Have a great time, and remember there’s more to salmon snagging than snagging salmon. Don Wolfley, Stone House Lodge
OASIS PARK LAKE: The park north of Portales, with support from the Friends of Oasis, will hold its 25th Annual Kids Fishin’ Clinic on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call the park office at 575-356-5331.
SHADY LAKES: Closed for the season. Reopening in the spring of 2019.
NOTES from GAME & FISH
Fishing at TINGLEY BEACH was fair to good using PowerBait for trout. Fishing at FENTON LAKE was very good using salmon eggs, PowerBait, worms, gold spinners and gold Kastmasters for trout. Streamflow on the CIMARRON RIVER near Cimarron on Monday morning was 11.3 cfs. Fishing was good using small spinners, copper John Barrs, Fire Balls and worms for trout. Monday morning flows on the CHAMA RIVER below El Vado and Abiquiu were 61.5 cfs and 274 cfs respectively. Fishing below Abiquiu was good using worms, salmon eggs, Berkley Power Eggs and woolly buggers for trout. At MONASTERY LAKE, fishing was good using prince nymphs, woolly buggers, Fire Balls, PowerBait and earthworms for trout. Fishing at ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE was good using chicken liver, night crawlers, shrimp and cut bait for catfish. At LAKE ROBERTS, fishing was very good using PowerBait and worms for trout. Streamflow on the SAN JUAN RIVER below Navajo Lake on Monday morning was 403 cfs. Fishing was good using red annelids, fluff baetis, zebra midges, small egg patterns, colored midges, midge clusters and Root Beers for brown and rainbow trout. There have been good midge and baetis hatches coming off almost every day and especially so on cloudy days. Through the bait waters, trout fishing was good using worms, PowerBait, copper John Barrs, egg patterns and small gold spoons. At NAVAJO LAKE, fishing was good using swim baits, senkos, tubes, jigs and worms for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Fishing was good using spinner baits, swim baits, crank baits and jigs for northern pike.