Frozen fishing
Winter angling is popular at many state lakes
Just because lakes freeze over doesn’t mean it is time to hang up the lures in the closet for the season. As a matter of fact, winter angling, in particular, ice fishing, is a popular sport at Eagle Nest Lake, Maloya Lake in Sugarite State Park, Cabresto Lake in the Carson National Forest and even Fenton Lake in the Jemez Mountains.
Santa Cruz Lake, Bonito Lake and Springer Lake are all off-limits for fishing from or through the ice.
Eagle Nest at 8,300 feet in elevation and spanning 2,200 acres, is easily the state’s most popular ice fishing site. It is regularly stocked with rainbow trout, but northern pike, yellow perch and kokanee salmon are also plentiful.
“It’s nice to get out and fish when conditions are safe,” says Tim Urtiaga, who used to organize the annual Eagle Nest State Park Ice Fishing Tournament, scheduled for Jan. 29, 2022. “It’s a different type of fishing experience that sometimes can be really productive when you’re fishing out there.”
Safe conditions, says Jordan Mitchell, Eagle Nest State Park manager, mean at least three weeks of below freezing every night, coupled with at least one week straight of the high temperature for the day being below freezing.
“That’s what we need for the ice to start developing and to get thick enough,” he says.
For a lake to open for ice fishing, it has to be at least five inches thick.
“It has to be five inches of the pure, solid, see-through ice,” Mitchell says. “If it’s foggy, it’s not structurally sound. We need pristine ice, hard ice. When it gets super thick, it looks like a dark blue.”
Then it is a matter of finding a good spot and drilling a hole.
“You need an auger with sharp blades,” Mitchell says. “In a state park, you can’t have a hole larger than 10 inches. You drill a hole with a gas or hand auger, or you can even use a makeshift auger with a drill bit to cut down into the ice.”
As for finding the proper spot, that is the real trick to ice fishing, Mitchell says.
“Some of them just know because they have been taught,” he says. “I have a set up with a fish finder with a transducer that came off a boat. I set it on a pipe and it gives me the ability to see the fish or the structure of the bottom of the lake.”
Fish normally will congregate near a hill or a mound, Mitchell says.
When specifically seeking trout, he says he wants shallow water.
“I like about 12 feet of water and I throw some PowerBait on a spoon and do a light dig or just let it set there,” Mitchell says.
Additionally, corn and jigs are popular baits among ice fishers.
There are many reasons for ice fishing, Mitchell says, but the best is peacefulness of it.
“It’s a beautiful view and you sit out there and spend the time and hopefully catch some fish,” he says.
University of New Mexico student Javier Gonzalez enjoys Eagle Nest for that very reason.
“Oh man, that is hands down my favorite lake,” he says. “The surrounding scenery is breathtaking.”
Limits on the fish are five per day for trout and 10 overall in possession; and for perch it’s 30 per day and 60 in possession.
As for pike, well, “it’s the only fish in the lake that you have to catch and keep them,” Mitchell says. “They’re seen as an invasive species.”