Fishing Line

Head out to the lake and see what you can hook.

CATCHES OF THE WEEK

At Heron Lake on Friday, 6-year-old Tyler Carey of Kansas caught his limit of kokanee salmon, the largest being 17¼ inches. At Bluewater Lake on Saturday, Claudia Blaine of Edgewood caught a 42-inch, 24-pound tiger muskie. She was trolling one of Grandpa’s old hand-me-down lures. … Leo Sedillo of Albuquerque caught a 41½-inch, 24-pound tiger muskie. He was using a green spinner. On the San Juan River on Sunday, Chris Ortega of Albuquerque caught and released a 25-inch, 5¾-pound rainbow trout. He was using his own custom fly he calls the hitanator. At Ute Lake on Sunday, Rick Hanna of Amarillo caught and released a 4.19-pound largemouth bass. He was fishing a club tournament. At Abiquiú Lake on Sept. 7, Kerry Harms of Los Alamos caught a 26.56-inch walleye. He was trolling a bottom-bouncer spinner-night-crawler rig in 12 to 15 feet of water. AROUND THE STATE HERON LAKE: Just when we thought things couldn’t get worse, we had a decent day trolling for kokanee salmon. Many fishermen are still working hard to catch one or two fish. On Friday, the Carey family from Kansas caught 19 kokanne on various colored spinners. They were fishing 32 to 38 feet deep. The fish are suspended over deep water, 120 feet to 150 feet deep, out from the dam and in front of the island. Fishing from shore remains slow for rainbow trout. Water is still being released from Heron, but both boat ramps are still in good shape and we’re not having any problems launching boats. Sept. 30 is the final day to have any kokanee in possession. Don Wolfley Heron Lake Guide Service ISLETA LAKES: Fishing at both SUNRISE and TURTLE lakes has been fair with changing water temperatures. Best baits for catfish are worms, garlic chicken liver and shrimp. Lakes still have catfish available. One more stocking of catfish will occur before the trout season begins. New hours for fishing are 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m., seven days a week. Saturday and Sunday we will have our “Reel Deal” promotion. One fishing pole will be given away with the purchase of an adult fishing permit. For more lake information call 505-244-8102. Katherine Gutierrez, Isleta Lakes & RV Park JICARILLA LAKES: Well, we are back to work after a great tribal holiday. The bad news is that the Red Clan won the relay race and as far as I understand it, that means we are in for a poor winter. DULCE LAKE fished very well for Chris Pacheco and his son Alejandro. They caught a number of beautiful rainbows up to and over 20 inches. Alejandro did some heavy work landing the biggest fish of the trip, estimated at 21 inches or more. They were using a top-secret method. MUNDO LAKE is in the midst of a very severe algae bloom that is probably going to make slow fishing worse and frankly has me a little concerned. The NAVAJO RIVER work is nearly complete and after a big spike last week, we are down to good low flows for fall fishing. Kevin Terry, fisheries biologist NOTES from GAME & FISH: Water flow on the SAN JUAN RIVER below Navajo Lake as of Monday morning was 983 cfs. Trout fishing in the Quality Waters was good using gold ribbed emergers, midge pupa, midge larva, small parachute adams, gray RS2s and BWOs. Anglers also did well using large streamers with extra weight and a sink tip along the bank. Fishing through the bait waters was fair to good using night crawlers, worms, woolly buggers, San Juan worms, spinners, jerk baits and PowerBait. Fishing very good at using ELEPHANT crank BUTTE baits, slab continued spoons, to be tubes, was grubs fair to and good minnows using topwater for white lures, bass. crank Fishing baits, bass, small swim baits striped and bass tubes and for walleye. largemouth Fishing was good using minnows, night crawlers, liver and shrimp for catfish. We had no reports on other species. The Monticello, Dam Site and Rock Canyon boat ramps remain closed due to low water conditions. Fishing was slow for all species at MANZANO LAKE. Fishing at NAVAJO LAKE was fair using tubes, crank baits, jigs, grubs and creature baits for smallmouth bass and an occasional largemouth bass. Fishing was slow for northern pike, but there were a few taken by anglers using crank baits and spinners. Fishing for kokanee slowed considerably. Fishing for bluegill was fair to good using worms. At ABIQUIÚ LAKE, fishing was fair using curly tail grubs, crank baits and bottom bouncer worm and bottom bouncer minnow combos for walleye. Fishing was fair using minnows, tubes, jigs and crank baits for smallmouth bass. A few rainbow trout were caught by anglers fishing from the bank and using PowerBait. Fishing at BLUEWATER LAKE was fair to good using crank baits, swim baits, spinners and jerk baits for tiger musky. Fishing in the evening hours was good using worms for catfish. At COCHITI LAKE, fishing was fair using crank baits, spinners and grubs for white bass. A few smallmouth bass were taken on crank baits, tubes and jigs. Fishing at EL VADO LAKE was slow for all species. The lake level continues to drop, but the main park boat ramp is still open. At FENTON LAKE, trout fishing was good using silver and red Panther Martins, Pistol Petes, worms, woolly buggers salmon eggs and green and yellow sparkle PowerBait. Anglers reported success from the bank as well as from boats. Water flow on the JEMEZ RIVER as of Monday morning was 15 cfs. Trout fishing on the CEBOLLA above and below Fenton Lake was very good this past week for anglers using woolly buggers, worms, hoppers and salmon eggs. Fishing on the EAST FORK was fair using small parachute adams ant patterns and small copper John Barrs. If you are interested in fishing on the Valles Caldera, go to www.vallescaldera. gov. Fishing from the bank at CONCHAS LAKE was fair using minnows, night crawlers, small swim baits and worms for a mixed bag of walleye, smallmouth bass, white bass and catfish. Try casting topwater lures in the morning hours for some good bass action. The boat ramps are closed. At LAKE MALOYA, trout fishing was fair to good using garlic and salmon peach PowerBait, worms, Pistol Petes and woolly buggers for trout up to 22 inches. Fishing at EAGLE NEST LAKE was fair to good using Power Bait, spinners, worms and salmon eggs for rainbow trout. Fishing slowed a bit for kokanee, but there were several caught by anglers trolling Panther Martins and Z Rays tipped with corn. Fishing was fair to good using worms for perch. Fishing was fair using Rapalas, spoons and spinners for northern pike. The annual Fish Fest starts Saturday and runs through Sept. 30. For more information call 575-377-6941. At STORRIE LAKE, trout fishing was fair using Power Bait, salmon eggs, corn and cheese. Fishing at UTE LAKE was generally slow for all species.