Fishing report- Feb. 22

This fishing report, provided by the Department of Game and Fish, has been generated from the best information available from area officers, anglers, guides and local businesses. Conditions may vary as stream, lake and weather conditions alter fish and angler activities.

Northeast

Charette Lakes — Closed for the season and will reopen next spring.

Cimarron River — No read on flows due to ice. The Cimarron is unfishable until spring.

Clayton Lake — Closed for the season and will reopen next spring.

Conchas Lake — Fishing pressure has been slow due to cold temperatures and wind, but a few walleye have been caught.

Costilla Creek — No report due to ice.

Coyote Creek — Closed for the season and will reopen next spring.

Eagle Nest Lake — 15 to 19 inches of ice. Fishing is good for yellow perch and rainbows caught with Power Bait and jigs with worms.

Lake Alice and Lake Maloya — Ice is 16 inches thick at Maloya. Fishing is good with Power Bait, dough bait and salmon eggs catching 9-12 inch rainbow trout. Fishing is closed at Lake Alice due to thin ice.

Maxwell Lakes — Closed for the season and will reopen next spring.

Monastery Lake — Closed to ice fishing.

Morphy Lake — Closed for the season and will reopen next spring.

Pecos River — More of the upper river is open water but fishing is still slow due to low, cold water levels. Villanueva has been slow.

Red River — Slow to fair below the hatchery, but water is clear and a few stocker rainbows have been caught on bead-head nymphs.

Rio Grande — 488 cfs at Taos Junction bridge. Fishing is slow for trout and poor for smallmouth bass.

Rio Hondo — No report.

Rio Pueblo — No read on flow due to ice. No report.

Shuree Ponds — Closed for the season. Reopens July 1.

Springer Lakes — Springer Lake is closed to ice fishing.

Storrie Lake — No report.

Ute Lake — Some white bass are being caught on slabs, but weather conditions have been very windy. Water temperature is 44 degrees.

Northwest

Animas River — Fishing has been slow.

Chama River — Fishing blow Abiquiu has been fair with anglers catching 10- to 14-inch trout using a size 24 midge pattern in black and silver. There have also been a few reports from anglers having luck using Power Bait, salmon eggs and worms. The upper Chama River is slow with no anglers reporting any fish at this time due to cold snowy weather.

Abiquiu Lake —Fishing is slow for all species.

El Vado Lake — The main campground is closed and most of the shoreline is frozen over, making it tough to fish. The ice is too thin for ice fishing.

Heron Lake — No report.

Jackson Lake — Fishing is very slow.

Lake Farmington — Trout fishing is slow, but some anglers have had luck near the dam and catfish have been biting on the west side near the ponds.

Ramah Lake — The lake has very little water and is frozen in most places. No anglers to report.

Navajo Lake — Fishing is slow, but a few brown trout have been caught while trolling the main channel with Rapalas at about 20 to 30 feet. A few smallmouth bass have been caught.

San Juan River — Fishing is reported as good using size 24 and 26 small brown and gray midge patterns. Water is running fairly clear at around 500 cfs.

West-Central, including the Jemez Mountains

Jemez River, East Fork, Guadalupe and San Antonio — All of the streams above the San Antonio fishing access are frozen and covered with snow. The Rio Guadalupe and Rio Cebolla are inaccessible due to forest road closures. The Jemez River was stocked with 2,916 rainbows Jan. 30. Fishing is good below Battleship Rock on dry flies and beaded nymphs.

Metro Drainages — Fishing good for trout on spinners, corn and salmon eggs.

Bluewater Lake — Ice around the edges is starting to melt with spring runoff starting to come in from Bluewater Creek. The center of the lake still has about 8 inches of ice. Fishing for trout is fair using Power Bait. A few muskies are also being caught on jigs.

Cochiti Lake — The lake is closed to fishing due to unsafe ice conditions.

Fenton Lake — The lake is iced over and there is no fishing due to unsafe conditions caused by warm thermal releases under the ice. The lake most likely will be closed until spring.

Tingley Beach — Fishing in the children's and central ponds has been great. The ponds are being stocked weekly with 2,400 rainbow trout. Most people are catching their limit within a few hours regardless of bait.

Homemade baits and cheesy garlic Power Bait are catching the most. Fly fishing in the catch and release pond is hit and miss using wet flies.

Manzano Lake — Fishing has been good using Panther Martin spinners. It was stocked last week.

Southwest

Gila River — Fishing pressure is very light.

Rio Grande — Fishing has been fair between Elephant Butte and Caballo for stocked triploid rainbow trout..

Bear Canyon Lake — Fishing for trout is fair with bright-colored Power Bait. Other species are slow.

Bill Evans Lake — Fishing for trout is reported as fair with

bright-colored Power Bait, fireballs, spinners and flies all working well. No reports on other species.

Caballo Lake — Water levels are very low and caution should be used if boating. Very light fishing pressure and no report of success. Fishing for walleye should be picking up.

Elephant Butte Lake — No report.

Escondida Lake — Fishing for rainbow trout is good with Power Bait and salmon eggs.

Glenwood Ponds — Fishing is reported as good for trout. Bright-colored Power Bait is working best.

Lake Roberts — Trout fishing is slow.

Quemado Lake — Fishing in the open water of the south end of the lake has been good. An additional 4,726 rainbow trout were stocked last week. Power Bait seems to be the way to go.

Snow Lake — Roads to Snow Lake are impassible.

Southeast

Rio Ruidoso — No report.

Bonito Lake — The lake is closed for the season and will reopen April 1.

Bottomless Lakes — No report.

Brantley Reservoir — There has been light pressure and no current report. A mandatory catch and release is in place at Brantley Lake because pesticides have been found in the fish. Do not keep or eat them.

Carlsbad Municipal Lake — Stocked recently. Try Power Bait or salmon eggs.

Grindstone Reservoir — No report.

Lake Van — Fishing is good on Power Bait and salmon eggs.