Jicarilla Fish Weblog

The Fishing at Stone Lake has been off and on over the past week. Windy days have tended to push the fish off the shore a little, but they have been returning with calmer conditions. Reports from the weekend were good. Fly fishermen were doing well on the north side with an average of 2-3 fish per angler in the calm mornings. These fish are averaging 16-18 inches with 19-20” fish mixed in. The fish have slowed way down on the egg patterns and are hitting well on a variety of beadhead nymphs. The egg pattern is still a good attracter fly, and should be fished with a beadhead a foot or two below it. Beadhead damselflies, hares ears and prince nymphs have all been working. Smaller (#12,#14) olive beadhead wollybuggers are a good choice at Stone Lake right now. On the spinning side of things, orange castmasters continue to be the hot lure, as well as neon green and orange lures of various styles. The large catchables averaging 16” that we stocked in both Enbom and Mundo Lakes have now had a week to adjust, and should be hungry and active. Reports indicate that baitfishing at these lakes has been on the slower side of fair, but flies and lures seem to be getting a better bite. One angler reported catching a lot of fish (20) on the east side of Mundo with roostertail spinners. Weather permitting, we should have a good week of fishing ahead of us. Check out the photo gallery for a few pictures of the larger fish that we stocked last week.

Fishing remains good at Stone Lake for large Rainbows displaying spawning behavior. The main action is primarily near shore on the north and east sides of the lake in areas where the substrate is gravel. Visibility is down a little bit from last week due to windy conditions and rain runoff but conditions can change from day to day. Flies and lures of bright colors are working the best. The egg sucking leach and egg patterns are doing well, as are bright spinners and spoons. Orange castmasters were reported to be a hot lure. 1,000 lbs of 14-16 inch Rainbows and 1,000 7-9inch browns will be stocked today (4/17/07) into Mundo Lake. Fishing pressure has been light on Mundo and we have not received any recent angler reports. The visibility has improved at Mundo and is approximately 4 feet currently. Enbom Lake will also be stocked today (4/17/07) with 500 lbs. of 14-16 inch Rainbows. This will be the first angling opportunity of the year at Enbom, and reports will follow. Tomorrow (4/18/07), we are going to stock 30,000 subcatchable (6”) Rainbows into Stone and Horse Lakes. The water temperature is approximately the same at all of the lakes and is right around 48 F (4/17/07). Check the photo gallery for a new picture of a 22" male rainbow from Stone Lake. Angling reports and photos are always welcomed, and can be submitted via email through this website.

The bite is on at Stone Lake for large Rainbows displaying spawning behavior. The fish are in the 16-22” range and seem to be hitting more frequently in the morning between 7-11am. Water temperatures are cold in the low to mid 40’s rendering the fish slightly lethargic. Despite the cold temps, we are still getting reports of good action on various types of gear. For fly-fisherman, the best patterns reported are the egg-sucking leach and egg patterns. Light pink and cream colored eggs have been reported most frequently but green, orange and red have been working too. Wollybuggers of various colors and olive beadhead damsels and beadhead hares ears are another good option. The fish are also hitting spinners and spoons with regularity. Black panther martins, Rainbow castmasters/daredevils, orange castmasters, gold blue fox #2, and others have all been reported successful. Sight fishing for cruisers along the shore is a good tactic this time of year. The best habitat for this technique is along shorelines that have sandy or gravel substrates with less aquatic weed coverage. Take some time to observe Mundo Lake has been slow for 12-14inch Rainbows. The water is still fairly murky with 2-3 foot visibility. Channel Catfish in the 14-16” range continue to be biting fairly well. A local angler reported catching the limit (8) on night crawlers over the weekend. We are scheduled to stock 1,500 lbs of 14-16” Rainbows in Enbom and Mundo Lakes next week (April 16-20th) as well as 1,000 (individual fish) 7-9” Browns in Mundo. Stay tuned for more information and check out the photo gallery for a couple of recent pictures.

Stone Lake opened for fishing on Sunday April 1st and the angling reports are mixed. The most successful group of anglers on the opener were using flies, and the best bite was in the morning between 8am and 11am. These anglers were fishing from the shore or on float tubes and reported success with egg patterns primarily. Cream and light pink seemed to be the best colors but orange and pink also attracted a few bites. Black and green Beadhead wollybuggers were also getting a fair bite. Most of the good action was near the shore between 15-40 feet out. All of the fish that were reported were in the 19-20 inch range. Anglers fishing with spinners and spoons did not fair well according to reports.( a few pictures will be placed in the photo gallery)

Mundo Lake is starting to pick up as the water is clearing and warming up. One angler reported catching a 19 inch Brown on a night crawler and 12-14 inch rainbows are hitting bait as well. Fishing for Channel Catfish up to 10 lbs also remains steady at Mundo. For more information call Kevin Terry at (505) 759-3255