Jicarilla Fish Weblog

Fishing Report 6/24/08

We are back online with your weekly fishing reports. Please excuse last week’s absence; I was in Missouri for training. I also have to announce that the Pony Express Three Species Fishing Derby which was scheduled for Saturday June 28th will be postponed until Saturday July 12th. We have had some difficulties arranging various aspects of the derby and simply don’t want to diminish what is sure to be a great event. A flyer will be posted shortly on the site with details, but we have a great list of prizes as well as raffles, on site food vendors and a load (1250lbs.) of large trout (16+”) to mix things up. Several of the fish will be tagged for the derby and might win you an annual fishing permit for the 2009-2010 season. The large fish will be stocked into Mundo Lake on Tuesday July 2nd for those of you who will be on the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes for the Holiday weekend. Please help us let everyone know that the derby will be postponed and we are very sorry for inconveniences this late change may have caused you. The fishing has slowed down on the Jicarilla Lakes the past week. Water temps (low 70’s) are finally starting to slow down the trout, but the Bass and Catfish are happy and hungry.
Mundo Lake has been fishing fair for Rainbows in the 8-12” range with the occasional 14+” fish mixed in. Most of the pressure lately has been from bait anglers with powerbait and worms. I have not received info on the fly side of things, but I did observe random voracious rises while I was doing water quality sampling this morning. Given the hard sometimes airborn rises, I would guess that they are attempting to intersect the damselfly adults that are constantly cruising the lakes surface. I recommend that flyfishermen bring an assortment of dry flies including Damsels and Bass poppers as well as a variety of beadhead nymphs. The water has cleared up substantially after a relatively minor green algae bloom for the past couple of weeks. The Bass and Catfish have been very active and fishing for both species is good right now. The Bass can be seen in the clear water cruising around the submerged and emergent vegetation that exists around the majority of the lakes shoreline. They too are pursuing the adult Damselflies with acrobatic maneuvers and there is a definite niche for top water stuff right now. However, I would suggest weedless flies and lures as opposed to advil if you are targeting these feisty fighters. Two mentionable Bass were caught measured and released last week by local anglers. One measured 18” and the other 19”, and both fish were estimated over 5 lbs. I have some pictures of these beauties that I will post ASAP in the photo gallery. Spinnerbaits, frogs, plastic worms and grubs and probably others should get you into the Bass at Mundo right now. The Channel Catfish have also been fishing well, especially in the late evening and well into the night. The local favorite is beef liver but any of the typical stinkbaits should produce. There is a healthy population of 14-16” cats in Mundo, so keeping the 10”ers may not be necessary.
Enbom Lake has nice fat trout that are jumping continuously for the Damsels but access is very limited due to weed and filamentous algae growth. About the only feasible fishing is for flyfishermen using dry flies from the shorelines. We will have the weed harvester out there either late this week, or early next week, but definitely before the holiday weekend.
Yet again we have heard very little from Stone Lake. The few folks that have been out have had very little luck, with a bite or two in a day. One fish in the 14” range was caught that I know of but who knows how the fishing really is. I can tell you that the water quality is in terrific shape for this time of year and the weeds are not a problem as of yet. There are millions of damselflies migrating towards the shore and crawling out. This is the primary invertebrate food source for these fish and they should be lining up to gorge on them. I think that they are hanging a little off the shore in deeper water but not in the middle where there is less habitat for the Damselfly nymphs. I can also tell you that there are some tremendous Rainbows in Stone Lake that even had the USFWS guys wide eyed during a recent electrofishing sample. Please call (505-759-3255) or email (terrykev@gmail.com)with any news from Stone Lake, so that I can assimilate a better report for you all. It’s toooo HOT out there not to fish so throw a line.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 6/10/08

The Jicarilla Fishing lakes are maintaining great water quality for this time of year. The water temps are still in the 60’s with colder reserves at the bottom. This means that the trout are still comfortable and should be feeding consistently. However, The lake with the best water quality is Stone Lake which is still fishing extremely slow. Enbom and Mundo are holding up the slack though, as they are both fishing well. The date is set for the three species derby, which will be held on Saturday June 28th. Details for this event including prizes, categories, and entry fees will be posted shortly on the website, in the ABQ journal, and at our various vendor locations. This will be year two for this derby and promises to be a lot of fun. Another load of large Rainbows will be stocked prior to the derby and should throw a twist into an already diverse event.
Stone Lake is looking great with cool clear water and a bustle of insect activity (damselflies). However, in this case looks are deceiving and yet another week has passed by without a positive report. In fact, we have received very little feedback from Stone recently and the law enforcement and other game and fish employees have noticed a sharp decline in angler pressure. We will be surveying Stone Lake this week via electrofishing and trammel nets and will have some size and hopefully population data to report next week. In the meantime we need some of you seasoned veterans to get out and crack the slump. That’s right folks, we are looking for a few good men and women to catch the notorious hogs of Stone Lake.
Mundo is still fishing well despite a green algae bloom that has reduced visibility to approximately 3-4ft. The best reports are from anglers fishing bait on or near the bottom. Flies including top water patterns in the evenings and nymphs all day have rivaled the bait fishermen for the best action on the Lake. The water on the bottom is 4-5 degrees cooler and is holding more dissolved oxygen. Powerbait and worms are the hot baits for trout right now. Spinners and pistolpetes are a good option for spin casters, and will most likely result in a Trout and Bass creel mix. Bass anglers are doing well with plastics near vegetation and the season for weedless lures is approaching quickly. The inundated willows and reeds are holding good numbers of Largemouth Bass and top water action has been observed. The catfish are hitting on the bottom with liver. We have yet to see anything over 25” but several 18-22” catfish have been reported.
Enbom Lake is currently the best trout fishing on the reservation. They are hitting on powerbait especially the green and rainbow colors. Flies are currently taking the show out there, and a float tube will increase the catch rate substantially. Folks often forget that smaller boats can launch at Enbom as well. Damselfy nymphs or green beadhead wolly buggers are the fan favorite, but pheasant tails, prince nymphs, and hares ears have all been working. Spincasters are also picking up there share of Rainbows with panther martins, castmasters, midget daredevils and pistol petes behind a bubble. The evening hours between 7 and 8:30 have also produced relatively good surface action.
Horse Lake and the Navajo River are currently not recommended for fishing. Have fun and don’t forget the sun block.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist