Fishing Report 3-24-09
Fishing Report 3-24-09
The Jicarilla Fishing Lakes are finally completely open water thanks to severe winds that ripped through the area on Sunday (3/22). Mundo Lake was nearly 80% ice cover on Friday, and now it is completely open. There haven’t been any reports from Mundo yet, but I suspect that will change sometime this week. The water clarity is off a bit with a greenish brown tint and approximately 2-3 feet of visibility. The major runoff period is behind us, so you can expect to see Mundo clearing up in a week or two. The larger of the Largemouth Bass in Mundo seem to hit well in April and May, and might be worth an early shot.
Stone Lake has also opened up completely. There was one group of skilled Fly Anglers who gave it a shot on Friday with float tubes in what was then the open section on the East side of the Lake. This group of 5 anglers spent 3 hours and a bunch of different fly patterns without getting a single bite. They covered an area known to be productive with flies proven to work at Stone. I have had the same report come in from several of my co-workers who have been flinging lures from the shore around the lake. This suggests that the fishing is very slow right now. The water temperature is in the low 40’s, and visibility is at approximately 3 feet. The Rainbows are probably hunkered down feeding opportunistically and preparing themselves for the gorge fest of a chironomidae hatch that should begin in the first couple weeks in April. The open water did allow us to set our spring gill nets yesterday and the results bode well for trophy quality fishing again this spring. The average length of the 24 fish that were netted was 17 inches, and the average weight was just over 3 lbs. The largest fish sampled was a 21 inch male weighing in at over 5 lbs. The average condition factor (K) (length to weight relationship) was well above the mark set for healthy trout, which means that the fish in Stone are HEAVIER than an average trout per inch. We caught one 16” female that weighed in at 3.2 lbs. The stomachs of the fish that did not survive the gill net were examined, and the results were quite interesting. The majority of the fish had at least one but up to seven, 3-6” tiger salamanders in the stomach contents. Check out photos of the harvested fish and the salamanders in the photo gallery. Other contents included water boatmen, bloodworms in red and green, and water beetles. The first Spring Stocking occurred at Stone Lake yesterday (3/23/09) with 25,000 4-7” Rainbows. We will be stocking an additional 25,000 4-7” Rainbows today (3/24/09). As most of you know, these fish will grow fast in Stone Lake, and they should be 14-18” by the fall. As for those of you looking for cruisers on the north shore, the year’s first sighting has come about. I spent around 20 minutes this morning walking the shoreline and saw only 1 pair of fish in the shallows. It’s still a little early yet, but these fish will be moving in sometime in the next few weeks. Please DO NOT!!! snag these fish. This can be a very exciting way to sight fish for large spawners in Stone Lake and the fish can usually be coaxed to hit wolly buggers, spoons, eggs and egg-sucking leaches. I hope that all of you still have your 2008-2009 annual Jicarilla Fishing Permits, because we still have 1 week to use them before the 2009-2010 season officially kicks off. I’ll see you out there.
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist
The Jicarilla Fishing Lakes are finally completely open water thanks to severe winds that ripped through the area on Sunday (3/22). Mundo Lake was nearly 80% ice cover on Friday, and now it is completely open. There haven’t been any reports from Mundo yet, but I suspect that will change sometime this week. The water clarity is off a bit with a greenish brown tint and approximately 2-3 feet of visibility. The major runoff period is behind us, so you can expect to see Mundo clearing up in a week or two. The larger of the Largemouth Bass in Mundo seem to hit well in April and May, and might be worth an early shot.
Stone Lake has also opened up completely. There was one group of skilled Fly Anglers who gave it a shot on Friday with float tubes in what was then the open section on the East side of the Lake. This group of 5 anglers spent 3 hours and a bunch of different fly patterns without getting a single bite. They covered an area known to be productive with flies proven to work at Stone. I have had the same report come in from several of my co-workers who have been flinging lures from the shore around the lake. This suggests that the fishing is very slow right now. The water temperature is in the low 40’s, and visibility is at approximately 3 feet. The Rainbows are probably hunkered down feeding opportunistically and preparing themselves for the gorge fest of a chironomidae hatch that should begin in the first couple weeks in April. The open water did allow us to set our spring gill nets yesterday and the results bode well for trophy quality fishing again this spring. The average length of the 24 fish that were netted was 17 inches, and the average weight was just over 3 lbs. The largest fish sampled was a 21 inch male weighing in at over 5 lbs. The average condition factor (K) (length to weight relationship) was well above the mark set for healthy trout, which means that the fish in Stone are HEAVIER than an average trout per inch. We caught one 16” female that weighed in at 3.2 lbs. The stomachs of the fish that did not survive the gill net were examined, and the results were quite interesting. The majority of the fish had at least one but up to seven, 3-6” tiger salamanders in the stomach contents. Check out photos of the harvested fish and the salamanders in the photo gallery. Other contents included water boatmen, bloodworms in red and green, and water beetles. The first Spring Stocking occurred at Stone Lake yesterday (3/23/09) with 25,000 4-7” Rainbows. We will be stocking an additional 25,000 4-7” Rainbows today (3/24/09). As most of you know, these fish will grow fast in Stone Lake, and they should be 14-18” by the fall. As for those of you looking for cruisers on the north shore, the year’s first sighting has come about. I spent around 20 minutes this morning walking the shoreline and saw only 1 pair of fish in the shallows. It’s still a little early yet, but these fish will be moving in sometime in the next few weeks. Please DO NOT!!! snag these fish. This can be a very exciting way to sight fish for large spawners in Stone Lake and the fish can usually be coaxed to hit wolly buggers, spoons, eggs and egg-sucking leaches. I hope that all of you still have your 2008-2009 annual Jicarilla Fishing Permits, because we still have 1 week to use them before the 2009-2010 season officially kicks off. I’ll see you out there.
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist
posted by Kevin Terry at 4:18 PM
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