Jicarilla Fish Weblog

Fishing Report 5-12-09
The Jicarilla Fishing Lakes are fishing fair to excellent right now. Stone continues to be very tough with anglers forced to compete with the giant Chironomidae hatch. However, there were some beautiful fish caught over the weekend’s “Stone Lake Open” competition. Mundo is excellent for Trout and good for Bass along the shorelines. Enbom is also fishing very well for Rainbows averaging 8-10”. All in all, the water is clear, cool, and weed free at all three lakes. The daytime temps have been quite comfortable in the mid to high 70’s and camping is a go, with cool nights in the 40’s. A trip to the Jicarilla is just what you need to start the summer off right.
Mundo is in excellent fishing condition with some anglers reporting trouble keeping them off of the line. Shoreline fishing is at its best since the weeds have yet to become an issue out there. I haven’t heard a negative report from bait, fly, or lure fishermen, which suggests that about anything you throw should produce Trout. Lures like castmasters and small spinners, and flies like wolly buggers and the hybrid Pistol Petes are great for trout and also offer great opportunities for feisty Bass near the shorelines. If you’re looking for Bass, you should also be looking for any submerged or emergent vegation near the shorelines or in shallow water. Typical Bass gear like spinnerbaits and plastics are also getting a good bite in these areas. The Trout are averaging 8-10” but there are some very nice fish (16-18”) mixed in. Mundo is the perfect lake for children right now considering the good bite.
Enbom is fishing well and as always offers beautiful views and frequently peace and quiet. This is a float tuber’s special and can be covered in a kick boat without a problem. The wind is typically less severe on Enbom and should offer refuge from the white caps that frequent Stone Lake this time of year. The best reports from Enbom are on flies and small lures. The Trout are averaging 10” and are hitting a wide assortment of nymph patterns. The trout do rise to dry flies including chironomidae midges (#12) and similarly sized mayfly and caddis patterns throughout the day. Small spinners and lures have been good as well.
Stone Lake is still causing trouble for the average angler. However, several folks have been able to dial in on the behemoths and we saw some very nice fish over the weekend’s derby. The “Stone Lake Open” was a 2 day event (5/9-5/10) with a total of 11 competitors. The winner Mike Sexton, a flyfisherman out of Pagosa Springs Colorado landed eight Trout for a total of 148”. Mike took home $1,070 dollars. He was using a beadhead Damselfly pattern to catch 7 out of 8 fish. In 2nd place Ron Tanner from Albuquerque used a worden’s triple teaser to troll himself into $500. Ron also caught 8 Trout for a total of 124”s of fish. Ron’s 87 year old mother Betty Tanner also from Albuquerque, came in 3rd with 5 fish on the triple teaser, giving herself a $300 mothers day gift. Betty was the life of the event, and proved to be tough as nails for two long days of fishing. All in all, we saw 30 Trout with only 2 of the 100,000 + spring stockers showing up. As usual these fish were heavy and strong making lost fish an interesting twist. Also this event posed lures vs. flies and certainly made for a tight dynamic event. The Jicarilla Game and Fish Department would like to thank all 11 participants for making the 1st Stone Lake Open a successful event. Of the remaining 9 fish caught, 5 were caught on flies, 3 were caught on daredevils, and 1 was caught by a pistol pete. The fly of the comp. was definitely damsels despite a chironomidae hatch that could choke a jet engine. The huge majority of the action came from the 2 south bays, with the southeast bay showing up to surprise everyone as the big producer. If you’re looking for a big trout, Stone Lake is certainly worth the hours. Wind, as usual, was an issue out there putting trolling motors to the test. The best bite was in the morning between 7and 10 and the afternoon between 2 and 4. Mysteries prevail again at Stone, so get out the goofy hat, corncob pipe, and crack the case for all of us.

Kevin Terry, Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 5-5-09

The Fishing continues be steady, with good fishing at Mundo and Enbom, and slow fishing at Stone Lake. The Stone Lake Open is set to go this weekend (5/8,5/9,5/10) , and we will be accepting late cash entries Thursday afternoon and all day Friday at Stone Lake. For details on this event please check the fishing menu on the www.jicarillahunt.com website. The current weather outlook is positive for the weekend with projected temperatures in the mid 70’s under mostly sunny skies. The wind may be a factor but shouldn’t be as severe as it often is in the spring. Remember that camping is free at all three lakes with your Jicarilla Fishing Permit.
Mundo Lake is fishing very well with flies lures and bait. There hasn’t been a big change in gear for the past couple of weeks, which means that powerbait and worms are working for trout anglers that fish bait. I haven’t been told that a specific color of powerbait is doing any better than others. A wide variety of beadhead nymphs are working for fly anglers and they include wollybuggers, prince nymphs, hares ears, copper johns and likely many other patterns. Flies near the banks and submerged vegetation are working for both Trout and Bass with the occasional bluegill, if you’re looking to mix things up. Bass anglers have been successful with spinner baits and plastics with several 14-15” fish caught, and a 8-10” average. Spinners and small lures are working for trout form the shore or trolling in the deeper water. The average trout is 12”, but there are now approximately 13,000 8” Rainbows in the lake. These fish were stocked on Thursday( 4/30) and should be on the bite this week and into the weekend. I still haven’t heard anything about catfish. The water clarity is about as good as it gets at Mundo, with visibility up 7ft. The current surface temperature is 54°F which is great for Trout activity.
Enbom Lake is clearing up (visibility 4ft.) and the fishing has been good. Most of the reports at Enbom have been from spinners and flies, but several bait fishermen have done well also. The arsenal for Enbom should be very similar to Mundo this week. The chironomidae’s have been hatching in big numbers at Enbom as well as at the other lakes. It’s almost time for the damsels to kick of and olive is probably a good color to use at all three lakes. The average trout in Enbom is 10” but there are fish up to 18” here and there. The temperature in Enbom is also 54°F and slowly rising in the recent warm spell.
Stone Lake continues to boggle even the most patient of anglers. The action is considered slow this week and the fish have moved offshore for the most part. I spent the day on Friday fishing to occasional cruisers (1 every 30 minutes or so) on the north shore. These fish were actively foraging and interested in our flies but shied away after an excruciatingly close look in almost every instance. I managed to fool one nice 18” male with a smaller #10 olive beadhead wollybugger but my partner was skunked and we fished to at least 20 of these fish. We saw enough of these beauties to keep us trying, but they obviously strung us along. There have been several success stories however, with a few folks getting into as many as 8 fish. The best report this week was from olive jigs fished deep. Lures including large daredevils and castmasters have produced a few fish also. The best fly patterns reported were damselflies and black chironomidae nymphs. I received a few reports on stomach contents and the fish certainly seem to have switched over to insects. The highest proportion of insects in stomach contents was definitely black chironomidae nymphs which certainly reflects the huge hatches we have seen. The other insects observed were damsels, boatmen (aka backswimmers), and callibaetis mayflies. Several snails were also observed. The Callibaetis Mayflies have been coming off in low numbers lately and are worth fishing as nymphs and rarely even dry flies. These insects are large (#10) and have a tan body with a light underside and darker back and wing case. A hares ear pattern emulates this fly fairly well. I hope to see you out at Stone this weekend for what is shaping up to be a challenging event. Best of Luck, and don’t cut’em any slack.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist
Jicarilla Game and Fish Department