Fishing Report 1/12/10
Fishing Report 1/12/2010
Favorable weather has made for nice comfortable days on the ice despite sometimes frustrating fishing. The hot streak at Stone Lake has certainly cooled off, but we have several tremendous fish to report again this week. Mundo Lake has been more consistent and catch rates are pretty stable from day to day. At this point, the various regions at Stone have been explored, several of which seem to be fishing better than others. With the 4th annual Jicarilla Ice Derby coming up fast (Saturday February 6th, 2010), a dual lake approach is a good idea for people to scout out the lakes and formulate a strategy. As usual, the ice derby will be held at Stone Lake and Mundo Lake combined. The ice thickness is just shy of 10 inches at both Stone Lake and Mundo Lake as of 1/12/10.
Stone Lake has been frustrating over the past week. Catch rates are way down somewhere around 1 fish per 5 hours, but the quality of the catch has made it hard to give up. The southwest bay around the aerators has been producing fish and so has the area near Manghani point (cement boat ramp/east side). White remains the color of choice for jigs but green, red, and spoons were also reported. The average size is right around 20” but there seems to be two distinct size classes that are making up the majority of the catch. One class is between 16-18” and these fish are primarily Rainbows with a few browns mixed in. The second class of fish is between 23-26” and these fish are all Rainbows. On Friday (1/8/10) Marty Smith of Farmington and his friend Mark Vandi of Los Lunas each landed a trophy class trout. Marty’s fish was caught on a white crappie jig and measured 24” and weighed in at 7 ½ lbs. Mark’s fish was caught on a pinkish (flesh colored) crappie jig and it measured 26” and hit 10 lbs. You can see these fish in the photo gallery on www.jicarillahunt.com. In contrast, Saturday (1/9/10) found 15 anglers on the ice with an estimated catch of 5 fish between them. A good friend, skilled angler, and supporter of our program Matt Pelletier of www.fishenchantment.com spent 8+ hours on the ice with a buddy. Matt caught one fish and lost another, and his friend lost one at the ice. The best action has been from 10-2 and again at 4-5.
Mundo Lake is fair for Rainbows that average 9-12”, with larger Trout in the 14-17” range showing up occasionally. The catch rate is hanging in there with an average of 2-3 fish per hour. Small crappie jigs and plastic jigs including curly tails and tubes are working slightly better than bait. Most bait anglers are using powerbait of various colors and they are having trouble with strike to hook up ratios. The fish seem to be hitting short, and sizing down a little on the hook is recommended. Most anglers are taking advantage of the 2 pole system at Mundo with one baited and one jigging. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about moving around at Mundo and the high traffic area is just off of the emergency spillway (parking area). If the weather trend continues, you will want to bring sunscreen and a t-shirt for the warm afternoons. Watch out TROUT!!!!
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist
Favorable weather has made for nice comfortable days on the ice despite sometimes frustrating fishing. The hot streak at Stone Lake has certainly cooled off, but we have several tremendous fish to report again this week. Mundo Lake has been more consistent and catch rates are pretty stable from day to day. At this point, the various regions at Stone have been explored, several of which seem to be fishing better than others. With the 4th annual Jicarilla Ice Derby coming up fast (Saturday February 6th, 2010), a dual lake approach is a good idea for people to scout out the lakes and formulate a strategy. As usual, the ice derby will be held at Stone Lake and Mundo Lake combined. The ice thickness is just shy of 10 inches at both Stone Lake and Mundo Lake as of 1/12/10.
Stone Lake has been frustrating over the past week. Catch rates are way down somewhere around 1 fish per 5 hours, but the quality of the catch has made it hard to give up. The southwest bay around the aerators has been producing fish and so has the area near Manghani point (cement boat ramp/east side). White remains the color of choice for jigs but green, red, and spoons were also reported. The average size is right around 20” but there seems to be two distinct size classes that are making up the majority of the catch. One class is between 16-18” and these fish are primarily Rainbows with a few browns mixed in. The second class of fish is between 23-26” and these fish are all Rainbows. On Friday (1/8/10) Marty Smith of Farmington and his friend Mark Vandi of Los Lunas each landed a trophy class trout. Marty’s fish was caught on a white crappie jig and measured 24” and weighed in at 7 ½ lbs. Mark’s fish was caught on a pinkish (flesh colored) crappie jig and it measured 26” and hit 10 lbs. You can see these fish in the photo gallery on www.jicarillahunt.com. In contrast, Saturday (1/9/10) found 15 anglers on the ice with an estimated catch of 5 fish between them. A good friend, skilled angler, and supporter of our program Matt Pelletier of www.fishenchantment.com spent 8+ hours on the ice with a buddy. Matt caught one fish and lost another, and his friend lost one at the ice. The best action has been from 10-2 and again at 4-5.
Mundo Lake is fair for Rainbows that average 9-12”, with larger Trout in the 14-17” range showing up occasionally. The catch rate is hanging in there with an average of 2-3 fish per hour. Small crappie jigs and plastic jigs including curly tails and tubes are working slightly better than bait. Most bait anglers are using powerbait of various colors and they are having trouble with strike to hook up ratios. The fish seem to be hitting short, and sizing down a little on the hook is recommended. Most anglers are taking advantage of the 2 pole system at Mundo with one baited and one jigging. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about moving around at Mundo and the high traffic area is just off of the emergency spillway (parking area). If the weather trend continues, you will want to bring sunscreen and a t-shirt for the warm afternoons. Watch out TROUT!!!!
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist
posted by Kevin Terry at 1:24 PM
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