Jicarilla Fish Weblog

Fishing Report 3/8/10

Fishing is not recommended on the Jicarilla Lakes right now for several reasons. The primary factor is that the fishing has just not been very good lately. With that said, there are several other factors to consider before coming out. The roads are in poor condition with a mixture of heavy wet snow, snow drifts, and thick nasty mud. I had to use 4wd to get around Stone Lake where the only current access is at Manghani Point. I also had to use 4wd at Mundo Lake to get to the spillway (parking area) and barely made it in due to a thick layer of slush over very soft gooey mud. We are supposed to continue getting wet snow and rain until Wednesday (3/10). Also, the edges of the ice sheet are beginning to melt in areas and you may fall through where the ice hits the shore. The ice itself is still thick (14-18 inches) but the top is slushy and there are some areas where water is pooling up on top of the ice on warm days. This will most likely be the last week of possible ice fishing, but the policy this week will be USE AT YOUR OWN RISK !!!!!!
The one and only report this week is from Russell Vigil, a Dulce local, who fished Stone Lake on Wednesday (3/3/10). He was using a pink jig fishing near Manghani Point and caught 2 big Rainbows. One fish was 21 ½ inches and weighed 7 lbs. The other fish was 21 ¼ inches and weighed 5lbs. Despite the intriguing results of Russell’s outing, I want to reiterate that fishing has been very slow at both lakes. With any luck, we’ll be fishing open water by the season opener (4/1/10).

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 3/2/2010
It is beginning to feel spring like around the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. The days are growing longer and water is beginning to run on warm afternoons. Fishing has been Slow with a capital S this week. The ice is holding strong at 16-18 inches, but the top is slushy and the edges have soft spots in many places. Historically, the ice begins to break up anywhere from March 1st to April 15th, but the typical timing is around the 2nd or 3rd week of March. We do have the kind of snowpack that would be regarded as an average year so I expect the ice to break up after March 15th. With that said, I want to express caution to anyone looking to get on the ice for one last winter foray. The edges of the ice field are already getting soft due to water that is beginning to run into the lakes. We have had several reports of folks breaking through near the edges and getting wet to the knee in some cases. It is a good idea to use a stick or shovel to probe the ice in these areas to find solid ice and save your shoes. Also please use caution around the aeration holes at Stone Lake and stay at least 100 ft from the open water.
Mundo Lake has been fishing very slow for all species with all types of gear. Several anglers have spent multiple hours with two rods and various techniques without so much as a bite. About the only positive report from Mundo Lake is that the weather has been very nice with warm afternoon temps.
Stone Lake is less of a surprise but it too is fishing extremely slow and pressure has been way down. By March there is typically very little ice fishing traffic out there, which sheds some light on the historical ice fishing conditions this time of year. The one report I received is from 2 anglers who spent 2 hours with 2 rods each and all of it adds up to zilch. My suggestion for anglers that want to catch a Stone Lake hog is to gear up for open water and visit us in April for sight fishing from the shoreline.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 2-24-2010
This week’s fishing report will be quite short and to the point. Fishing has been very slow lately at Both Mundo Lake and Stone Lake. The ice is approximately 17 inches thick at both lakes and the slushy watery laters are no longer present. The roads around the lakes have not been plowed and there is around 8 inches of snow on them. The main access at Mundo Lake and the Manghani point access at Stone Lake have both been used, so there are tracks made to those parking areas. Road crews should get to the lakes in the next week or so.
The news from Mundo is that fishing is very slow. Several anglers have spent multiple hours on the ice for a few bites. This is the last month of ice and fishing tends to taper off during this time.
Stone Lake is also very slow, and there have not been any recent catches reported out there. 4wd will be necessary at Stone Lake until the road crews get it plowed out.
There is what looks to be a large storm heading our way this weekend with snow accumulations expected. Please use caution and be prepared for bad weather. Open water is on its way, so let’s be patient and hope that we get a bunch of new snow to help with run off.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 2-17-10
The almost constant barrage of storms has passed and clear skies have been dominating the horizon at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. The clear star filled nights make for a chilly start, but the afternoon temps will tempt you to strip the jackets and don your t-shirts and sunglasses. The ice conditions are holding steady with approximately 15 inches of ice at both lakes. The top 5 inches may have slushy areas or water gaps in some areas, but the base layer is solid and strong at 10 inches. Fishing remains slow at Stone Lake and has been slow to fair at Mundo Lake.
Mundo Lake is fishing fair for rainbows in the 10-12 inch class with a few larger fish in the bunch. The best bite reported has been on powerbait fished high in the water column. Jigs may also produce high up especially when tipped with bait like wax or meal worms. I have even been told of anglers having success within a foot or two of the ice. There have been times when the bite is just not on, and several anglers spent substantial time on the ice (4 hrs) without catching a limit.
As far as I know, Stone Lake has been slow and pressure has been down. I say this because I only received one report this week and didn’t hear any gossip at all. The one report was from Russell Vigil a Game and Fish employee who caught one fish on a pink jig at 12:45 on Monday. The fish was 22 and ½ inches and weighed 8 lbs. He had a purple jig still hooked on his jaw and seems to prefer the more feminine of jig colors. There is approximately one month left in the ice season and the fish in Stone are hunkered down with low metabolism and limited movement. The aerator holes will begin to grow in the next month so please use caution around the open water and remain 100 ft. from the edge. Enjoy the good weather and good luck out there.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 2/10/2010
This week’s report will be based on the results of the 4th annual Jicarilla Ice Derby which was held on Saturday February 6th, 2010. The Jicarilla Game and Fish Department would like to thank our generous sponsors and each of the 179 contestants that made this year’s event another success. We raised over $6,000 from the Ice Derby and every cent will go back into the lakes in the form of Trophy Class Rainbow Trout that will be stocked in April 2010. This year’s event was a close race between Stone Lake which continues to fish slow and Mundo Lake which was slow for most, but productive for a few anglers. In the end, Stone Lake prevailed with Gary Williams taking first place with 3 Rainbows from Stone Lake and a total creel weight of 14 and ½ lbs. Gary’s longest fish was 24 and 3/8 inches. In second place was Trinidad Perea with 26 fish from Mundo Lake and a total creel weight of 12 and ½ lbs. Leonard Perez took third place with 14 fish from Mundo that weighed in at 8 and ¾ lbs. The prize for the longest fish went to Chad Sullins who caught a 24 and ¾ inch Rainbow from Stone Lake that weighed 8 and ¼ lbs. The kids division was led by Lashay Willie with a 12 and ¾ inch Rainbow from Mundo Lake. Lashay was followed by Thomas Griego who caught a 12 and ½ inch rainbow from Mundo. In Third place was Alex Candelaria who managed to capture a salamander at Stone Lake that was approximately 8 inches long.
The fishing was slow across the board on Saturday despite several anglers catching 10 plus fish at Mundo. The action was primarily on bait at Mundo and the majority of anglers were using powerbait. The trick it seems for those who more successful was to fish high in the water column just a few feet below the ice. The fish also seemed to turn on and off several times throughout the day. The majority of the contestants were fishing Mundo Lake, and the estimated average was 3-5 fish per angler.
Stone Lake was very slow for almost everyone except for the derby winner. I believe that he was the only angler to catch more than one fish at Stone Lake on Saturday. I am not aware of what type or colors of jigs were working for the derby. We are approaching the last month of ice season at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes and fishing tends to be slow during this period. That is not to say that fish cannot be caught, as evidenced by the derby results, only that you should expect the action to be slower than it was in late December and early January. Once again, Thanks so much to everyone that participated in the Jicarilla Ice Derby. For those of you in Albuquerque, I hope to see you at Bob Gerding’s Outdoor Adventure Show this weekend.
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 2-2-10
Apparently the fish in the Jicarilla Lakes are waiting until the derby on Saturday (2/6/10) before they bite. The trend for catch rates lately has been steadily heading downhill at both Mundo Lake and Stone Lake. The weekend news from Stone Lake was sad again this week with a lot of anglers (10-15) on the ice and very few if any fish landed. Mundo Lake, which is typically the go to water on slow days has also dropped off substantially in the past few weeks. The one upside to this trend is that there isn’t really any proven strategy out there right now, which should make for an interesting competition this weekend. The ice is in good shape but the water layer is still present and slush might be an issue on warm afternoons.
At Mundo Lake there is a 3 inch layer of slushy ice on top of 4 inches of water, which is on top of 11 inches of solid ice. In the mornings and throughout cold days the top layer of slushy ice is stable enough to support a person. Mundo has been slow, and bait seems to be fishing better than jigs lately. Rosie and I were out on the ice for 3 hours this morning. I fished a number of different jigs with only one hook up. Rosie caught one fish on a green jig and that was about it for us. The 4 gentlemen fishing next to us faired a little bit better on powerbait. They had several bites, a couple of hook ups, and 2 fish on the ice by the time we left. The only other angler on the ice did better than the rest of us. He was using a peach/salmon colored powerbait and caught 5 fish in 2 ½ hours. The reports from the weekend were similar with no better than 2-3 fish per hour reported.
At Stone Lake things have been rather dismal. I only received one direct report this week, but the hearsay was pretty bad. On Saturday there were approximately 15 anglers on the ice and only one fish between them. The report I received came from a group of 7 anglers who fished 3 ½ hours without a single bite. Sunday was similar with 3 anglers reported and another skunk for all. Stone Lake is known for off and on fishing and hopefully Saturday will be an ON day. After all, one 10 pounder can make a huge difference in the ice derby.
The 4th Annual Jicarilla Ice Derby is here at last and we are expecting another great event. We have a truck full of great prizes, t-shirts for everyone, and a one day on-site raffle for tremendous hunting and fishing opportunities. Please contact Kevin Terry at 575-759-3255 with any questions or visit the www.jicarillahunt.com website for more information. I hope to see you all out there on the ice.
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Fishing Report 1/26/2010
Last week’s series of storms left nearly 2 feet of fresh snow at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. It is safe to say that there were very few if any anglers out there last week and therefore we have very little to report in terms of fishing conditions. Instead, we will focus on the current road and ice conditions in this week’s report. I also have to apologize to all of the folks who use our website to obtain our fishing reports. Unfortunately, I posted both the report and a late week storm update on the wrong blog and they didn’t show up on the website.
The ice thickness is approximately 10 inches at both Stone Lake and Mundo Lake, with some areas of thicker ice at each lake. The new snow was very wet and created a layer of water between the snow on top and ice below. This water layer was around 5 inches deep initially, but it is slowly turning into ice as the insulating snow layer has been reduced to a thin layer (2 inches) of icy snow that can support the weight of a person in the mornings. The ice is still safe for fishing, but you can expect to see this slushy water layer. Warm waterproof boots are essential to your comfort in these conditions which may get sloppy on warm afternoons.
The roads are snow packed and slippery, but they have been plowed all the way to Stone Lake. 4wd is still a good idea, but it is not essential right now. The J-15 road short cut from highway 537 directly to Stone Lake has been plowed. The east side boat ramp at Stone Lake known as Manghani Point is the only current access road available at Stone Lake. However, we have a work order in with the Tribal Roads Department, and the north side access road and the south side boat ramp access road should be plowed by the week’s end. At Mundo Lake the usual parking area has been plowed but the campground has not. We are expecting a small storm on Wednesday and Thursday and the forecast is for very small accumulations (2-3”).
It is crunch time for those of you hoping to scout out the lakes before the upcoming 4th annual Jicarilla Ice Derby (2/6/10). There is just one weekend left before the derby and the weather should be nice, so get out there and formulate a winning strategy. For more info on the Ice Derby please check the fishing menu on the www.jicarillahunt.com website or call Kevin Terry at 575-759-3255.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist