CATCHES OF THE WEEK
Seth Garcia, of Raton, caught a 20-inch rainbow trout on the Cimarron River using worms May 8.
David Whitener, of Clovis, caught a 9-pound walleye at Conchas Lake using a crappie jig May 6.
Mark Haber, of Santa Fe, caught a 21-inch kokanee salmon at Eagle Nest Lake trolling a Pistol Pete on May 5.
Evangeline Tenorio, 8, of Anton Chico, caught her first fish, a 20.25-inch rainbow trout using green and white glitter PowerBait Turbo Dough on May 1.
Guy Poland, of Santa Fe, caught and released a 7-pound walleye at Elephant Butte Lake using a bottom bouncer worm harness rig May 10.
By Nick Simonson
Stocked trout don’t take long to acclimate to their surroundings.
Within a week or two of the recent dumps of rainbows and browns across the state, these fish spread out and stalk the water column for just about anything edible. Whether that’s the first rising midge populations of the year, small nymphs on the bottom, or other prey items, trout find most of what they need below the surface. On those still evenings early on as they pick off rising insects, my all means, have a few dry flies at the ready for some fun surface action; but in most cases, getting down into the water column is important in upping an angler’s catch rate on the long rod when fishing prairie impoundments.
Zoe Anderson-Amaro, 7, and
Brock Anderson-Amaro, 13, all of Silver City, caught many rainbow trout at Glenwood Pond using chartreuse and rainbow PowerBait on April 10.
Jaylyn Lovato, 11, and Javier Delgado, 10, both of Rio Rancho, caught their limits of trout at Grindstone Reservoir using cheese PowerBait on April 7.
Justin Estrada, of Las Vegas, caught and released a 16-inch cutthroat trout at Morphy Lake using a size 18 hare’s ear fly April 11.
Joahua Laino, of Farmington, caught a 2.5-pound largemouth bass at Navajo Lake using a perch shad rap crankbait April 5.
Gabriel Sedillo, of Albuquerque, caught an approximate 13-pound flathead catfish using cut bait on the Pecos River below Sumner Lake on April 4.
Catches of the week
Mark Haber, of Española, caught a 20-inch walleye trolling at Abiquiú Lake a crankbait March 7.
Edward Marraccini, of Albuquerque, caught and released a 21-inch brown trout on the Chama River, below El Vado Lake, using a Black Bunny on Leech on March 7.
Justin Journal, of Rio Rancho, caught a 7.32-pound largemouth bass at Elephant Butte Lake using a Red Square Bill Crankbait.
Michael Cisco Medford, 7, of Las Cruces, caught an 8-pound blue catfish trolling a deep-diving white/chartreuse crankbait March 7.
Cole Rogers and
Parker McMillian, both of Silver City, caught 18 white bass trolling shad colored crankbaits March 6.
Catches of the week
Tony Valdes, of Artesia, caught a 19.5-inch, 4-pound, 1-ounce largemouth bass at Brantley Lake using an Ozark Trail Sexy Shad Jerkbait on Jan. 25.
Xaryan Padilla, 8, Elijah Garcia, 6, MyKaila Garcia, 11, and Ezekiel Padilla, 2, of Artesia, caught seven trout at Carlsbad Municipal Lake using PowerBait Jan. 23.
Kiko Rascon, of Taos, caught a 34-inch northern pike at Eagle Nest Lake using a jig worm Jan. 28. Martin Gonzales and Kristina Parrack, of Nambe, caught 50 perch using jigs tipped with worms Jan. 24. Timothy Errickson and Kristina Bueche, of La Mesilla, caught 60 perch using jigs tipped with worms Jan. 24.
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Valerie Wyatt, of Roswell, caught her limit of rainbow trout on the Pecos River in Carlsbad using a Kastmaster lure Jan. 30.