Chuck Lanehart
Editor’s Note: Jack Becker is the editor of Caprock Chronicles and is a librarian at Texas Tech University Libraries. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about Snyder’s legendary white buffalo is by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock attorney and historian.
Before hide hunters began to penetrate the Great Plains in 1871, 60 million bison – known as buffalo – were thought to occupy the American West. Within a period of 18 years, just 500 bison survived perhaps the greatest human slaughter of animals in history. One such kill – that of a white buffalo in Scurry County – is legendary.
Charette Lakes is closed for the season.
Streamflow on the Cimarron River, near Cimarron on Monday morning, was not measured due to ice. In accordance with the public health order, effective Dec. 3, New Mexico state parks reopened to N.M. residents for day-use only. Please check the state parks website for more information.
Clayton Lake is closed until March 2021.
Conchas Lake State Park has closed access to all boat ramps due to dropping water levels. Fishing for crappie was fair using 2-inch plastic crawfish lures.
At Costilla Creek, the department has implemented the final phase of a project to expand Rio Grande cutthroat trout in 120 miles of the Costilla watershed in northern New Mexico. The final phase involved the removal of fish within a designated area (Rio Costilla from Costilla Dam downstream to the Valle Vidal Boundary including all tributaries and Comanche Creek from the road culvert crossing on Forest Road 1950 downstream to its confluence with Rio Costilla and all
Weekly Fishing Report: Jan. 26, 2021
Los Alamos Daily Post
The weather forecast is a bit more promising this coming week. Several storms are in the forecast bringing much-needed rain and snow to New Mexico.
The situation has improved in Colorado. Wolf Creek Pass Ski Area reports that the have now received over 200 inches of snow so far this season. Wolf Creek Pass straddles the Continental Divide, so the snowpack there feeds river basins that flow east and flow west. It is the headwaters of the Rio Grande, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. It is also the headwaters of the San Juan River, which flows west and runs into the Colorado River. The Colorado River used to empty into the Gulf of California, but dams on the river have reduced the flow to where it no longer does.
Weekly Fishing Report: Jan. 22
Los Alamos Daily Post
New Mexico State Parks remain open for day use only with no overnight camping. They are reserved for New Mexico residents only.
Heron Lake State Park is open. Recent photos show that Heron Lake is frozen over. It opened for ice fishing Jan. 11 at the Dam Site Recreation Area. The kokanee salmon snagging season is over. The best fishing will be for rainbow trout with the possibility of catching a lake trout. Call (575).588.7470 for conditions.
El Vado Lake State Park is closed for the season. The only area open at El Vado is the Dam Day Use Area. Ice fishing is allowed here. In addition to rainbow trout, you might hook a brown trout at El Vado, as well as small smallmouth bass.