Jicarilla Fishing Blog

Fishing Report 4/20/10

            This week’s report begins with a mystery which reveals a deep pessimistic instinct that I am fighting against even as I write this. The Mystery is; where are all of the fish in Stone Lake? The reason I ask this is because we set the annual Spring Gill Nets last night and came up with a big fat blank on both nets. There have been times when they only catch a few, or when one fishes better than the other, but never zilch in both (at least during my tenure). The positive news which explains the mystery aspect is that Rosenberg and myself spooked a 20 + inch beauty on the North Shore as we cruised along swapping ideas of what could explain the phenomenon. We have been observing dead salamanders around the lake since the ice started to break up, but to date we have not seen even a single fish carcass. When winterkill does happen, there is often some evidence, but not always. Another hopeful rational is that we had several reports of fish caught in early March. As I am sure you can tell, I am trying to stay positive and am hesitant to even mention the dreaded term “winterkill”, but I am also pretty freaked out. If it weren’t for the one fish I saw, I would be bald by now. I took the sighting as a sign and decided to fish the north shore for 2 hours. I didn’t even have a bump and neither did Rosenberg or 2 out of town anglers who threw their entire box in at least an hour more fishing than we did. Needless to say, we are dropping all other obligations and focusing our efforts on investigating this situation. To start, we will be out there with sonar tomorrow and will also spot sample with gill nets. If that doesn’t turn anything up we’ll hit it hard with the electrofisher. I know that there are a bunch of you out there waiting to hit Stone Lake, and I promise to keep you updated as I learn anything, be it good or bad. With that said, we will be stocking 55,000 6” Rainbows into Stone Lake today (4/20/10) and will be stocking an additional 50,000 6” Rainbows on Monday (4/26/10).

            Mundo Lake and Enbom Lake are scheduled to be stocked tomorrow (4/21/10) with the year’s first trophy load of 1,000 lbs of 14-16” Rainbows. However, we may decide to hold off on that stocking due to very muddy water conditions that may affect survival. We will be experimenting with fish in a net pen tonight to evaluate survival of stockers in these conditions. If the fish do well, we will go ahead with tomorrows load and will also stock a load of 8” Rainbows into both lakes on Thursday (4/22/10). The rough numbers for that stocking will be 8,000 fish into Enbom Lake and 15,000 fish into Mundo Lake.

            As for the actual fishing report, there has been very little pressure at any of the lakes. The torrential rain of Friday created a flash flood that deposited a lot of mud and silt into the already turbid Mundo Lake. The visibility is less than six inches now, and should improve daily if we don’t get another heavy shot of rain again. The only positive report is from anglers using worms to catch catfish at Mundo. The action was reported as good with the average fish in the 13” range. I understand that this report leaves a lot of uncertainty. Therefore, I will be posting an update on Thursday (4/22/10) on the website www.jicarillahunt.com. Stay positive and keep your fingers crossed.

 

Kevin Terry

Fisheries Biologist

Jicarilla Game and Fish Department

Fishing Report 4-12-10

            Jimmy Houston; we have ICE OFF!!!!! As of today (4-12-10), all three of the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes are completely ice free. The water is still running and very murky, but we have open water at last. The t-shirt weather that we had over the weekend was the coup de grais for what seemed like an eternal winter. I still haven’t received any reports, but I am sure to generate one myself by the next fishing report. I am also sure that some of you will beat me to it, since I will be attending training for the majority of this week. Please send in reports and pictures so that we can all get a good start this season.

            Mundo Lake is extremely turbid with less than one foot of visibility. Mundo is also spilling over and the emergency spillway better known as the parking lot is inundated and at the verge of serving its function. The main feeder stream is just a trickle compared to last week, so I don’t expect things to get much higher. With that said, you should expect murky water to persist for at least a couple more weeks. If you are planning to fish Mundo, there are several spots near the spillway with good parking spots as well as parking area at the pullout off of j-8. The main boat ramp is inaccessible for the time being. A small boat can still be launched at the auxiliary boat ramp located at the northeast side of the lake. Please use caution with the mud at this ramp and beware that this is a shallow launch suitable for small lightweight boats only.

            Stone Lake is still capturing good amounts of water from its main feeder. This tributary is called Elk Stream and it enters the lake at the northeast corner where it will cause clarity issues for several weeks to come. However, the water in the southwest bay and along the west side of the lake is decent with 2-4 feet of visibility. The North Shore and Manghani point also have decent visibility (1-3 feet) and are known as hotspots for spring fishing form the shoreline. I did not see any of the cruisers that typically frequent these areas in April when the Rainbows go through their spawning cycle and behavior. I did observe active water boatmen and chironomidae larvae near the shore but did not see any aquatic insects hatching yet. With the clarity issues and spawning fish I recommend using bright colors this week. Common fly patterns for the spring include eggs, egg-sucking leeches, wollybuggers, and salamander patterns. Lure anglers often use big bright colored spoons and spinners as well as flies with water bubbles. The roads are in good shape at Stone Lake, but beware of mud holes here and there. The primary boat ramp at Stone Lake is located on Manghani Point on the east side of the lake and is fully functional at this time.

            Enbom Lake has not been stocked yet this year and is not expected to have any overwinter survival. The first stocking is scheduled for next week. Exact dates and sizes will be reported in the next Fishing Report. Open water is here at long last and the Jicarilla Game and Fish Department is excited for a great fishing year. Please pick up the 2010-11 Non-Tribal Fishing Proclamation when you get your new Jicarilla Fishing Permit or download it from our website www.jicarillahunt.com. Be aware of the fishing regulations and please respect the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. I will see you all out there.

Kevin Terry

Fisheries Biologist

Jicarilla Game and Fish    

Fishing Report 4/6/2010

            Things are looking up at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. The ice is beginning to recede, but approximately 65-80% ice cover remains at the three fishing lakes. Mundo Lake and Enbom Lake are both at capacity already and they will continue to spill over for some time to come. Stone Lake is also receiving a lot of water via its main feeder stream Elk Creek. There is plenty of room for water in Stone, so I don’t expect it to spill over, but we stand to be in good shape when all is said and done. As for fishing, I don’t recommend traveling too far as the available open water is limited and the clarity is very poor with less than 1 foot of visibility in most places. The roads are in decent shape but there are muddy spots here and there that require 4wd and aggressive tires. There is still plenty of snow around, especially on the north slopes, so we can expect the mud season to last awhile this year. Yesterday, we had very strong winds out of the Southwest and consequently there is a deposit of fine dust on the snow. This dust will increase the melting rate of the snow and with the predicted good weather there is a slight chance that we will be ice free by the week’s end. Technically, the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes are now open for fishing from the shore or float tube and possibly from a small boat.

            Mundo Lake is very turbid with a visibility of 1 foot. The water is approximately 45°F and the ice is cover is approximately 80% of the lake. There is a ring of open water surrounding the ice and it is 40 feet at the widest. The Southeast area near the big snag has more open water and the willows in that area are inundated. The main parking area which happens to be the emergency spillway is shrinking in size by the day. If you decide to try Mundo this week do not park close to the water’s edge and keep an eye on rising water levels in the afternoon.

            Stone Lake is approximately 65-70% ice and the water temp is variable from 40-45°F. The Southwest cove has the most open water and best visibility. The South Boat launch is ice free with a little bit of open water to fish. The Northeast corner where Elk Stream flows in is also open water. However, this area has the color of chocolate milk and will probably not fish very well. If you absolutely must get out there this weekend I recommend fishing the open water sections in the SW cove and the West shoreline.

            Enbom Lake has not been stocked for the season and we do not expect any over winter survival there. For those of you that frequent the website, I will post a brief update on Thursday afternoon. I can’t wait either.

Kevin Terry

Fisheries Biologist

 

 

Fishing Report 3/29/2010

The Jicarilla Fishing Lakes remain closed this week due to unsafe ice conditions. There hasn’t been a lot of change over the past week, but all of a sudden today there is some hopeful news. At 4:30 pm I observed substantial runoff entering Mundo Lake, and there is some evidence of the ice slab thinning and lifting to compensate for the influx of water. Also, Stone Lake is beginning to break up on the north shore, where there is approximately 10 feet of open water. These are the first positive signs of spring runoff in a year that is anything but usual. Barring any more snow storms and cold snaps we should be on our way to open water fishing. At this point I would estimate complete ice off to be at least 2 weeks away. However, I will continue to watch the progress and report any substantial changes as they occur on the www.jicarillahunt.com website.

Kevin Terry

Fisheries Biologist     

Fishing Report 3/23/10

            The Jicarilla Lakes are still Closed to fishing due to unsafe ice conditions. There has been some pretty warm weather lately, but the ice and snow pack are holding out surprisingly well. I have been expecting Elk Creek (Stone Lake Feeder Stream) to break free for the past week, but it is still under snow where it comes into Stone at the NE corner. The same goes for Mundo Lake which is still locked up pretty tight. The forecast for tomorrow is for small amounts of snow but we might get some rain. If such is the case, maybe things will start to break up. I am as excited as all of you for open water, so trust me when I say that I will keep an eye on things and report as soon as anything happens.

            As some of you have surely noticed the website has changed a little bit and of course we are having a few problems. We are working hard to get everything resolved but please contact me at terrykev@gmail.com or 575-759-3255 if you are running into problems on the website.

 

Kevin Terry

Fisheries Biologist  

The Jicarilla Fishing Lakes are currently closed to angling due to thin ice. Ice is now completely covering all three of the fishing lakes, but the ice is thin and considered dangerous. The recent cold weather and storms will help the ice develop, but the lakes will be unsafe for fishing for an expected 2 weeks or more. We will begin to investigate ice depth and integrity starting the week of December 14th. As soon as the ice is stable and deemed safe we will post a report on the website and in the Albuquerque Journal. The Jicarilla Game and Fish Department is looking forward to another great ice season and plans for the 4th annual Jicarilla Ice Derby are underway. Don’t forget that anglers can purchase an ice season fishing permit from any of our vendors or at the Game and Fish office in Dulce, NM. The ice season is designated from 12/15/2009 through 3/15/2010. Also, 2 rods may be used during ice season at no extra cost. Remember that Stone Lake is barbless artificial flies and lures only, but is open to ice fishing. I hope to see you out there as soon as the ice is safe.
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Hello all,
It appears that the open water fishing is done for the year at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. Overnight, Stone lake went from 90% open water to nearly 90% ice. Warm weather may open up the ice a little, but the trend is headed toward complete ice. Stay tuned for reports on ice thickness and sharpen the old auger blades. Hopefully we will be fishing again by the end of the month!!!!

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

Hello Anglers,
This is a short update about open water at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. I just got back from Mexico and needless to say I found it quite cold from the moment we deboarded the plane. I went out to the lakes first thing this morning and wanted to shoot a quick update. Mundo Lake was almost completely covered in a thin layer of ice that is most likely gone this afternoon. Enbom was completely covered and will probably remain that way due to reduced winds and a lack of solar gain. Stone Lake was almost entirely open water with thin ice cover in both of the south bays. My feeling is that the open water will persist through the weekend at Stone. However, it is supposed to be very cold tonight. I will try to get out there again tomorrow for another update, but I thought that I would let you all know the current situation. This may be the last chance to fish for the big boys in open water.
PS. Check out some new pics in the photo gallery
Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

The recent storm left the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes unblemished for the most part. The sun will soon heal the muddy roads, but care should be taken at Enbom and Stone when using the dirt roads. Fishing was very tough over the weekend at Stone. There were some very nice fish taken, but the hours per fish were long. On the contrary, the fishing was good at Stone prior to the storm. Mundo Lake is fishing well for the few folks out there, and one very nice Rainbow was taken late last week. There hasn’t been any news from Enbom this week.
Stone Lake remains tough this week. Fishing just before the storm on Thursday and Friday was fair to good, but the catch rates dropped substantially on Saturday and Sunday. The biggest fish reported was 27” and the weight is unknown although Rosenburg Tafoya the fisheries technician showed up in time to weigh the headless, tailless, gutless specimen at over 8 lbs. There were also several fish (3-4) in the 24-25” class, which has been a common size this fall. The average Rainbow in Stone is just over 20” and 5lbs. With the higher catch rates before the storm we were able to see some of the falls smallest fish which were 14-15” footballs. These are the smaller end of the 6” fish that were stocked in late April. Given the diverse array of flies and lures that had some success it would be a guess this week as to what is really working the best. In my opinion it is good to go big and flashy whether it be flies or lures. All told, the catch rates this week were somewhere in the neighborhood of 1fish/4 hours. The ice season is now only a matter of weeks away, so if you want to try for that trophy, time is of the essence. The Jicarilla Game and Fish Department and the USFWS are teaming up this week to perform the standard fall sampling at Stone Lake. We should have some population and size information to report in a few weeks.
Mundo Lake is fishing well for Rainbows that average 10-12”. The only substantial pressure has been from bait anglers using orange, pink, and chartreuse powerbait near the shore along the dam. Catch rates have been variable, but a 6 fish limit should be attainable in 3 hours or less. There was one 20” Rainbow caught at Mundo late last week with powerbait. Overall, the pressure has been minimal at Mundo Lake.
Enbom has been devoid of anglers for going on 2 weeks. There are still fish in Enbom but they are few and far between right now. Enbom should still be an option for anglers if the wind drives them away from Stone Lake. This Fall has been an interesting time for fishing on the Jicarilla Lakes. There are certainly some of the heaviest trout in the state and some of the toughest fishing as well. We strive to provide you with up to date accurate info, but this is fishing after all. Please share any reports, questions, concerns, etc. Have a great week and consider this, you won’t need a butterball if you have a 10 lb. Stone Lake Trout on your table.

Kevin Terry
Fisheries Biologist

The warm weather continues to offer great conditions at the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. The water temps are in the mid to high 40’s and water clarity is spectacular. However, moody is the best way to describe the fish themselves this week. Stone Lake has been great and horrible this week, and there doesn’t seem to be any predictable pattern whatsoever. Mundo Lake has offered average trout catch rates for the few who have been out there. Enbom has been very slow which can probably be attributed to the dwindling numbers of fish remaining. The weather outlook is calling for a change later this week with overcast conditions expected for the weekend. Stone Lake is a mystery as usual with some of the falls best and worst reports. Starting with the good, the best report was from 2 anglers who caught 11 Rainbows in 4 hours. All 11 were over 20” and they averaged 6lbs. Another angler caught 3 Rainbows from a float tube with 2 at 21” and 1 at 24” 7lbs. I also had a good outing on Friday catching my personal best at Stone Lake. The fish was a Rainbow at just over 25” and 9lbs. I caught him on a damsel fly on the northeast side of the lake. I spent 4 hours out there and caught 2 fish with one definite miss. The guy next to me was having success with woolly buggers and sinking line from his float tube. When I left he had landed 3. The best action was from 11 to 2 on Friday. The worst reports were from Sunday where almost everyone struck out regardless of the time of day or strategy. The weeds are still the biggest issue out there right now. They are especially hard on anglers using lures where every other cast is sure to land some weeds. Fishing from the shore is not recommended at Stone right now. Enbom Lake has been very slow, with only a handful of anglers catching fish. I talked with one guy who caught 5 fish in as many hours and that was the best report this week. The numbers are down at Enbom, but there are still some fish in there. Enbom should be considered a retreat from the wind this week. Mundo is picking up for Rainbows from 8-13”. The best reports are from powerbait fished on the bottom near the dam. I arrived at Mundo just in time to catch an angler on his way out with a stringer of 6. He told me that he was using orange and chartreuse powerbait and caught all 6 fish in 2 hours. The docks have been removed from Mundo, but shoreline access is decent. I still haven’t heard anything about Catfish. The open water is here for now, so pull the boat back out and get on the Jicarilla Fishing Lakes. Kevin Terry Fisheries Biologist