President's Message
Dave Marsh
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Presidents Corner - May 2023
What do you do to get out and fish in the spring as we move towards summer? It has been a long winter, you have taken time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it is time to start thinking about spring and early summer fishing (while this may be a little late in the year to think about this, it works every year)? Well, there are not nearly as many options as after runoff, but here are a couple of ideas.
You won’t have a lot of competition on the water. My friend and fishing buddy, Jerry Burton, keeps meticulous records of his guided trips (back when he was a guide and not just helping me figure out what to do on the water). He reports that in the month of March he guided 41 times in 16 years. Not a big number!
Sometimes, the spring runoff had started, and the streams were high and turbid and fishing was slow. Sometimes the weather was great, and sometimes it was windy and cold, or even snowing. Since were are close to many of our fishing destinations, particularly in the Jemez, go on a nice sunny and calm day. After all, who wants to be cold and miserable? Fish the afternoon with a Copper John or Prince when the water is warmer and the trout more active. And, if you tied some new nymphs during the winter, try them out and let us know at the next general meeting how they worked.
Tight Lines,
David Marsh, President
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Vice President's Message
Bruce Newton
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When Does The Fishing Season
Begin In New Mexico?
It depends on your perspective. The official NM fishing season began April 1 with the renewal of our state fishing license. (This was a benchmark year for me as this was my first free license. My cost was surviving the past 70 years. Everything has a price.)
For some the fishing season coincides with the seasons of the year. This year the spring season brought high water levels as rivers are running high with runoff from the decent snow pack this year.
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The “Mother’s Day caddis hatch on the Rio Grande was washed away. Lakes like Navajo Lake turnover and create murky conditions in the tail waters. For others the fishing season begins when the Jicarilla Lakes open and float tubes can be used to find fat hold over trout.
Summer season begins June 1, and others look forward to casting terrestrials to trout eager to eat hoppers and beetles.
When I am asked when the fishing season begins, my reply is that, “It never ended.” I love to fish year round. My hope is to fish at least once every week.
There are times that rather than actually fishing, I work on maintaining the wonderful habitat that is home to trout. River cleanups, carrying fingerling trout in a backpack to restock remote areas, monitoring water temperature fluctuations of streams, building Beaver Dam Analogues, mending fences with the forest service, supporting fund raising and educational events sponsored by organization such as TU, NMT, Healing Waters, Veterans AWOL, Indigenous Flyfishing, flyfishing clinics for kids, etc. There are so many great organizations that need your support!
The fishing season is NOW! Spend as much “Time On The Water (TOW)” as you can. It is a wonderful place to be!
Bruce
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Membership Chairman
Dave Klosterman
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Hello Members!
Spring is here and we are rapidly warming up! For lake fisherman, this is an exciting time. Lake flies have been replenished over the winter, leaders & tippets have been inspected and/or replaced and the anticipation of getting out on the water hard to bear.
When and where to go? Since most of New Mexico’s good trout lakes are at or above 7500’ elevation, this gets tricky. As of this writing (April 14th ), the Jicarilla Apache lakes are just coming through the ice out phase, and Mundo and Stone are in spring turnover. Enbom was still mostly ice covered. at the time of this writing.
The early spring waters get very turbid in turnover, and the chemistry of the lakes gets out of whack as oxygen poor water from the lake bottom gets mixed with fresher water from above. Also, bottom material and dead stuff gets mixed up in the water column as well.
Turnover makes for really poor fishing, but is usually over within two weeks from dirtying up. Coming out of turnover, the water temps should be in the low 40 degree range. Trout are ready to go, but the cold water holds the feeding back. It doesn’t take long in this state for lake temps to rise and get into the good fishing zone of above 45 degrees. When the water temps rise into the fifties, the fishing gets fantastic.
Where to go? By May, all the northern NM trout lakes will be clear and through turnover. Morphy Lake has been clear since late March. The Jicarilla Lakes will be going strong by May. Fenton Lake is usually later for ice out, but early May is a safe bet. Maloya Lake will be going strong by May. The lake is at 6600’ elevation and usually has ice out earlier than other lakes. Hopewell Lake sits at 10,000’ elevation. It may not be clear of ice until later in May. June is a better bet to fish this gem.
Warm water species are a good bet in May as the lakes they inhabit get warmer faster than the northern lakes. Santa Rosa, Conchas, Cochiti, Ute are all good bets for bass & crappie.
Try to catch pre-spawn feeding activity in the low to mid 60-degree water temp range.
Time to get after it. If you fish a lake and the water’s turbid and fishing is poor, just wait a week or so and the fishing conditions will be much improved.
Dave Klosterman
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"CALLING FLY FISHING A HOBBY IS LIKE CALLING BRAIN SURGERY A JOB"
Paul Shullery
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"CREEPS AND IDIOTS
CANNOT CONCEAL THEMSELVES FOR LONG ON A FISHING TRIP."
John Gierach
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"BY THE RIVER
I TRY TO KEEP ALIVE"
Jim Harrison
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"CATCH AND RELEASE FISHING IS LIKE GOLF.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO EAT THE BALL TO HAVE A
GOOD TIME"
Anonymous
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“COFFEE, MUSIC AND FISHING ARE TRANSCENDENT"
John Gierach
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"CAUTION IS A MOST VALUABLE ASSET IN FISHING, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE THE FISH."
Anonymous
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2023 Volunteer Conservation Projects
Ron Loehman
Conservation Chairman
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After two seasons of reduced conservation activity, the project schedule for this season is expanded both in number and variety compared with years past. Historically, our projects have been almost entirely on public lands, supporting land management agency staff in work that they have planned.
Covid shutdowns, agency staff losses, and shift to other priorities, such as wildfires, reduced our opportunities for volunteering. It appears that things are getting back on track for the 2023 season.
Below are projects that we anticipate for late Spring through Fall of this year.
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All of the projects are in the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF), many of them on streams that we know. It is my understanding that all of the projects have been budgeted but the dates are tentative as SFNF staff are working out details with contractors and other support staff. Once the dates are set, they will be announced in Constant Contact messages, in our social media communications, and on the NM Trout website.
I will ask volunteers to respond to me by email, and approximately 10 days before the project start, I will reply with information on the meeting time and place. Some projects this year will feature mid-week work because contractors and staff frequently prefer to have their weekend free.
Here is the schedule. All the dates are tentative, except the Rio Guadalupe clean-up, which is
confirmed for April 1, 2023.
The sites are keyed to the accompanying Jemez Ranger District map shown below.
1. APRIL 1: RIO GUADALUPE CLEANUP: FINISHED!!!
The Guadalupe is our New Mexico Trout home water. We pick up accumulated trash along FR
376 from the Gilman Tunnels to Porter’s Landing. When we have sufficient volunteers, we also
clean up another four miles on FR 376 along the Rio Cebolla.
UPDATE: We had a great crew come out and help with the clean up. We found a huge pile of trash which had been thrown down over a steep bank including a pile of clothes and other trash, a clothes dryer, an air conditioner, a bicycle and a variety of other stuff. Getting these heavy things out was a bit challenging but we did it! (See photos below).
We were only able to get up to Porter's Landing as there was so much snow the road was impassable at Porter's Landing. Over all there was not a lot of trash because over the years we had already removed most of the "legacy trash" (old tires etc) plus the road was closed part of last year due to the fires.
However Warren Hartman from the forest service did say that when we pick up trash and keep areas cleaned up it has been shown that people will actually throw less trash - so lets keep this up!
2. PENDING: POLVADERA CREEK WILLOW PLANTING: TO BE DETERMINED!
Polvadera Creek is a small stream that drains northward toward Abiquiu from the ridge along
the Valles Caldera northern boundary. The stream holds a population of native Rio Grande
Cutthroat trout (RGCT). The work will support trout habitat improvement.
3. LATE SPRING-EARLY SUMMER: RITO PENAS NEGRAS BEAVER DAM ANALOGS (BDAs):
The Rito Peñas Negras is a tributary of the Rio de las Vacas that originates in the San Pero Parks Wilderness. The BDAs will improve habitat for Rio Grande Cutthroat trout.
4. LATE SUMMER: RIO CEBOLLA ELK/CATTLE EXCLOSURES:
The upper Rio Cebolla above the fish hatchery holds a mixed population of brown and RGCT
trout with the proportion of RGCT increasing as one goes farther upstream. Reducing brown
trout competition with RGCT is a continuing issue. This project addresses a different form of
competition- that from cattle (mostly) and elk grazing that has degraded the stream quality and degraded trout habitat. Stream segments will be fenced to exclude cattle and elk, which will allow the area inside to recover. This has been successful in improving riparian habitat on other streams, for example on the Rio San Antonio downstream of the Valles Caldera boundary.
5. SUMMER-FALL TBD: RIO SAN ANTONIO IN THE VALLES CALDERA EXCLOSURES/ BDAs:
Both Elk exclosures and BDAs are planned for the Rio San Antonio upstream of its border with the SFNF. The timing a specific locations are being negotiated with the Valles Caldera National Preserve staff.
We hope to see you there! These are great times to get out and meet fellow members and have some fun volunteering for conservation efforts.
Ron
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Map Key For 2023 Conservation Projects |
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Past GuadalupeTrash Pick Up |
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San Antonio Valles Caldera |
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Below are some photos from the April 1, 2023 Rio Guadalupe Clean Up: |
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Hauling up a Clothes Dryer! |
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Too much snow above
Porter's Landing!
The road was impassable.
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Hauling up an Air Conditioner!
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FLY OF THE MONTH
The Sneak Attack Fly
By Tim Camissa
This fly was developed by Tim Camissa.
It's really a Czech Nymph Pattern.
Fast sinking for fast water!
The attraction is the gold/copper collar dubbing by Sybai. That fine diamond is very pretty and attracts fish and fishermen!
Tim loves the flat black tungsten bead and uses it regularly on his patterns.
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It's an easy tie and very effective when needing to get on the bottom fast for stubborn Browns!
Like NOW during run-off!
Included is a photo of a nice Brown I recently caught on the Green River in Utah during the recent New Mexico Trout annual trip to the Green. See the photo below!
Consider coming on the NMT Green River Trip next year! Its a blast!
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Come to the Fly Tiers Roundtable
And tie some of these to
try out for yourself!
The first and third Tuesday of each month 6:00-8:00 pm at the
North 4th Street Art Center.
See you there!
Joe Fly Raymond
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Project Healing Waters Update
Project Healing Waters Albuquerque (PHWALB) is up and running! We are in a rebuilding stage, but our numbers are slowly getting to our pre-pandemic levels. We are in the midst of our spring in-class programs.
Our veterans have been learning about the fly-fishing world with classes on the basics like fly line, leaders, knots and what to carry in a vest, sling pack, or chest packs.
In May Classes will be held on how to recognize bugs one may see on the water. The life cycles of these insects, and the insects one typically sees on New Mexico waters. These classes are facilitated by Jeffery Harrell, a NM Trout member. We do this so when we start our fishing trips in May/June, the veterans will be better prepared to catch fish.
Our veterans are also becoming great fly tiers! Under the tutelage of Master fly tier, NM Trout member Matt McCall, they have learned to tie the basic flies, from pheasant tails, Pats rubber leg to Perdigons, and other specialty flies. The flies that are tied are geared primarily for New Mexico waters.
In June 2022, PHWALB sent 3 veterans on national trips to PHWFF Freedom Ranch near Wise Montana. One of our veterans went on an all-women trip. I led a trip to Freedom Ranch, with veterans from all over the Southwest, with Albuquerque and Taos represented. They drifted the Big Hole River with 3 guides and caught many fish.
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For more info, call John at 505-585-3943.
PHWFF is here to support service-connected veterans who hopefully find some peace of mind through fly fishing.
Thanks again to NM Trout for their continued support.
John McKenzie, PHW
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BEING THERE
There was a time when a successful day of fly fishing for trout included catching them. Now at age 82, and in the winter of life, just being along a trout stream has become a successful day.
With age the hills and mountains have become steeper and the air thinner. Stopping to catch my breath is more frequent.
What about the fish? After 70 years of fishing I have caught my fair share. From growing up in a county in Wisconsin that contained more fresh water than land, where my dad once told me that if I was going to fish "catch something we could eat." This meant walleye or yellow perch.
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During those 70 years I caught just about every kind of water fish, salmon and steelhead, a blue Marlin, and all the species of trout. I have a full cup of memories, and now just being there is enough.
Jerry
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Board Member Highlight
Meet Elizabeth Noyes
New Mexico Trout Newsletter
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I moved here to New Mexico about 6 years ago from Virginia. Originally from New England, I have lived in 10 US states, Barcelona and Puerto Rico.
I started fishing as a child off the coast, ponds and rivers of New England mostly from piers, rocks and off of canoes and boats. We would catch black fish, flounder, eels, sharks, trout and striped bass to name a few. Sand worms and live leeches totally skeeve me out - I do not miss them at all.
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I am a recently retired veterinarian (all kinds of animals both large and small and actually have a PhD in swine medicine). People ask me all the time what my favorite animal is... I love them all (except ill-behaved dogs and ferrets). I think back about what I would have done differently and I should have become a fish specialist. But give me a piece of rope and a blanket and I can restrain just about anything; so I would be good to have on your team during a zombie apocalypse.
I started fly fishing for trout after I quit my first veterinary job in Circle, Montana working mostly with beef cattle and bison. When I gave 4 months notice my boss fired me on the spot so I drove to Dan Bailey's Fly Shop, bought my first fly rod and reel and went fishing.
I love being in New Mexico as we have so many places to go fishing and Colorado fishing is relatively close. Back East the public water is scattered and difficult to determine where the public accesses actually are and you have to drive just as much if not more compared to here.
I met "My People" here in New Mexico exploring, going to the meetings and the volunteer events such as river temperature monitoring and fence and beaver dam analog building.
I highly recommend you do the same!
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Tips To Improve Your Casting Accuracy
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Instructive Steps on How to Defeat Drag
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If you have a helpful, fun or interesting tip, trick or tidbit to share please let me know! |
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New Mexico Trout Merchandise
Get Some Swag!!
Wear With Pride!!
New Mexico Trout has arranged with Albuquerque-based Rowan Apparel to embroider items with the distinctive NMT logo.
You can get your NM Trout gear in the following ways:
- Go to the store and select from items in stock (or they can special order them)
Address: 7400 Montgomery Blvd NE #3,
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Phone: (505) 344-9939
- Take your own items into the store and they can add the logo.
Rowan Apparel has a wide variety of shirts, hats and jackets in stock, and you can special order other items. Embroidery adds about $20 to the cost of any item (or you have your own item embroidered for the same amount). If you order online, just leave a comment to use the New Mexico Trout logo artwork.
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2023 Fishing Licenses
Available MARCH 27, 2023
On-Line and OTC
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FISHING LICENSES!
Available On-Line
While fishing in New Mexico, anglers 12 years and older must possess a valid New Mexico Fishing License or Game-hunting & Fishing License. Licenses are valid April 1 through March 31 of the following year. A New Mexico Fishing License is not required on tribal reservations and private Class-A lakes.
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New Mexico Trout Business Sponsors |
Yearly business membership entails the sponsor to a link and an ad in the NMT Newsletter and website. Contact the membership chair for more information if you or a business owner you know would like to become a sponsor, or visit our website at newmexicotrout.org.
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Fish on New Mexico!
Your Editor,
Elizabeth Noyes
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