Anglers planning on doing
some fishing this season may want to get it done sooner rather than later while
most of the state’s reservoirs are still full.
“Our lakes are in the best
shape they’ve been in years,” says Eric Frey, sport fish program manager for
the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF). “People should get out
there and enjoy the fishing while they can.”
The state’s reservoirs stand
at just over 70 percent of average storage which is about a 10-percent increase
over last year, according to the latest Basin Outlook Report from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS) in
Albuquerque.
But with the farm irrigation
season commencing and continued municipal use much of the state’s reservoir
storage is expected to be depleted over the spring and summer with little or no
replenishment anticipated from snowpack runoff.
The NCRS monitors and reports
on the state’s snowpack, precipitation and reservoir water storage data. The latest
report can be downloaded from the service’s website at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/nm/snow/waterproducts/.
According to the latest
report the state’s overall snowpack levels have reached or are approaching
historical lows and drought continues to expand across the state and into
southwestern Colorado .
With above average
temperatures and high winds expected to quickly dry out what little snowpack
exists, spring runoff is probably going to be well below average statewide, says
Chris Romero of the NCRS.
“Then we’ll be waiting on the
monsoons to hopefully save us again,” he says.
In the meantime excellent
fishing conditions at many of the state’s popular east side reservoirs such as
Conchas, Sumner and Santa Rosa and Ute lakes will provide anglers with plenty
of opportunities to catch bass, walleye and other warmwater species this
spring, Frey says.
A long running drought that
caused the walleye population at Santa Rosa to crash several years ago has since rebounded due to
the lake refilling and the department’s restocking efforts, Frey says.
“I fished four or five times
out there this time last year and it was amazingly good,” Frey says.
Frey’s tips and tricks to
fishing for warmwater species can be found in a past issue of the department’s
“New Mexico Wildlife” magazine that can be viewed online at http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/download/publications/wildlife-news/Volume_56-Number_3-Fall-2011.pdf.
Stream and river anglers also
can expect to enjoy good fishing conditions for trout this spring with little
or no runoff to impede the action, Frey says.
The Rio
Grande is
expected to produce a fishable caddis hatch for the first time in years and
some fishing guides are already booking trips in anticipation.
Anglers are reminded to
obtain a new fishing license before venturing out to their favorite fishing
hole. Licenses are good for one year between April 1 and March 31. Anglers can
purchase a new license this season beginning March 22. Licenses can be obtained
online on the department’s website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us,
over the telephone with the department’s information center at (888) 248-6866
or through a vendor. The department’s information center will be open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, to sell licenses and answer
questions.
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