Fishing Report: Check Out Some Recent Catches—And Share Your Stories with NM Department of Wildlife

Southwest New Mexico Fishing Report

• Bear Canyon Lake: Fishing conditions have been adversely affected in the aftermath of the Trout Fire.
• Bill Evans Lake: Fishing for trout was very good when using Green and Orange PowerBait and yellow salmon eggs.
• Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for bass was very good when using soft plastics and creature baits and trolling diving Rapala crankbaits. The South Monticello boat ramp is currently closed due to low water levels. The closure will be lifted when water levels rise and conditions allow.
• Escondida Lake: Fishing for bass was good when using chatterbaits.
• Gila River: Streamflow near Gila Wednesday morning was 62.6 cfs.
• Gila Waters: Streamflow near Gila Hot Springs Wednesday morning was 66.2 cfs.
• Lake Roberts: Fishing for trout was slow to fair when using PowerBait and good when using rooster tail spinners from a kayak.
• Quemado Lake: Fishing for trout was very good when using Green Garlic PowerBait.
• Rio Grande: Streamflow below Elephant Butte Dam on Wednesday morning was 0.13 cfs.

NM Department of Wildlife received no reports for the following waterbodies over the past three weeks: Caballo Lake, Glenwood Pond, Percha Dam, Rancho Grande Ponds, Snow Lake, Trees Lake and Young Pond.

Recent Big Catches

Elephant Butte Lake: Andrew Luna, Bryant Michael Tafoya, Rodney Morton and Nathan Jones caught an abundance of white bass while trolling diving Rapala crankbaits on March 22. “The fishing was non-stop action,” Andrew said. “This day, we weren’t fishermen — we were catchermen!”

Elephant Butte Lake: Aaron Brewer caught this largemouth bass using a creature bait on March 22.

Elephant Butte Lake: Gene España of Las Cruces caught and released many bass using soft plastics on March 21.

Elephant Butte Lake: Brandon Hawkins of Las Cruces caught and released many bass using soft plastics on March 21.

Escondida Lake: Gabriel Gutierrez caught a bass using a chatterbait on March 17. “Slow day, then this monster hit,” he said. “Thankfully, I changed my line the night before from 4-pound to 8-pound line.”

Quemado Lake: Ruben Chavira’s grandson, Eli Chavira, caught an 18-inch, 4-pound rainbow trout, while his great-grandson, Xavier Hobbs, reeled in his first trout — a 14-inch, 1½-pound rainbow — using Green Garlic PowerBait on March 21.

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Here’s your chance to show off!

By Darren Vaughan

By the time next week’s fishing report rolls around, the calendar will have flipped from March to April — and the Department’s calendar will have flipped from the 2025-2026 license year to 2026-2027, meaning you’ll have to make sure you’ve gotten your new fishing license.

Once you’ve got that squared away, it’s time to get out there, enjoy nature and, with any luck, reel in something to brag about! But how do you go about showing off that catch? The New Mexico Department of Wildlife has just the thing for you!

All of the pictures you see in the Catches of the Week (above) were submitted via the Department’s iFish form, available on the Fishing and Stocking Reports web page. In fact, the vast majority of the data you see in the body of the Weekly Fishing Report comes from the public’s submissions — this week’s report includes data from 26 submissions sent over the past seven days. Just by telling us what worked for you, or didn’t work for you, you’re helping your fellow anglers as they decide where to go and what bait, lure or fly to use.

New Mexico Department of Wildlife is always looking for your top tips and tricks that may help others have success with a rod and reel. Sure, nobody wants to give away all their secrets — after all, if you’ve found your hot spot and the perfect bait, lure or fly that has the fish biting non-stop, you’re probably not going to want to see a crowd start to gather there. But if you have fly-tying techniques, tips for fishing in certain water conditions or even just a great fish story, we’d love to share it! You can email your Tips, Tricks and Stories submission to Darren.Vaughan@dgf.nm.gov, and NMDoW be happy to consider it for publication in a future Weekly Fishing Report!

Let the Department of Wildlife know how your fishing trip goes! Share your tips and tricks with your fellow anglers by filling out the iFish form,and let’s help the next generation of anglers find success.