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This stocking of native New Mexico trout by the Department of Game and Fish is a unique endeavor, relying on multiple agencies and the public’s assistance to carry 5,000 Rio Grande cutthroat trout to their natural habitat.
Source: New Mexico Game and Fish
Photos: Courtesy
The 2025-26 license year is underway!
License sales for the 2025-26 license year have begun. Licenses from the 2024-2025 license year are no longer valid. The 2025-26 Fishing Rules and Information Booklet (RIB) is available online in both English and Spanish, and will soon be available in print at Department offices and vendors statewide.
SOUTHWEST CATCHES OF THE WEEK
Elephant Butte Lake: Joe Fisher (top right) caught and released a striped bass using a curly-tail grub on May 4. Anthony Dupree (top left) caught eight white bass, with the largest being 12.5 pounds, using curly-tail grubs on May 3. Max I. Garcia (bottom left) caught three smallmouth bass using crankbaits and spoons on May 3. Isaac Mossburg (above middle) caught two smallmouth bass using a crankbait in the Rock Canyon area on May 3. Erika Ecsedy, her boyfriend and her niece (not pictured) caught 10 catfish, three drum and one walleye using shiners and worms on April 20.
Gila River: Brian Culligan (not pictured) caught two trout using a fly on April 29.
Quemado Lake: Kaia Rivera (bottom right), from Laguna Pueblo, caught five trout using Salmon Peach PowerBait on April 27 after a great weekend of turkey hunting.
Fishing Report
- Alumni Pond: Closed for repairs until further notice.
- Bear Canyon Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Bill Evans Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Caballo Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Elephant Butte Lake: Fishing for white bass and striped bass was very good when using curly-tail grubs. Fishing for smallmouth bass was fair to good when using crankbaits and spoons.
- Escondida Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Gila River: Streamflow near Gila Wednesday morning was 43.3 cfs. Fishing for trout was slow when using flies.
- Gila Waters: Streamflow near Gila Hot Springs Wednesday morning was 42 cfs. We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Glenwood Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Lake Roberts: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Percha Dam: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Quemado Lake: Fishing for trout was fair to good when using Salmon Peach PowerBait.
- Rancho Grande Ponds: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Rio Grande: Streamflow below Elephant Butte Dam on Wednesday morning was 464 cfs.
- Snow Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week. The area, including the boat launch and the trailhead, has been temporarily closed because of the Iron Fire.
- Trees Lake: We had no reports from anglers this week.
- Young Pond: We had no reports from anglers this week.
Department, partners help Rio Grande cutthroat trout go home to the Gorge
Once a year, starting in 2008, Rio Grande cutthroat trout fingerlings (young fish about the length of a finger) embark on an expedition, trekking all the way down to the Rio Grande Gorge. I know what you’re thinking – no, they didn’t grow a pair of legs. Instead, they received a little help from their friends: New Mexicans who passionately believe in conservation. These participants carry a bag, or maybe two, filled with the state fish and travel down scenic-yet-steep sections of the Gorge to be released back into the river. This stocking of native New Mexico trout by the Department of Game and Fish is a unique endeavor, relying on multiple agencies and the public’s assistance to carry 5,000 Rio Grande cutthroat trout to their natural habitat. This special event would not be possible without the support from the public who want to see native populations thrive.
Driven by a passion for conservation and promoting native fish, partners like the Bureau of Land Management, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service and Friends of the Rio Grande del Norte are just some of the agencies that help support and partner with New Mexico Game and Fish to make this event a success. But this remarkable act of conservation would not be possible without participants from the public who help transport native fish to hard-to-reach locations.
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish coldwater biologist John Smith describes the importance of this project for the agency, anglers and New Mexicans, as conserving “a native state fish back on the landscape in a river that historically would have been the only trout species, empowering anglers and citizens to take an active part in native fish conservation.”
The Rio Grande cutthroat trout’s journey begins at the Department’s Seven Springs fish hatchery near Jemez Springs, where they are raised until about a year old. Once they mature to the appropriate age, they are taken to the Rio Grande Gorge where they are put into bags filled with oxygen and quickly placed back into the river.
The Rio Grande cutthroat trout’s journey begins at the Department’s Seven Springs fish hatchery near Jemez Springs, where they are raised until about a year old. Once they mature to the appropriate age, they are taken to the Rio Grande Gorge where they are put into bags filled with oxygen and quickly placed back into the river.
Thank you to all the participants, agencies, partners, hatchery workers and conservation officers who helped bring the Rio Grande cutthroat trout back to the Rio Grande. If you are interested in helping at next year’s stocking, please contact Smith at john.smith@dgf.nm.gov.
