The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has just released a draft fisheries management plan for the entire state of New Mexico. The draft is the product of a year and a half effort led by NMDGF Fisheries Manager, Kirk Patten, to update the current plan. The plan contains a lot of detail that should be of interest to NM Trout members and NMDGF is specifically asking for our members’ comments on it. Submit them on-line by October 31st to DGF-StatewideFishPlan@state.nm.us. The actual plan is a 23 MB download, so we have included a lower bandwidth copy. September 2015 - ... Read More
September 11, 2015
by Jerry Burton From the July/August 2015 Newsletter On October 1st, one of my favorite trout fishing places will change management. The Valles Caldera National Preserve will cease to be managed by a board of trustees, and will be managed by the National Park Service. I'm not sure what the change will bring to the trout fishery, even though I attended one of the public listening sessions held by the Park Service. I have had experience as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in working with the Park Service in managing a trout fishery in Great Smoky Mountains National ... Read More
August 31, 2015
From the August/September 2015 Newsletter The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) has been executing a program to stock larger fish in local waters over recent years. The aim of the program that grows larger trout at several of its hatcheries is to keep anglers excited about the sport. The idea for the program came from the tremendous positive responses the department has received from anglers who had caught big trout, stocked in numerous fishing areas during the past few seasons. Many of those fat trout were the first generation raised at the Los Ojos Fish Hatchery after ... Read More
August 31, 2015
From the July/August 2015 newsletter On 5 Aug, a retaining wall of a holding pond at the now retired Gold King mine was accidentally breached by workers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), releasing millions of gallons of contaminants into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River. News reports and pictures showed the bright orange plume cascading through towns along the river, especially the recreation hot spot of Durango. This is one of the largest spills in the river since 1978, when the Sunnyside Mine breached the floor of Lake Emma high above Silverton, sending an estimated 500 million gallons of water and ... Read More
August 31, 2015
WHAT: Our annual member BBQ will be held on Saturday, May 30 in conjunction with a stream restoration clinic led by Bill Zeedyk, an expert in wetland and stream habitats. Areas on the Rio Cebolla in the Santa Fe National Forest that we had targeted for restoration work have been closed to public access in response to the listing of the NM Meadow Jumping Mouse as an endangered species. We have permission to conduct this event on a private in-holding on the Rio Cebolla. We will learn about techniques that reduce erosion and riparian degradation and improve fish habitat. These same ... Read More
May 15, 2015
by Ron Loehman, Conservation Chair Save the date! Our annual BBQ will be held on Saturday, 30 May, in conjunction with a stream restoration clinic led by Bill Zeedyk, an expert in riparian and piscine habitats. Bill brings a lifetime of experience in natural resource conservation to the practice of river, wetland and riparian restoration. Upon retiring from the U.S. Forest Service with thirty-four years experience in habitat management, Bill founded a small consulting business with the mission of motivating others by developing and advancing simple techniques for healing incised streams and gullied wetlands. The event will be held alongside ... Read More
April 26, 2015
Fish habitat is being reconstructed on two sections of the Red River - one adjacent to Eagle Rock Lake and another just upstream from the Red River Fish Hatchery. Those projects intend to provide more places for fish to hold and improve the stream ecology in the hopes that it will create a more prolific fishery. The project near the fish hatchery also includes the removal of a concrete dam that blocked fish from moving upstream. A two-year study released in February found significant levels of a bacteria in the San Juan and Animas rivers that indicate the presence of human waste. Officials involved ... Read More
April 26, 2015
by Ron Loehman, Conservation Chair New Mexico Trout has a tradition of welcoming the Spring opening of FR 376 between the Gilman Tunnels and Porter's Landing with a volunteer trash pickup. That Forest Service road provides access to our Rio Guadalupe home water and it accumulates a lot of roadside trash over a season's heavy use by the many people who visit that corridor. Doing these annual cleanups is one way we can express our thanks for the wonderful trout fishing opportunities the Rio Guadalupe affords, while we help maintain it in a state that we like to visit. Twenty ... Read More
April 26, 2015