New Mexico Fishing Line: Eagle Nest trout under a bloom warning, Abiquiú walleye good

New Mexico’s Oct. 15 fishing line is a mix of cool-water trout and a handful of bloom warnings. The Department of Game and Fish report, published that afternoon by the Albuquerque Journal, rates rainbow trout at Eagle Nest Lake fair to good on wet flies and very good on Salmon Peach PowerBait. Eagle Nest is under a harmful-algae warning. So are Charette Lake, Clayton Lake, and the Rio Grande from the John Dunn Bridge through the Orilla Verde Recreation Area. Quemado Lake is under a danger advisory. Bluewater Lake is also under a warning; the latest tiger-muskie note there is from Sept. 24.

Stream and lake bites in the same report: trout on the Pecos near Pecos were fair to good on salmon eggs, Pat’s Rubber Legs, and Woolly Buggers, with Tuesday morning flow at 189 cubic feet per second. Walleye at Abiquiú Lake were good trolling white Berkley Flicker Shads near Rio Puerco. Fenton Lake trout were very good on Pistol Petes. Rainbows in the bait section of the San Juan were very good on Green Glitter PowerBait, with 280 cfs near Archuleta. Largemouth bass at Alto Lake were good on a black Texas-rigged Baby Papa Craw. A catch listed with the report is a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass there on Oct. 6.

Access notes in the same line: boat ramps at Heron Lake are closed because the water is extremely low. Boating at El Vado is limited, and a ramp closure is expected. At Elephant Butte, the Marina del Sur ramp is open, while Rock Canyon and South Monticello stay closed, and the department says recent flooding has changed Caballo Lake levels. The Rio Ruidoso at Hollywood was 215 cfs Tuesday morning, and the report says recent flooding will hurt fishing there for an extended time. The Gravel Pit lakes stay closed until March 1. Hopewell Lake’s day-use area and campground stay closed until 2027. Trip reports go to the department’s iFish form or to darren.vaughan@dgf.nm.gov.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Albuquerque Journal — Fishing Line for Oct. 15, 2026 (New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, published Oct. 15, 2026).