Heron Lake and Willow Creek stay closed to kokanee through Nov. 10

Heron Lake and Willow Creek in Rio Arriba County are closed to kokanee through Nov. 10. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 2026–2027 Fishing Rules & Info sets the closure from Oct. 1 through Nov. 10 and does not allow possession of kokanee salmon at either water during that window.

The special kokanee snagging season on those two waters opens Nov. 11, which the rules list as Veterans Day, and runs through Dec. 31. During that season the bag is 12 kokanee a day and 24 in possession. Kokanee are the only fish that may be legally snagged, and only in the special season. Any other species hooked by snagging has to go back immediately.

Elsewhere the snagging window is already open. From Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 the rules allow kokanee snagging on the Rio Chama from El Vado Lake to the west boundary of the Rio Chama Wildlife and Fishing Area, on Navajo Lake, the Pine River, El Vado Lake, and Eagle Nest Lake. Buoyed no-wake areas, and the shoreline inside them, at the Pine River Boat Ramp and the Simms Boat Ramp on Navajo Lake stay closed to kokanee snagging for that entire Oct. 1–Dec. 31 window. The department ties the Heron and Willow Creek closure to the fall egg-take used to stock Navajo Lake and Eagle Nest Lake. The kokanee dates apply to Willow Creek in Rio Arriba County. The same booklet lists a separate Willow Creek, in Catron County, as a Gila trout special-trout water.

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

Source: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish — 2026–2027 Fishing Rules & Info.