Northern New Mexico trout bite picks up as October arrives

Northern New Mexico trout fishing improved as fall arrived, according to a Roswell Tribune fishing report published Oct. 1, 2026. Rainbows were good on olive streamers on the Rio Grande near Questa. Shuree Ponds were fair to good on elk caddis, blowtorch nymphs, and Higa’s S.O.S. nymphs. San Juan River quality water was very good on size-22 zebra midges.

Fenton Lake was fair to good on Cheese Garlic PowerBait and small spoons cast from the dam, and very good on a rainbow nymph and a grey foam-wing emerger. Cimarron River gravel pits were fair to good on PowerBait. The Rio Grande near Pecos was slow on Chernobyl variants and a mix of nymphs. In Lincoln County, Alto Lake was good for trout on worms, Kastmasters, and rainbow spinners, and largemouth were good on rainbow spinners.

The same sheet’s non-trout notes include a good bite at Ute Lake for white bass, smallmouth, and catfish on jig heads and 4-inch Gulp minnows. The Tribune says the report is the best information available at publication. Do not treat a slow line — Pecos, or the southern waters also listed — as a forecast.

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

Source: Roswell Tribune — Northern New Mexico trout fishing improves as fall arrives (Oct. 1, 2026).