Bass/Walleye limit in NM

[jrabq]

It's been a great Spring for fishing in NM, caught bass and walleye limit yesterday. Nothing of much size, but lot's of fish caught. Lost count but think I threw back over 30 bass, mostly smallmouth, and a couple of walleye. The walleye were unusually frisky, hit hard and fought hard, thought I had much bigger fish on the line. White or silver crankbaits were the ticket, only caught a few on red/orange (which had been working last couple of trips). One thing I've found over the years is that walleye don't always follow the so-called "rules". I caught the last 3 walleye near noon, bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, in clear water 8-10 ft deep, hardly any chop on the water. Quite often (well...sometimes) I can get a good mid-day bite for walleye in murky water, but the water clarity yesterday was very good.

 

[Big Fin]

Dang, with the walleyes in that picture I might be able to convince Mrs. Fin that New Mexico has good wintering options.

 

[jrabq]

The biggest two walleye were about 17', good eating size, I'm not complaining. But up till about 4 years ago this lake had a good number in the 20-22 inch range, with a few bigger. Then the lake almost dried up, but it has now refilled and hopefully some big ones are growing up.

There are actually several lakes in NM with good walleye fishing, this one just happens to be a bit closer to home.

 

[jrabq]

Took a friend with me yesterday and he out-fished me, at least numbers wise. He got his bass & walleye limit (on right), while I caught the bigger fish on the left, including 2 walleye at ~20 inch/3 lbs. Most everything on crankbaits, but I did catch the smallmouth bass on top-water. For some reason I struggled to catch anything after 9AM, while my buddy got 5 or 6 more fish in the cooler. Then right before we left I hooked a walleye, and it came off at the boat, hate when that happens! Temperatures are starting to warm up now so not sure how much longer the good fishing will last, but it has been a great Springtime.