By GEORGE MORSE
Sports And Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post

Once again, firefighters have protected New Mexican lives and property from a recent wildfire. The El Valle Fire was first detected Sept. 8 and led to the evacuation of the communities of El Valle and Las Trampas. Firefighters were able to reach some containment over the weekend and the evacuation notice was lifted.

Residents of El Valle and Las Trampas were allowed to return to their homes. Both communities remain in the “Set” status and remain on alert that they may have to evacuate again on a moment’s notice.

New Mexico Highway 76, also known as the “High Road to Taos” between Truchas and Penasco is open but drivers should expect smoky conditions with low visibility and use extreme caution.

Lower temperatures and higher relative humidity are forecast for the coming week and significant fire activity is unlikely.

For information on the El Valle Fire and other wildfires in New Mexico visit nmfire.com. For road conditions and closures, visit nmroads.com.

Fenton Lake State Park is open for camping. Lake is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Camping by reservation only. It is heavily-stocked with rainbow trout. It also has some wild brown trout and some Rio Grande cutthroat trout from earlier stockings. It was stocked Sept. 7 with 951 rainbow trout. For more information and current lake conditions call 575.829.3630.

The Rio Cebolla, which flows into and below Fenton Lake, was stocked Sept. 7 with 70 rainbow trout. It also has wild brown trout.

The Jemez River streamflow Monday was 10.4 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little lower than last week and below normal. The Jemez River was stocked June 21 with 323 rainbow trout.

The smaller tributaries of the Jemez River are running low. The Rio San Antonio was stocked Aug. 17 with 369 rainbow trout. All the streams in the Jemez drainage also have wild brown trout.

The Seven Springs Brood Pond, also known as the Kid’s Pond, is open. It is located at the Seven Springs Fish Hatchery.

The fishing is for anglers 11-years of age or younger. It was stocked Sept. 7 with 450 rainbow trout. It also has some wild brown trout and some Rio Grande cutthroat trout from an earlier stocking. The limit is three trout-per-day.

The Bureau of Land Management manages Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area near Chimayo. It will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The fishing should be good for stocked rainbow trout and some wild brown trout. Water at Santa Cruz may be too warm for stocking and the trout will be in deeper water. The water level is low, but the boat ramp is still open.

For updated conditions, check the Bureau of Land Management website or call 505.351.1438.

The Bureau also manages the Orilla Verde Recreation Area along the Rio Grande at Pilar. Camping is on a first-come basis. No reservations. The Rio Grande streamflow was 199 cubic-feet-per-second at Taos Junction Bridge. This is lower than last week and below normal. The Rio Grande at Pilar was stocked Sept. 5 with 34,465 sub-catchable rainbow trout.

Fishing conditions are very good on the Rio Grande now.

From the Colorado state line downstream to the Taos Junction Bridge, the limit is two-trout-per-day in the Rio Grande.

Eagle Nest Lake at Eagle Nest State Park is open. Boating is open and docks are in.

Fishing should be good for rainbow trout, yellow perch, northern pike and an occasional kokanee salmon. Eagle Nest has been receiving heavy stockings of catchable-size and larger hatchery fish, which is unusual. Larger trout are being stocked in hopes of mitigating the losses to predation by northern pike. Remember, if you catch a pike at Eagle Nest, you cannot put it back in the lake. You have to kill it. For more information and current conditions, call 575.377.1594.

The Cimarron River streamflow below Eagle Nest Dam was 42.4 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little higher than last week. The Cimarron River near the town of Cimarron streamflow was measured at 36 cubic-feet-per second. It was stocked Aug. 23 with 2,423 rainbow trout. Check the Carson National Forest website to see if campgrounds are open.

The Cimarron Gravel Pit Lakes at Maverick Campground are open now. They were stocked Aug. 23 with 354 rainbow trout.

Lake Maloya and Lake Alice at Sugarite State Park near Raton are open. Lake Maloya was stocked Aug. 17 with 2,156 catchable-size rainbow trout. Lake Alice was stocked Aug. 17 with 501 rainbow trout. Call 575.445.5607 for current conditions.

Heron Lake State Park is open now. There is open water for bank fishing, which has been fair for rainbow trout. The boat marina and boat ramp are now open. The lake level is much higher than in previous years.

Call 575.588.7470 for conditions at both Heron Lake and El Vado Lake.

El Vado Lake State Park is closed. Try fishing at the north end of the lake where the Chama River comes in.

Laguna del Campo, a popular, small lake near Los Ojos, opened for fishing. It was stocked Sept. 7 with 592 rainbow trout.

Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger and 65 years old or older. Limit is three-fish-per-day.

Morphy Lake State Park near Mora has reopened. It was stocked July 12 with 1,350 rainbow trout.

Coyote Creek State Park near Guadalupita was stocked Aug. 21 with 800 rainbow trout. The Coyote Creek Pond was stocked with 599 rainbow trout.

The Charette Lakes have good fishing for holdover rainbow trout. There are also yellow perch here. They were stocked June 27 with 2,497 rainbow trout.

Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas is open. It was stocked a month ago with a total of 7,327 rainbow trout. It also has some big catfish.

Pecos Canyon State Park is open. In the Canyon, streamflow was measured 30.7 cubic-feet per second. This is much lower than last week and below normal. The fishing has been fair-to-good for rainbow trout and brown trout. Pecos Canyon was stocked Sept. 6 with 1,500 rainbow trout.

In the Pecos drainage, Holy Ghost Creek was stocked Sept. 6 with 200 rainbow trout. The Mora Fork was stocked Sept. 6 with 200 rainbow trout. Cow Creek was stocked Aug. 28 with 504 rainbow trout.

Monastery Lake near Pecos has been fair. It was stocked June 27 with 975 rainbow trout.

Over in the Four Corners, Navajo Lake State Park is open. Camping is by reservation only. Trolling minnow-imitating lures like Rapalas could produce a trophy brown trout. Fishing for northern pike has been fair-to-good. Bass fishing has been fair. The kokanee salmon have begun to school up near the dam at 50-60 feet in depth. Boating conditions are good. Call 505.632.2278 for conditions.

Popular fishing locations on Carson National Forest include the Canjilon Lakes, the Trout Lakes near Cebolla and Hopewell Lake between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla.

The Forest Service roads to the Trout Lakes and Canjilon Lakes are now open. Canjilon was stocked Aug. 8 with 1,568 rainbow trout and has small brook trout. The Trout Lakes were stocked July 10 with 781 rainbow trout.

The campground at Hopewell Lake is open. The fishing has been good for stocked rainbow trout and wild brook trout. It was stocked July 10 with 2,490 rainbow trout.

The Lagunitas Lakes have been stocked and the fishing for stockers has been very good. They were stocked Sept. 6 with 1,499 rainbow trout.

The Rio de los Pinos is near the border with Colorado. II was stocked Aug. 28 with 1,801 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout.

The best river in the state and well-known throughout the angling world is the San Juan River below Navajo Dam. The streamflow here is now 819 cubic-feet-per-second, which is higher than last week. The San Juan offers world-class fly fishing for big trout.

The fishing has been good with a variety of fly patterns in the four miles of Quality Water below the Dam. The fishing here is catch-and-release with flies and lures having a single, barbless hook. It is heavily-stocked with small rainbow trout that grow quickly in the fertile waters. There are big, wild brown trout in the Quality Water. Some of these fish would likely shatter the state record if they could be kept and weighed.

The fishing in the Bait Water of the San Juan below the Quality Water has been fair-to-good with flies, bait and lures. A regular daily limit of five trout may be kept here. There are some big brown trout here too. It was stocked twice last week with a total of 1,812 rainbow trout.

Abiquiu Lake is open, including the boat ramp and picnic areas. Camping is open. It is managed by the Corps of Engineers. Reservations may be made at www.recreation.gov. Water levels have been much better this year here than in previous years. The fishing has been fair for walleye, catfish and smallmouth bass. There are some good-sized trout in Abiquiu. They have moved into deeper water. Call 505.685.4371 for more information.

The Chama River below Abiquiu Dam is flowing at 1,100 cubic-feet-per-second. This is much higher than last week and above normal. The water is murky. The fishing is likely fair for stocked and holdover rainbow trout. There are a few big, wild brown trout here. It was stocked Sept. 5 with 1,029 rainbow trout. The limit here is two-fish-per-day.

Streamflow in the Chama River below El Vado Dam was 84.6 cubic-feet-per-second. This is much lower than last week and below normal. It has wild brown trout. It was stocked Sept. 7 with 401 rainbow trout.

Above El Vado Lake, the Chama River at La Puente is clearing and streamflow was 30.2 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a lower than last week and lower than normal. It was stocked Sept. 5 with 1,029 rainbow trout.

Brazos River was flowing at 18.8 cubic-feet-per-second. It was lower than last week. It was stocked Sept. 5 with 505 rainbow trout.

Cochiti Lake has reopened. The lake water level has risen 11 feet. The lake level has since dropped and picnic areas are no longer flooded. The fishing has been fair-to-good for northern pike. Fishing for catfish could be worthwhile. Tetilla Peak Recreation Area is open, but the campground is closed.

Tingley Beach in Albuquerque is now being stocked with channel catfish. It was stocked Aug. 31 with 473 catfish averaging 18 inches in length.

The Rio Pueblo near Penasco streamflow was measured at 7.72 cubic-feet-per-second. This is the same as last week and below normal. It was stocked Aug. 29 with 1,200 rainbow trout. It has wild brown trout.

Sipapu Pond was stocked Aug. 29 with 67 rainbow trout.

The Red River below the Fish Hatchery is flowing at 52.9 cubic-feet-per-second. This is a little lower than last week and below normal. It was stocked Sept. 6 with 701 rainbow trout. The Red River above Questa was stocked Sept. 5 with 3.466 rainbow trout.

The Red River Hatchery Pond is open. Fishing is for anglers 11 years of age or younger and 65 years old or older. The limit is now five-fish-per day. It was stocked Sept. 6 with 399 catchable-size rainbow trout.

The East and West Forks of the Red River were each stocked Aug. 22 with 300 rainbow trout.

Eagle Rock Lake near Questa is open. It was stocked Sept. 7 with 499 rainbow trout.

The Shuree Ponds on the Valle Vidal were stocked July 24 with 105 rainbow trout averaging 15.2 inches in size.

Cabresto Lake, a small, high-elevation lake accessible by four-wheel drive vehicle near Questa, has good fishing for wild brook trout and wild cutthroat trout.