Tails of Enchantment Spring 2015: Fishing in New Mexico

ISSUE #10- SPRING 2015 - FISHENCHANTMENT.COM

SPRING

MAGAZINE

THE WOLFMAN

ALL IN HOPES OF ONE BITE!?

BASSIN’

GIVING BACK TO THE RED RIVER

TALES OF A

KAYAK FISHING OPPORTUNIST

http://www.yeticoolers.com

D E P A R T M E N T S6 Editor’s Message8-11 First Cast

70-77 Captured

14-15 Your Fly’s DownDavid Goodrich

18-19 Product Showcase

16-17 Outdoor Events

12-13 Hooked ComicsWill Wells

C O V E R S T O R YGregg Flores and the

WTRR team loves sharing their passion for being

on the water with anyone wil l ing to hear their

stories . This cover photo features Gregg Flores whom spends most of

his t ime behind a camera when the groups out

f ishing. But don’t let that fool you, he’s one hel l of

a f ly f isherman!

Photograph by: Gabriel Flores

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4 FishEnchantment.com | Tails of Enchantment | Spring 2015

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22-29 The WolfmanEver hear of a trout that dwarfs anything you’ve ever caught on the San Juan? If not, you’ll never stop look-ing for him now!

-By: Gregg Flores

F E A T U R E S

32

4040-45 Giving Back to the Red RiverThis gem is getting some long deserved love after all

the love she’s shared with anglers.-By: Nick Streit

22

32-37 Spring Bassin’Keys to spring time success when targeting bass that

will give you a leg up on the rest of the field. - By: Kris Johnson

48-57 Tales of a Kayak Fishing OpportunistA fun read on how to be prepared for whatever op-

portunity/fishing trip presents itself. - By: Felipe Manuel Ortega

48

60-69 All in Hopes of One Bite!?Fly Fishing from the banks during the winter for Pike

at a lake that’s loaded with Esox and lip AIDS.- By: Matt Pelletier

60


Matt PelletierTails of Enchantment

Editor in [email protected]

It’s spring! The time of the year when the wind can be nasty and weather changes from calm and quiet to 50 mph gusts in the blink of an eye. Make sure you have all your safety equipment on your boat operational BEFORE heading our for your favorite lake. As a matter of fact, as I write this I’m listening to the wind ripping through the trees right now. I was supposed to be fishing today but something about keeping a Deep-V Lund positioned while dealing with esox on your own sounds dangerous. I hope everyone has a great spring and I

wish each of you the best of luck out on the water! We’d love to hear about your adventures and see pictures from trips you’ve taken in the Land of Enchantment so don’t hesitate to send us photos. Enjoy Issue #10 of Tails of Enchantment Magazine and don’t forget to reach out to us with any questions or ideas for stories. We are always looking for new field editor contributions so if you have a story you’d like to share with the Tails of Enchantment readers, send it to us right away!Stay fishy my friends!

Matt Pelletier

K R I S J O H N S O N

EDITORS MESSAGE

F E A T U R E D C O N T R I B U T O R S

G R E G G F L O R E S

PUBLISHER:Fish Enchantment Media LLC

EDITORS & PROOFREADERS:Matt Pelletier, Editor in Chief

Leah Pelletier, ProofreaderGRAPHICS/DESIGN:

Matt Pelletier-FE Media LLC

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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS2-3------------------------YETI Coolers20------------------------RIO Products21---------------Zia Kayak Outfitters30--------------Vermejo Park Ranch31--------------Menicucci Insurance39---Tumbleweed Fly & Tackle Co.39---------------------Trout on the Fly46---------------------------Abu Garcia78------------Where The River Runs78-------------------------Muskies Inc

M A N U E L O R T E G A

F E A T U R E D C O N T R I B U T O R S

Will Wells Illustrators:

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FIRST CAST


THE WOLFMANNo stranger to big trout, Gregg Flores shares a story that will make you drop your jaw in awe, buy a bigger net, then go grab a flyrod and head for the San Juan River in hopes of finding, “The Wolfman”! PAGES 22-29.

FIRST CAST


SPRING BASSIN’Kris Johnson is a bass catchin machine and shares some techiniques he often uses for cranking bass in the spring. 32-37.

HOOKED


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A A

-Tails of Enchantment Field Editor-Owner of Tumbleweed Fly & Tackle Co.-Blogs about fly tying and fly fishing at

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YOUR FLY’S DOWN


The X-Tail HTV is a variant of Bohen’s Hang Time tied in Popovics Hollow Fleye style. It isn’t a quick and easy pattern, but it makes up for it’s time consump-tion with it’s effectiveness. The color combinations are limitless. Tie up a bunch and catch some muskies!

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OUTDOOR EVENTS


American Bass Anglers tournamentSaturday, April 18-Sunday, April 19 06:00 AM - 03:00 PMElephant Butte LakeFees: Regular Entrance Fee Contact: Danny Christ 910-987-8326

Logan Open Bass TournamentSaturday, May 2 05:00 AM - 04:00 PMUte LakeFees: Regular Entrance Fee Contact: Rodney Paris 575-487-2284

Children’s Fishing DerbySaturday, May 9 10:00 AM - 01:00 PMCimarron CanyonFree fishing event for all children up to the age of 11 yrs. Three age prize categories. Free t-shirts and goody bags to all that enter. Regular day use fees apply. But no charge to enter the event. Fees: Regular Entrance Fee Contact: Daniel Gurule 575-377-6271

2nd Annual Kayak Fishing TournamentElephant ButteMay 15-17thFor more information, rules, and registration sheets go to the following website:http://www.elephantbutteadventures.com/kayak-fishing-tournament

Sugarite Fishing DerbySaturday, May 30-Sunday, June 7 6:00 AM - 12:00 PMSugarite CanyonAnglers love this week long derby at Lake Maloya where they try to catch tagged fish for prizes and up to $1,000 in cash--not to mention a chance to win a boat worth

about $3,000! Registration is only $10 per person, and every registered person goes in the drawing for the boat. Fees: Regular Entrance Fee Contact: Staff 575-445-5607

Mac McGarvery Fishing TournamentSaturday, June 6-Wednesday, June 17 06:00 AM - 03:00 PMConchas LakeThe American Legion Post #19 is hosting the annual Mac McGarvery Memorial Fishing Tournament. The tournament is Saturday and Sunday from 6am to 3pm. There will be a free fish fry on Saturday night for all fisherman. Cash prizes and trophies for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and big fish and small fish. Registration is $60. Fees: Regular Entrance Fee Contact: American Legion 575-868-4586

Annual Trout DerbySaturday, June 13-Sunday, June 14 08:00 AM - 05:00 PMClayton LakeAnnual Trout Derby, with thousands of dollars in prizes, hot dog eating contests and sand digs for kids. Fees: Regular Entrance Fee Contact: Charles Jordan 575-374-8808

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE


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• Includes hanging ring & carabiner

TEchnIcAL SpEcIFIcATIonS:

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• 4.375" x 2.125"

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WOLFMAN


THEThe Fish Story of a Lifetime

By: Gregg Flores

The duckling had no time to react. No time to struggle or make a peep.

It was swallowed whole… effortlessly!

The duckling had no time to react. No time to struggle or make a peep.

It was swallowed whole… effortlessly!


THE WOLFMAN

Not a cloud in the sky. Ambient temps in the low 60’s. Fishing had been productive all day but the afternoon bite was quickly shaping into the stuff of legend. Prolific amounts of trout were feeding in every section of the water column. Drift. Take. Set. Again and again, fish in hand. That day was already one for the books but what happened next would engrave it into my memory forever.

I was set to make another cast when I spotted a group of ducklings desperately trying to keep up with their mother as she crossed the river about 100 feet downstream of me. When they had managed to get within ten feet of the bank I thought they had it in the bag. Then the mythological happened. The mouth of what had to have been the largest trout in the river broke the water surface and silent-ly engulfed the rear duckling. The mother duck had already reached land and disappeared into the brush while the rest of the ducklings were completely oblivious. My jaw dropped. What had I just wit-nessed?! Then the legend of a giant trout that is spotted once in a blue moon began to flood my mind. A decades-old rainbow trout by name of…


THE WOLFMANThe Wolfman.

Reports I had heard from several longtime Juan guides and river locals, reports I thought were simply the inventions of fish-story enthusiasts, suddenly seemed within reality’s grasp. With my own eyes I had just ob-served a trout sip a softball-sized duckling off the top the same way “nor-mal” trout sip midges (bugs that are barely visible for most eyes from as little as 5 feet). The duckling had no time to react. No time to struggle or make a peep. It was swallowed whole… effortlessly!

In full gear I sprinted downstream and quickly tried to position myself so as to capture a full look at this impossible beast. Once in position all I could see was a pair of 22”-24” ‘bows about a foot below the water surface. These fish were impressive for sure but there was no mistaking they were simply not large enough to be the “duckling vacuum”. Just when I thought I had seen the last of this river monster, an enormous darkness began to emerge from the depths. It was slowly moving up the water column just beneath the other two ‘bows. The higher up the column it climbed the more evident its impressive physical attributes became.

Its giant red lateral line, which normally runs about 60-80% the length of a trout, was easily a foot longer than the 24” bow to its right. Above the lateral line it was a dark blue-grey hue. Its tail was approximately a foot in height. Its adipose looked about the size of a doorknob. I was aston-ished. Either someone stocked the Juan with Taimen or I had come face to fin with the legendary Wolfman.

Not wanting to return to camp with naught but another fish story I reached for my camera. Nothing. In all the excitement I had forgotten my bag on the bank I had been fishing just a few moments before. I knew I would never make it back before the fish was gone for good so I removed my eyes from the water, unhooked my fly from the hook keeper, and prepared for a cast… all to no avail. The creature had vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

I couldn’t sleep in the days that followed. Actually it was probably more like months. Every time I closed my eyes visions of the Wolfman’s giant figure emerging from the depths began to overtake my mind. I needed closure but after searching and searching for the beast I have come to a realization. The likelihood of me seeing him again are minuscule at best. The Wolfman is no ordinary trout. If anyone is going to take him they’re only going to do so with the largest dose of angler’s luck one can muster and a hardcore angling strategy.


THE WOLFMANHow To Catch The Wolfman

I’ve heard tales (really tall ones) of anglers claiming to have wrangled with the beast but never have I heard of the Wolfman being bagged. The stars truly have to align if you want to land a trout in the Rocky Mountains over 30 lbs. Luck will indeed play a role but in my mind it doesn’t hurt to have a game plan. So here are a few thoughts on how to catch the Wolfman.

Team up. Nobody on this planet is going to bag this beast alone. You need an expert net man. Fish with at least one other angler who would selflessly drop their rod at a moment’s notice to help you con-quer the Mount Everest of San Juan trout. Remember, a fish in the bag is victory for all. Team work is ESSENTIAL!

Think BIG. The Wolfman eats rattlesnake for break-fast and small children for dinner. Toss the midge box if you’re serious about chasing down the brute and pull out the MEATBOX. You know that mallard imitation you have sitting on your desk? Well, time to whip it out. We’re talking Esox type flies. 6 inches? No good. 8 inches? Getting better. 12 inches? Oh yeah. If you’re afraid to throw the big meat, you ar-en’t ready for the Wolfman, and if a 12” bug scares you, go chase Esox for a year. That ought to cure you. Only MEAT CHUCKERS have a shot at the Wolfman!

Hunt at dusk. The Wolfman loves low light. He’s only been spotted mid-day once and that was because the stocker truck pulled in right over one of his bachelor pads. He doesn’t like working hard for his meals and the 16”-18” stockers fresh from the farm make for an easy brunch. But you are most likely to spot him in the fading hours of the day. Anglers who have any real chance at the Wolfman must be the last ones on the water.

Keep a watchful eye. The next time you’re out on the Juan be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a slow mov-ing and enormous shadow lurking the depths. You just might be graced with a glimpse at the beast. If you’re luckier yet and manage to swing some meat by him and he takes, you better hang on for the ride of your life. Oh, and be sure you get pictures. Nobody wants to hear another “fish story”.

-Gregg Flores

Visit www.WhereTheRiverRuns.com for more outstanding Material from Gregg and the WTRR Team.

Photos By: Gregg Flores

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BASSIN’

BASSIN’By:

Kris Johnson


SPRING BASSIN’

The best part of winter is the anticipation of the spring bass fishing and the hungry bass waiting to eat my reaction baits. I know that around the first of March, I get an overwhelming feeling to get on the water and search for the first flights of fish coming up into shallower water after a long winter out in the deep water. These fish are hungry and looking to feed on crawdads, shad, perch, and other types of forage food. One of the best ways to catch these fish is to cover a lot of water and fish a reaction bait. My two favorite early spring search baits are a Dynamic Lures J-Spec jerk-bait in ghost bait fish or silver black. These two colors cover about all the bait in most lakes. My other favorite spring time search lure is a crankbait. I like to throw Storm Wiggle Warts, Megabass Griffons, and a discontinued BPS XPS crank. In these selections of baits, I choose to use natural patterns. I will have a few shad patterns and a few crawdad patterns tied on to cover all the possibilities in colors. Sometimes the shad will be very pale in color due to the lake being dirty or the bait fish just moved up from deep water and haven’t got any color to them yet. Same with the crawdads. I’m sure most of you have witnessed a red crawdad, a green crawdad or a very pale crawdad that might have just molted its shell. Matching these colors can become VERY important this time of year. These fish are moving up from deep water and may key in on very certain colors and bait types. I have fished many tournaments were just a few shades off can mean the difference between getting a check and not!

Getting Started-Speed, depth and location can play a huge role in getting a big bag or not seeing a fish all day. I have heard many times about the spring bite, fishing reaction baits below these early fish can spell disaster for your fish catching. I always try to fish reaction baits above these fish to make them come up to get the bait. If you fish below the fish, you are very likely to spook the fish or school of fish which means you might as well move to another spot. Pay close attention to your electronics during these first few months and make sure you choose the right depth lures. This is key! If you see fish marks at 15 feet of water, fish a bait that will be around 12 feet depth range. Speed is another key factor in catch early bass on reaction baits. Sometimes the key to getting bit is the speed of the retrieve. These early fish may want it burning past them and this makes them react to the bait and eat it out reaction. And other times they just want it crawled along the bot-tom. Luckily you can find this pattern out pretty fast with making a few cast to likely areas and fishing mul-tiple retrieval speeds and this should dial you in quickly. This will be the start of your pattern. And lastly…. Location! As with a lot of bass fishing in general…. Location is the key to catching bass. I have heard this many times… 90 percent of the fish live in 10 percent of the lake. This rings very true in the spring. It is not true that all the fish move up from deep water at the same time. Most lakes with a dam and coves will warm at different rates, thus causing fish in the lake to stage up a different times. The shallower end of a lake will warm sooner and quicker than the deeper end. Water clarity will also play a role in the warmth timing. Dirty water tends to warm quicker than clear water. This is also another reason to cover a lot of water early in the season. Look for a few different areas to start looking, both up the lake in the shallows and down the lake in the deeper areas by closer to the dam.

Finding good water-When I launch the boat for the first time on a lake in the spring, I first look at my electronics to see the water temp. This should give you a pretty good understanding of what the fish should be doing. I will also pay close attention to the electronics as I idle away from the dock. I am looking to see where the fish are located in the water column and also where the bait fish are in accordance to the fish. You might also be able to see a thermal-cline of where the warm and cold water meet. This is a great bit of information to get before you even make a cast. Pay close attention to these key bits of information… it helps for sure. I will next check my GPS maps for some long main lake points leading to a shallow cove, or a long cove that has any deep water close to it. I am looking for locations where fish can come up from the safety of deep water to feed and get warm. I will also fish good looking banks with transitions, like sand to rock or rock to gravel, maybe even rock to brush. Look for bends, creek channels, or any small nuance that is different than the surrounding areas. These little transition areas will hold some of the earliest fish. I will meter the area and see where fish are holding and then make a few casts. You will know pretty quick if the fish on a spot are going to bite. Make a few accurate casts and move on. There is no need to sit on a spot in the spring and beat it up. These fish are known to move up and feed, and move back out just as fast. This is really a timing issue during the early part of the year. Moving around a lot and fishing key spots should be the game plan. If there’s fish on an area… they will eat!


SPRING BASSIN’Building a pattern- After you catch a few fish, or have some followers, you are starting to build a pattern. Pay attention to how the fish are eating your lures. Also pay attention to the color, speed, depth and location of areas you catch or even see fish. If the fish are eating the lure deep, then you’re right on with color, depth, speed and location. Keep that lure on and tie on different lures close to that to expand your pattern. Any fish that eat it and have the lure outside the mouth or with only one hook, you might have to change up one of the factors mentioned above. I would start with retrieve speed/lure size and then move to color and then location last. In most cases, speed should be the number one factor, unless the water your fishing is really clear, then the color and depth should be secondary patterns. I still think that color should play a big role in getting quality bites, but not as much as speed and depth. Always keep in mind that these fish are eating out of reaction, and should tell you story by the way they eat your presentation. Continue to move from spot to spot to find if the pattern is lake wide. I would also try a few different bank types while moving around, you might find a pattern within a pattern. You should have a good idea of what these fish are doing by the end of day one, or at least where the fish aren’t. But as I said before…. The key is timing. These fish will move up and feed and move off in a matter of minutes. Maybe a half hour if you’re lucky. So finding fish is just as important as catching fish. If you know where fish are… they probably will eat at some point in the day.

Wrapping it up-By then end of the day, you might have just figured out the bite. Sometimes it might take a day or two to get the pattern dialed in. This pattern change as the weather changes and as more fish move up. The areas should stay pretty consistent, with just more fish moving up into those areas. The colors and retrieve speeds may vary as the water temps come up, as well as the depth these fish will be holding. This pattern of reaction bites is not a season long bite in most lakes. This run and gun style of fishing is not easy, nor is it usually warm, so the days are long and draining. I can say for sure though, the bites you get during this early time are usually some of the biggest fish you’ll catch all year. My person-al experience is that spring and fall are the two best time bar none. My two biggest fish from last year were on Navajo Lake, in April, on cranks! Both were smallmouth, and one was over 5 pounds and the other was just under 5 pounds. I actually caught the bigger of the two while filming a T.V. segment on “crankbait fishing” in the spring with Chad LaChance. Spend some time this spring looking around for those early bass. Use some of these tips to help you locate and hopefully catch some fish. I guarantee that they are moving up in your local lakes right now!

-Kris Johnson

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GO ON

2015

WIN BIG!

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GIVING BACK

RED RIVERTO THELower red river canyon ( La Junta Trail)-PhotograPh by: Nick Streit

It’s hard to make it through a day without hearing something about global warming, carbon foot prints, oil pipelines, fracking- the list goes on. It seems as a species we have little chance at leaving this planet un-scarred, everything we do has an impact. And maybe that’s why so many of us escape these (and other) harsh realities of existence by fly fishing. A day on the water waving a $600 pole around rejuvenates the soul, and reconnects us to our mother earth. And since we throw our catches back I’m sure she loves seeing us frolic in her rivers, righteously returning fish to their homes after a short dance with them. Yes we fly-fisherman are in total harmony with our en-vironment. Or are we?

GIVING BACK



It’s easy for most fly casters to look down there nose at their worm drowning counter-parts. After all, they are the reason the streams don’t have any fish any more. Or is it the mine up on the mountain, dumping toxic sludge into our pristine watersheds? Can’t forget about those ski areas with all the water they use for snow-making – not to mention all those après ski deuces that get flushed through the high mountain waste water plants. As with all things American these days, it’s a lot easier to point the finger than to own up to our own shortcomings. Us fly fishers need to understand our impact on our beloved waters. Catch and release is not a perfect system, and our general intrusion into wild places is disrup-tive to nature. And though we can do our part by practicing good catch and release techniques, picking up trash, etc., We cannot stop there. Many of our rivers show the wounds of mankind’s rise to greatness. The Red River in northern Nm is one such river, and it has been a hot topic for several decades. Local communities de-pend on its waters not only for drinking and irrigating, but recreation and tourism too. It also happens to be sitting on top of large molybdenum deposits, and mining over the years has tak-en its toll. On top of that, flood control and channelization of the stream-bed has degraded long stretches of the once fertile trout river. And so a small group of New Mexicans embarked on a mission to help the Red and to tip our angling footprint scales back towards even. It’s a simple concept. If we cant help but to have an impact on the places we fish, why don’t we make more places to fish? The idea for the Red River Habitat project originated at a symposium held for the river about 5 years ago. I was asked to speak about the economic impacts of the Red River fishery. After learning from NMGF studies that the river brings over 6 million dollars to the local economy annually, I made the point to my audience that only half of the river had good fishing and that we were leaving money on the table by not utilizing the river in its entirety. The river is basi-cally fishless from just below the town of Red River, down through the canyon and out into the Questa Valley. Trout appear again below the town of Questa, where non-polluted spring water rejuvenates the river. If we could figure out a way, I argued, to restore this stretch of river we could double the amount of fishing done there thus doubling the 6 million dollars. And for a town like Questa who’s main employer (Chevron Mine) just closed, that’s real money.As the president of the Enchanted Circle chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU), I along with then TU employee Garret Veneklasen, presented our idea to the Questa Economic Development board- a group funded by Chevron to help the community expand its economy. We had an engineer draw up plans to restore a half mile of river adjacent to Eagle Rock Lake where the stream had been channelized for flood control. We explained that by improving the trout habitat, the river could be stocked and that tourists would surely come to Questa to fish and spend money. If you build it they will come.With a generous grant from the Questa Economic Fund Board in hand, we partnered with the Forest Service, the BLM and the Game and fish. Eric Frey, a fisheries biologist from the NMGF, could see the potential in the project. He helped secure additional funding and as the money came we were able to expand the project area downstream, to include over a mile of river near the fish hatchery. Then came the meetings. And the paperwork. And then more meetings. And then more paper-work.

Taos Fly Shop guide Ron Sedall with a wild Red River Cutbow.-PhotograPh by: Nick Streit



Luckily for the Red River, TU staffers Garret Veneklasen (currently with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation) and Toner Mitchell worked long hours with the involved agencies seeing that the Environmental impact and archeology studies were completed- which is no easy task. Mitchell, who is the NM Public Lands Coordinator for Trout Unlimited says “People often bemoan the regulatory hoops we have to jump through, but these seemingly mundane elements are critical to the completion of quality projects.”Today, as I finish writing this article, crews will begin their work in the Red River. The project should be completed by June 1st. In areas where the river bed has been channelized, new bends and meanders will be built. Pools and pockets will be created, and the diversion dam above the hatchery will be re-engineered, connecting brown trout from below with their historic spawning grounds above. Trails will be improved to minimize erosion caused by fisherman foot traffic and new bridges will help anglers negotiate the river. We will likely see periods of muddy water during construction, but when the waters clear in the spring we will have a newly improved trout stream to explore. For Trout Unlimited and The NM Game and Fish, the project will prove to be a roaring success.For myself, it’s been a chance to give back. A way to offset the continual cycle of taking that I, as a fisherman and human being, cannot avoid. It’s a great feeling to know that we can, for a change, leave some things better than we found them. It will be a proud moment for me when I take my kids fishing there. Their generation will have their work cut out for them. Projects like this one will give them a small head start.

-Nick Streit

After construction is completed, straight and shallow stretches like this one will be enhanced by adding boulders and making deep pools.

Evey spring, volunteers helping the NMGF pack Rio Grande Cutthroat fingerlings into the Lower Red River Canyon. This year, volunteers can help by meeting at the La junta trailhead at 10 am on March 24th.-PhotograPh by: Nick Streit

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By: Felipe Manuel Ortega

Tales of a KayakFishing Opportunist

We all love fishing and if you’re like me, given the chance, it would be 90% of my waken time. My daydreams bring me to a place where my kayak sits on the edge of a lake within walking distance of home, waiting for me every morning and the only tasks on the to do list are:

• Catch a fish

• Catch another fish

• And don’t forget to catch a fish if time allows of course!

TALES OF A KAYAK FISHING OPPORTUNIST


I imagine nonstop days filled with dawn to dusk fishing, soaking in the beautiful NM sun and taking in the fresh air of nature, the kayak gently rocking to the motion of the water below. The only prob-lems are positioning myself for my next cast that’ll bring that fish of a lifetime and making sure I have enough of my favorite lures with me. So with that said, I’d like to offer all of you the opportunity to pitch in towards the purchase of a fishing compound where all we do is fish….

Whoa Whoa! Sorry, I let that spin out of control.

I’ll give you all a moment to pull yourselves together!



Alas, we all have a ton of things on our plate that get in the way of fishing. Life can get busy and many things take us away from our favorite past time.

Many of us are married and have children. We have houses that need maintenance and bills that need paying, which brings us to jobs that pay for all of this. Squeezing in fishing time can and does get tough. If you’re not careful, time will get away from you and you end up not even remembering the last time you hit the water. Mitigating this risk would seem like a call for some extreme measures but before you call the boss and tell him you quit because you’re moving to the lake to join a fishing cult, there are steps to take to have a little of everything.

I have been known to be a huge fishing opportunist, the amazing ability to turn just about any event into a fishing trip. This affords me many more hours on the water than seems possible. I’m always told that I’m so lucky that I get to spend so much time on the water and have the gigs that I do.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” - Seneca

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” - Seneca

The first step is to make sure you are mission ready at all times. You must be prepared for every opportunity that may arise. You don’t want to be caught off guard. When I’m not fishing I find great joy in messing with all my gear. During these times is when I work on keeping all my gear organized. I go through and keep track of what I have and what I may be running low or completely out of. I keep my lures in Plano waterproof utility boxes separated by type and size. I utilize all 3 sizes that Plano offers. The 3700 series is the largest and is what I keep larger lures in that I use to target Pike, Musky or Bass. The 3600 series is the size I utilize the most. I keep a 3600 each for mid sized jerk-baits, spoons, and spinners. I also have two boxes this size that I keep empty and tailor their content based on fishing location and species being targeted. The Pro Angler 12 that I fish out of has a stor-age hatch that holds these two tailored boxes. The 3500 boxes are reserved for small lures, jigheads and other terminal tackle. Tackle bags are used to keep the 3500 and 3600 size boxes in one place. Tackle bags, the 3700 boxes and assorted tools can be stored in a Hobie H-Crate Storage System or even a milk crate kept near your rods. This will allow you to toss your gear in your vehicle in fewer loads.

Keeping on top of this makes for a quick loading time.

Now that your gear is always ready for action, lets talk about traveling with your kayak. Here is where a kayak shines. No matter which vehicle we’re going on, the kayak can come along. I’ve tossed my kayak in the bed of the pickup. Depending on the length of your kayak, this is a quick solution. Kay-aks can be placed corner to corner in the bed or a bed extender that attaches to the hitch of the truck can be used to provide a flat surface for the back of the kayak. NM law states that the load upon any vehicle cannot extend more than 7 feet past the bed of the truck, so make sure that your setup falls within these limits. A safety flag is a great idea when towing in this manner to help other drivers see your load.

Majority of kayaks are easily placed on top of a vehicle using a standard roof rack. For many years my kayak traveled on top of my wife’s Jeep Patriot. I could load the kayak by myself in minutes and be ready to go. There are many products that can help make loading and securing your kayak even faster.


TALES OF A KAYAK FISHING OPPORTUNISTIf you find yourself with a kayak that is a bit tough to get on your vehicle or the height of your vehicle makes reaching the roof impossible, there are also small trailers that are made to help you transport your kayak. These days, I find myself using a Trailex trailer with Hobie cradles for transporting my Pro Angler 12. Though not really necessary, it makes getting to and from the water quite easy. In the sum-mer, I typically store my kayak in the garage already on the trailer unsecured. All I need is to tighten the tie downs and it’s ready for action. The trailer is built from aluminum and is so light that the small-est of vehicles can tow it.

My latest addition to my kayak transportation involved simplifying the family’s camping trips. One way to balance family and fishing is to bring them along. My wife grew up in northern New Mexico and has always enjoyed spending time in the outdoors. That being said, even she had her limits when it came to camping. We bought a small travel trailer to keep my wife’s sanity on fishing trips that stretched beyond most normal fishing trips. With the addition of children to our family, we slowly began to out-grow our travel trailer. When we decided to start looking for a new trailer with an extra bed, we decid-ed to also take it one step further and get a toy hauler so that we could load the kayak inside the trail-er and not have to place it on a truck rack while towing the trailer. This also provides the opportunity to travel with multiple kayaks as my children get older and want their own kayaks. The particular toy hauler that I purchased can actually fit my Pro Angler 12 loaded on the Trailex trailer for those times where the campground we are staying at is not all that close to the launch site.

Now I’m not saying that all these modes of transportation are necessary and I will agree that my fish-ing addiction has well surpassed the point of any cure that modern medicine can provide. These are merely some solutions to transporting your kayak and I’m sure there are more!

So now that you’re ready for action, all that is needed is to find opportunity.

Really, all that is needed is a trip to about anywhere that you will be driving to. Anytime a trip to some new place is on the table, a Google maps search is quickly done to find the nearest body of water. Being from Northern NM, many of my trips are to visit family there. I can visit family and do some fishing without much thought. Ever since I was a kid, my family has been getting together every year for a family reunion camping trip. Since it’s held in Rio Costilla Park, this allows me to fish nonstop. I can fish the Latir Lakes on the kayak or visit Shuree Ponds. I’ve also been known to make a run for the CO side if suspicion of excellent fishing is had. I’ve even been known to turn weddings into fishing trips. There always seems to be a good fishing hole near the wedding.

Early on my wife used to look at me funny and ask, “Why are you loading the kayak? We’re going to a wedding.” I would respond with “I think I can squeeze in a quick fishing trip before or after” She would just smile and shake her head. After a while, this became so common that now she’s puzzled if she comes out to the vehicle before a trip and the kayak isn’t loaded. “Are you forgetting your kayak?” She’d ask. “Nope, it’s winter! My ice fishing sled is in the back!” HA!

Here’s wishing many opportunities to all my Tails of Enchantment Fishing Buddies this year! If you just have any questions you may email me at [email protected]. I always enjoy hearing from fellow fishermen.

If you’re sold on getting a kayak or maybe you’re on the fence, or are curious but a bit concerned about a kayak, Zia Kayak Outfitters in Elephant Butte, the biggest kayak dealer in NM, will take you out on the water with all the safety gear you need and let you demo them for free. There is nothing like a supervised trial to help you figure out if this is the sport for you! Zia Kayak Outfitters can be reached at 1 (575) 744-4185, ask for Russ.

-Felipe Manuel Ortega

http://ziakayakoutfitters.com/

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ISSUE #10


While I know it’s spring and everyone is looking forward to reading stories about warm water and active fish, I have had something different on my mind. Outside of a handful of ice fishing trips this winter, I spent a lot of time working from home and catching up on things I had gotten behind on during the rest of the year. But being cooped up inside doesn’t go to well with the ADHD in me so every chance I could get on the water, I’d do so. Most often I’d work until noon, then throw the waders and a fly rod in my truck, some food in the YETI, because I can’ t go anywhere without food ever since I quit smoking cigarettes, and I’d make the run up to Cochiti in hopes of one bite from a pike.

On some days she was stubborn and yielded no fish but other days were magic. Understand that the word, “magic” is coming from the type of angler that is willing to chuck 10oz lures at tigers all day for one big bite. I’m sure you know someone that likes to say, “I fish for trout because they live in beautiful places”? Well if you don’t own a boat and that’s a comment you have made often, I’d suggest you take Cochiti and cross it off the “need to fish” list, especially during this time of year. Early runoff brings some interesting things down the Rio Grande; everything from hypodermic needles to trusses and trailer tires could be found floating in the water and along the banks. This means when wading and casting a fly rod you’re sure to have a splash of what we’ve labeled as “Lip AIDS” come flying up as that nasty RIO Grande water goes right into your mouth! Not only was that a risk but “Eye Aids” was also a rare but all to real threat. Especially if you had taken off your glasses for some ridiculous reason just before you got into your truck and drove to the lake! All joking aside, I’M NOT JOKING! Cochiti is not a picture perfect setting for a fly angler wanting to enjoy a relaxing day casting to active fish while the sounds of the breeze and birds resonates through the hills. It’s combat fishing in a setting that is sure to test your patience as it’s loaded with sticks and debris that tangles your line and all too often ruins that “perfect cast. It’s a place where your fingers get sore from stripping line for hours in water temps equal too and colder than the San Juan River. But you’re doing it with bark and debris stuck to your hands that you’re pretty sure in a lab would test positive for everything but anything “positive”.

Now that the scene has been set, let me tell you about all the excitement this lake provides anglers living in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Although it’s been referred to as “The Dead Sea” by more than an army of anglers, it holds a wide variety of species and some really trophy catches occur here regularly. Well above average largemouth, smallmouth, pike, and walleye lurk these waters; but the flip side of that coin is you have to be willing to get your rear end kicked more often than you catch.

This winter one of my friends and FE Forum Member, Shawn Jones, shared some of his knowledge of the lake and made some suggestions as to where I should fish. When I told him I had been wading the banks swinging a 6WT he paused and asked, “what the hell is wrong with you?”. I chuckled and told him the only reason I was fishing Cochiti so often was because it’s so close to home and that makes it easy for me to break away from office work and spend 3 or 4 hours fishing. It may not have been the most productive way to go about it but it was sure to help me get a good feel for the lake’s structure, where the drops were, where the cover was, and of course where the snags were.

With Shawn’s information in mind I set out on a mission to see if I could dial in a pattern that would allow me to catch pike on the fly, from the bank, during the winter... As I write this I too feel the need to ques-tion myself, “what the hell was wrong with you”? Everything I know about pike tells me that this was not the ideal way to target them in a lake. However, Cochiti has so many pike that I was convinced it had to work. The bigger fish need to feed throughout the winter to sustain their weight, I figured if I could be in the right place at the right time, I’d catch a big girl.

For the first couple of trips I had issues finding the right fly line and type of fly. I have become accustom to fishing very bulky bucktail flies that rely on a fast sinking line and slow steady retrieves to keep them down in the strike zone. However, I am not accustom to fishing so many snags! The snags I mentioned earlier wreak havoc on fly line and during the best days can steal expensive, time consuming “ties” twice a day! That lake chewed up a spool of RIO Musky/Pike line, and some RIO Outbound Short before I found a combination I felt really worked. First I had to switch my tying habits and tie heavier, more compact flies that swim hook point up. Then I teamed those heavy flies with RIO Products InTouch Hover fly line and it helped me get my fly into the strike zone quicker as well as avoid snags. Another benefit to this system was that I had much more control of the line that fell at my feet and was able to prevent from getting tangled up in brush and debris rather easily.



Each time I revisited, I felt like I was gaining a better understanding for the lake, but truthfully, the best days I had there, were those where I felt like there wasn’t a chance in the world that I’d catch a fish that day. The most memorable fish came on the days were I felt like I had been beating a dead horse in hopes of it responding to my commands. Just when you’d think you were never going to catch a fish, you’d come tight or witness a fish just hammer your fly. Suddenly all hell breaks loose, your heart is racing, you try to steer the fish away from snags, she fights, you fight back... Ah, it gives me goose bumps just writing about it... Whether you or the fish win, that battle isn’t always something you have any control over. But being able to control how it all goes down, the way you wanted to make it happen is priceless. I could have gone out and fished from the boat. I could have waded with a spin or bait casting rod chucking lures. I would have covered more water and would have greatly shortened the learning process had I done so. But what can I say, I enjoy a good challenge and sometimes like do-ing things the hard way. It makes the thrill of victory that much sweeter when the agony of defeat has loomed overhead for so long.

I have to admit, although I caught some nice fish, Cochiti lake kicked my butt this winter, but for what-ever reason I’ve grown attached to her and feel the need to revisit next winter. However, this time I certainly plan on taking the boat so I can beach it on a shore and wade through dead dogs, trucker bombs, and horse heads while listening to sounds of a stunt plane diving and spiraling though the sky over the southwest end of the lake. -Matt Pelletier

CAPTUREDWAIST DEEP ON A FLAT AT COCHITIWinter fishing at Cochiti is a pleasure for those willing to wade through trash for a chance at intercepting a fish that’s in a location you would never expect to find pike in the middle of winter. After all, they feed on species that typically roam the pelagic water of a lake we often refer to as “The Dead Sea”. -PhotograPhs by: Gregg Flores


CAPTURED


SLURP-RISE!Carp slurping 5 inch streamers in 5 feet of water during the middle of winter!? HELL YEAH WE’LL TAKE THAT SURPRISE SPECIES!-PhotograPh by: Matt Pelletier

CAPTURED


CHEERS TO AN AWESOME LUREDynamic Lures HD Trout has been catching fish for anglers from Washington to New Mexico and all the way to Florida and Connecticut!If you haven’t tried these give them a shot and you’ll become a fan of Dynamic Lures HD Trout too! We look forward to catching many more fish on these lures for years to come!-PhotograPh by: Leah Pelletier

CAPTURED


COCHITI LAKEOnly in New Mexico can you have a lake 40 minutes from the two largest metropolitan areas in the state that hardly anyone fishes during the winter. -PhotograPh by: Matt Pelletier

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Tails of Enchantment Spring 2015: Fishing in New Mexico

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