Trout Fishing in Ruidoso

If you haven't been to the mountains of New Mexico, I highly recommend it.  There are many destinations, but I recently had a chance to fish Ruidoso.  It's situated in the south / southeast part of the state.

There's a small river that runs right through town called Rio Ruidoso.  Take a look.

The trick to fishing a rapidly moving river is to find the deeper pools of water.  These are often created when the water cascades over a ridge of boulders or other debris and then churns in a pool just below.  Take a look.

I caught my first rainbow trout of the day from that pool.  Here's the fish!

Often the deepest part of the river will hug one side of the bank or even undercut it, such as below.

The deepest part of this section is on the far side.  You can see where it flows underneath the vegetation.  Areas like this practically scream, "TROUT!"  In fact, I caught my next two in this spot.

Here's #2.  The purple hue along the center of the fish is where the designation of "rainbow" trout comes from.  They're gorgeous fish!

Last but certainly not least, fish #3.  Another beauty!

I recommend getting on the river at dawn before other fishermen put pressure on it.  That meant getting up at 6 am, but it was worth the inconvenience.  Not only were there fish to catch, there were deer on the mountain.

The photo above is actual distance, not a close-up.  You can see that she wasn't bothered by my presence.

I obtained the proper licensing and gear from Walmart in Ruidoso Downs.  The rig is very simple.  I only needed a split-shot weight and a small hook attached directly to the main line.  I'd say a size 6.  The bait was bright red salmon eggs placed directly on the hook.

You want to keep it light so that the river can carry your rig ... and because these aren't exactly behemoth fish!  I returned all three fish to the river.  Tight lines!

Catching Catfish with Bluegill

Worms are fun stuff.  They're great for catching lots of bullhead catfish, which tend to stay in the 1- 3 lbs range.  They can also catch some big carp.  The same can be said of corn.

Here lately, though, I've had the urge to catch bigger catfish.  After much research, the general consensus is that it probably won't happen on worms.

Smaller catfish can get the nutrition they need with worms, but the bigger ones require a heartier meal.  Remember how you could eat cereal nearly every meal when you were a kid?  Now that you're all grown up, you like to have a burger or a steak for your meal, right?

A larger catfish's version of a steak or burger is another fish.  Shad are ever-popular.  Most fish in the minnow family are oily, and that attracts larger catfish.

There is one other option that's sometimes overlooked.  That option is bluegill.  They're easily caught near the bank with a portion of your worm on a size 6 baitholder hook.

Unless you suspect monster catfish in the pond, I would cut the bluegill into reasonable pieces.  Then use a size two baitholder hook.

The results were undeniable.

With a couple of exceptions, the bullnose catfish that bit were significantly larger.  I also caught s decent sized channel cat, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

If you try this, don't be wasteful with the bluegill.  One or two cut up should be plenty for a couple of hours of fishing.  Also, check your state's rules and regs.

In Texas, gamefish cannot be used as bait.  Bluegill are not considered gamefish.  Tight lines!!

Fishing the West Texas Flood

Here in West Texas, we've had a LOT of rain.  There has been street flooding and some house flooding.  All of our playa lakes have overflowed their banks.  Just look below.

We could have fished from the sidewalk.  Here's another view.

That sign in the distance is the "No Swimming" sign that would normally be at the bank's edge.

Here are some flood photos from another playa lake in town.

So now that the water has mostly receded from the streets, there was only one logical thing to do.  We decided to fish those swollen ponds.  Think about it.  Rainwater re-oxygenates stagnate bodies of water like playas.  It stands to reason that this would elevate fish activity, including feeding.  We were right in a BIG way.

All three pictures are the same carp.  My son reeled it in, and my daughter landed it with the net.  The bait was whole kernel sweet corn out of the can.  I put it on the ever-faithful hair rig.

Tight lines!!

Full Moon Fishing

Night fishing is awesome in and of itself.  The only thing that makes it better, in my opinion, is a full moon.  I say this not because it has a huge impact on the bite rate, but because it adds to the beauty of the experience.

Check out the moon's reflection on the water!

Here's a shot of clouds passing in front of the moon.  It looks beautiful and eerie all at the same time.

And a closer look ....

Buffalo Springs Lake doesn't limit the number of poles you can have, so I took four.  I tried for catfish, bass, and carp.

I ended up with two catfish, both of which were on the smaller side.

What I was NOT planning on was this little guy.

That's a gizzard shad, hooked right through the mouth with a shad crankbait!  Here's a closer look.

I didn't catch any bass or carp, but I did get two small flatheads, a gizzard shad, and a full moon that lit up the place like daylight.  The catfish were released.

I used the shad as live bait.  They're a favorite meal of bass and catfish.  Other baits were nightcrawlers, corn, a shad crankbait, and a spinner.

Tight lines!