Web Exclusives & Highlights

Wow, what a challenging year 2020 has been! Some COVID-19 restrictions have put some severe kinks in hunting and fishing plans. Travel restrictions have made it hard to make it to our traditional and possibly favorite hunting or fishing honey hole. State parks closures and reduced hours have made it …

Northern pike almost exclusively consume fish, and Eagle Nest Lake offers a plentiful menu including yellow perch, white sucker and fathead minnow. When given a choice, however, these fish may go after the fish most popular with anglers—rainbow trout. In fact, according to Jane Trujillo, coldwater fisheries biologist with the …

In the Q&A below, Christopher Johnson, off-highway vehicle education coordinator with the Department, answers questions regarding the use of OHVs on paved roads in our state.   Uso de vehículos todoterrenos (OHVs) en carreteras pavimentadas en Nuevo México: Diez preguntas En las preguntas y respuestas a continuación, Christopher Johnson, Coordinador …

Every year, the Department gives new hunter education graduates who had never purchased a license a chance to participate in a Barbary sheep hunt. Officers work closely with the owners of the Blackwater Ranch and Westall Ranch, who agree to allow youth hunters to come hunt on their property. Learn …

A trout stocking took place in Whitewater Creek in early August, but that sounds far too simple for the efforts culminating that day. For starters, the trek into Whitewater Creek is not an easy one. The team hiked for over four hours, with the wind blowing around a steep canyon …

Catching larger “trophy” largemouth and smallmouth bass has long been a fun yet difficult venture for many anglers. It takes many hours and trips to understand the habits and tendencies of bass in one’s local pond, lake or reservoir, especially the older/larger “lunkers.” Trophy bass weigh greater than five pounds. …

For the past 12 years, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has coordinated the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) and promoted instruction in international-style target archery as part of an in-school curriculum. This has been shown to improve educational performance and participation in the shooting sports …

Like many anglers, fly fisherman James McKay enjoys fishing alone, taking in the quiet, pristine scenery. That’s the way he’s fished for most of his life. Nearly 40 years ago, on June 27, 1981, McKay was on one of his solo fishing trips, stalking a large brown trout in the …

Every autumn, thousands of ducks and geese migrate into the state of New Mexico. Some of them stay on bodies of water across the state until spring, and others stage here briefly before flying into Mexico and locations further south. While they are here, waterfowl hunters have the exciting opportunity …

In January of 2020, the Department of Game and Fish launched the New Mexico Trout Challenge. This challenge was the first of its kind for New Mexico and encourages anglers to catch five of New Mexico’s trout species: the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, Gila trout, brown trout, brook trout and …