Elephant Butte Fishing Conditions

The wind has blown for the last few days…. But it supposed to lie down by tomorrow evening and be Ok on Friday and through the weekend… “supposed to”  is a relative term.. it’s so windy right now that I went home and got there 15 minutes before it left…  (sorry)

Walleye fishing continues to be very good using bottom bouncers with crawler Riggs , Yellow Walley Divers, split tail chartreuse jigs and minnows on a jig head.   Try gravel point’s 6 to 12 feet of water.

Crappie fishing good on  minnows , most have spawned and are guarding eggs.  Fish in the coves on the east side.

White bass fishing has been sporadic.. The best is still in the mornings.. live shiners and chrome crankbaits..

Catfish are almost non existent right now…not sure whats happening there but my catfish guys are getting skunked…

Memorial Day weekend is upon us..  Folks are already showin’ up.. waitin’ on the wind to die down.. We have plenty of live bait and more showin’ up on Friday.. so we won’t run out..

No matter what you do, do it with your family and remember to give thanks to those that we need to remember.. if you need reminding.. go to my Blog and find last years post titled “Memorial Day”.. its true, word for word…

Tell mama that it’s just too windy for the honey-do list..

come see us..

bob

“Don’t hang your wash on someone else’s line! ”

Mike Verlander of El Paso with a trophy 29″ Walleye on Frank Vilorio’s boat..

All you folks that have been concerned about the amount of dead fish on the lake,  we now know the scientific reason..

Kevin Gardner, Head Fish Biologist at the NM Game & Fish called me with the answer..

He spent time on the lake this week and figured out the story..

The dead fish ( tons of em’) are Small Mouth Buffalo.   also a small amount of Blue Cats and others…

The Small Mouth Buffalo, much like the Kokanee Salmon die after they spawn… (naturally).  Well the SM Buffalo in our lake have not had the correct conditions to spawn in many, many years..

This year the water conditions were just right, at the right time of year and the right temp… etc…

So they spawned…..All of em’ at once.. Now they are dying by the thousands.. that’s why you are seeing the unsightly mess of dead fish floating on the water,,, particularly up North..

The fungus that you see on them is due to the fact that as they have been slowly dying for several weeks, their bodies quit producing antibodies long before they were actually dead.. so they have had no way to fight off the fungus.. basically they started decaying long before they are dead.. YUK… (zombie fish)

So, when you hear any of the crazy, half baked, dooms-day stories about all the fish in the lake dying… You can educate the uniformed with the scientific fact…. It’s Nature doing what Nature does… and sometimes Nature ain’t pretty…

come see us.

bob

“never drop yur’ gun to hug a bear”…

White bass picking up on crank baits and curly tail jigs,  chrome blue back, chrome black back crank baits, 6 to 8 ft divers.  No one has been jiggin’ for em yet,  but probably a good idea to start tryin..

Whites are good in most parts of the lake.. the “S” curve by Kettletop and around the Castle Rock have been the best..

Night fishing has really turned on in the last few days.. Live shiners under the lights..

Crappie fishing good on Fathead minnows 10 to 15 ft of water.  Still over grass beds and cockle-burrs if you can find em’.. most of the coves on the east side are still producing good Crappie.

Walleyes continue to be very active on gravel point’s early in the morning, Frank Vilorio is using bottom bouncers with night crawlers, with the best result on worm harnesses.  Other folks have had great luck on the ol’ standby, yellow, chartreuse or chrome/blue Wally Divers..  also yellow or white curly tail jigs bouncing along shallow gravel …  South Long Point and most of the beaches that have a gravel bottom.  North end of the lake has been more productive..

The bite has been better in the early mornings and evenings, but the mornings have been best..

We have been selling lots of shiners to folks going down to Caballo lake this week.. not sure whats going on down there, but as soon as I find out I will let ya’ know..

If you are comin’ to the lake this weekend, be careful cause the wind is supposed to blow like Zeus’s Butt Friday afternoon and evening..

Tell mama that it’s gonna be to windy for the “honey do” list..

come see us..

bob

“Never run from a fight.. if yur gonna get hit, its better to take it in the front than in the back”  and it looks better too…

That’s Vilorio with a nice stringer of Walleye…   Show-off…

The lake is rising fast..  Rattlesnake is now an island again.. We are getting a little more than 3000 cubic feet per second of water at the upper end.. the dam is still shut… So cross your fingers for a favorable year..  and then again next year.. (is that gettin’ greedy??)

The best bite this week has been the Walleye… nice big 9 or so pound Walleye are common on long gravel point’s in 4 to 10 feet. Chartreuse curly tail jig works good along with Walley Diver crank baits and bottom bouncers with night crawlers.

Nice big Crappie are feeding over the weed beds in the coves on the east side.. Live Shiners and Fatheads have the best bait..  also white curly tail jigs..

Whites are starting to run.  Trolling the east side and around Castle Rock and the coves just south of Kettletop.

The bank fishing has been very good in the last few days.. The South side of Long Point and around Rock Canyon.  Walley as well as Whites are being brought ashore with Curly Tail jigs & crank baits.. as well as tight lining live shiners.  I did get one favorable report from the gravel points North of Long Point on the East side..

Night Fishing has been good in all of the same areas on the bank with night crawlers and live shiners.  Also around any submerged structure with lights and live shiners..

Several reports of small Catfish,,, but the big un’s seem to be hiding..

Tell mama that the honey-do list is just too boring…

come see us..

bob

when u feel greedy..remember… “Pigs get fat….hogs get slaughtered!”

Frank Vilorio,, just showin off