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Eagle Nest Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Eagle Nest Lake: a state-park lake at 8,200 feet on the Enchanted Circle, stocked with trout and kokanee, where every pike caught must be kept.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
54 / 59 F
Wind
SSW 13 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Eagle Nest Lake asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 13 mph, falling pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 59. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:39 AM-11:39 AM and 10:07 PM-12:07 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Northern pikeExcellent

Ice season: tip-ups with live bait near weed beds; where water stays open, slow live-bait presentations.

Yellow perchExcellent

Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 52 F with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

New Mexico requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $49.00 for residents. What a New Mexico licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing northern pike here? Check the size and bag limits with NMDOW before you keep anything. The season dates for New Mexico, read off the agency, are on the New Mexico seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp54 F
High / Low59 / 43 F
WindSSW 13-25 mph
Pressure1011.4 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 51%
Sunrise / Sunset07:15 / 18:14
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Eagle Nest Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Eagle Nest Lake, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:39 AM-11:39 AM and 10:07 PM-12:07 AM
Minor period
4:02 AM-5:02 AM
Sun
07:15 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 20 mph
Rain chance
51%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Eagle Nest Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. Ice season: tip-ups with live bait near weed beds; where water stays open, slow live-bait presentations.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

When to come: the Eagle Nest Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Northern pike
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Eagle Nest Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Northern pike led the card at good. High of 65 F, wind to 17 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Northern pike led the card at good. High of 68 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Northern pike led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

New Mexico requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

New Mexico fishing license. Eagle Nest Lake: kokanee snagging season Oct. 1 to Dec. 31; day use only, with camping in the state park; the posted area near the dam is closed to fishing; no limit on northern pike and all pike caught must be kept (NMDOW 2026-2027 Fishing Rules and Information).

Access

Eagle Nest Lake State Park: boat ramp and dock, 19 campsites (reservation only May to September). Motorboats must stay at least 150 feet from shore anglers.

About this water

State-park lake at 8,200 feet on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, Colfax County, New Mexico.

Fishing Eagle Nest Lake: the full guide

High-country lake

Eagle Nest Lake State Park sits at 8,200 feet on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, 25 miles west of Cimarron on US 64 or 17 miles south of Red River on NM 38. New Mexico State Parks says the lake is regularly stocked with trout and salmon and is also good for northern pike and yellow perch.

Kokanee

The New Mexico Department of Wildlife collects kokanee eggs each autumn and uses the fry to stock Navajo Lake and Eagle Nest Lake. Eagle Nest has a Special Kokanee Salmon Snagging Season from October 1 through December 31, and the state-record kokanee, 5 lb 0 oz and 22 inches, came from the lake on July 1, 2021.

Northern pike: keep them

Pike are not wanted here. Under NMDOW rules there is no bag or possession limit on northern pike at Eagle Nest Lake, every pike caught must be kept, and none may be returned to the lake on purpose.

Ice and the river below

The park lists ice fishing from January to March, depending on ice. Below the dam, the Cimarron River is one of the brown trout waters NMDOW recommends.

Common questions

Can I release a pike at Eagle Nest?

No. NMDOW rules require every northern pike caught at Eagle Nest Lake to be kept, and there is no bag or possession limit.

When is kokanee snagging allowed?

From October 1 through December 31, during the Special Kokanee Salmon Snagging Season.

Is there ice fishing?

Yes, usually from January to March when the ice allows, according to the state park.

Is fishing good at Eagle Nest Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Cimarron River12 miRio Grande27 miTrinidad Lake56 miPecos River70 miAbiquiu Lake73 miHeron Lake80 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 36.5300, -105.2500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.