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Heron Lake Fishing Report

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

A no-wake lake at 7,167 feet: Heron holds trout and kokanee in the northern New Mexico high country.

2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.32 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.
Flow
1,900 cfs
Air / High
57 / 59 F
Wind
SSE 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 08285500, 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.

2/5Slow. The wind owns today.32 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Heron Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The release below the dam is running 1,900 cfs, on the rise. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 6 mph, steady pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 59. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:13 PM-12:13 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Lake troutGood

Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perchGood

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

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 →

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 →

Chasing lake trout 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 from Rio Chama below El Vado Dam (outflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 08285500.

4211,0031,5861,900 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp57 F
High / Low59 / 47 F
WindSSE 6-14 mph
Pressure1011.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain69% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset07:21 / 18:19
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Heron Lake this week

The best day on Heron Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

32 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Solunar majors
9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:13 PM-12:13 AM
Minor period
4:08 AM-5:08 AM
Sun
07:21 to 18:19
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 32 mph
Rain chance
100%

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

Species guide

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

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

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. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

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. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

When to come: the Heron 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
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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 Heron 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. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 62 F, wind to 19 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 69 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 65 F, wind to 10 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. NMDOW restricts boats to trolling speed, closes Heron to kokanee possession from October 1, and opens a special kokanee snagging season that ends December 31; dates and limits are in the current New Mexico Fishing Rules and Info.

Access

Heron Lake State Park: 192 developed campsites in eight campgrounds, primitive and boat-in sites. The park reported the boat ramp closed for low water on 2026-10-05.

About this water

A no-wake reservoir at 7,167 feet near Los Ojos, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, managed as Heron Lake State Park.

Fishing Heron Lake: the full guide

A quiet reservoir

Heron Lake sits at 7,167 feet near Los Ojos, surrounded by ponderosa pine. New Mexico State Parks manages it as a quiet lake where only no-wake boating is allowed, which makes room for kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and sailboats as well as anglers; NMDOW’s rules for the lake restrict boats to trolling speed.

Kokanee and trout

The park describes quality trout and kokanee salmon fishing. NMDOW closes Heron and Willow Creek to possession of kokanee from October 1 until a special kokanee snagging season opens in November, and that season runs through December 31. Confirm the exact dates and the trout limits in the current New Mexico Fishing Rules and Info.

Winter and the Rio Chama

The park lists ice fishing in winter when conditions allow, along with cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The 5-mile Rio Chama Trail crosses the river on a suspension bridge on the way toward El Vado Lake, and the park also points anglers to the Rio Chama Quality Waters.

Camping and low water

The park has 192 developed campsites in eight campgrounds, plus primitive shoreline and boat-in sites. When this page was checked the park reported the Heron Lake boat ramp closed because of low water, so confirm launch status with New Mexico State Parks before towing a boat.

Common questions

What does no-wake mean at Heron?

The park allows only no-wake boating, and NMDOW’s rules restrict boats to trolling speed, so the lake stays calm for paddlers and anglers.

When can kokanee be snagged?

During NMDOW’s special kokanee snagging season, which opens in November and ends December 31; the lake is closed to kokanee possession from October 1 until it opens.

Is there ice fishing?

The park lists ice fishing in winter when conditions allow.

Is fishing good at Heron Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 32 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Nearby waters

Abiquiu Lake32 miNavajo Lake51 miSan Juan River (Navajo Dam)54 miRio Grande55 miVallecito Reservoir68 miRio Grande70 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 08285500 — Rio Chama below El Vado Dam (outflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 36.7000, -106.6800 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.