Dave Lee Lake Fishing Guide, Catron County, New Mexico

• Overview

  Set in Catron County, New Mexico, this is Dave Lee Lake. The bank is 8,622 feet above sea level. A splashy cast here empties the swim; a quiet one owns it. It is a small entry by Catron County standards. Supplies mean a trip to Eagar, 32 miles off. Tucson sits 153 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Dave Lee Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Species logged nearby in open biodiversity records include sonora sucker, brown trout and desert sucker. Records show what people reported, not what is stocked. Dave Lee Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 63°F in July and bottom out at 31°F in January. Ice comes and goes from one year to the next. It is not guaranteed even in a cold spell, so check yourself. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. Time your trip to Dave Lee Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A phone call first saves an afternoon. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Tenney Pond, 7.5 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Dave Lee Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.