Nutria Diversion Reservoir in McKinley County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  McKinley County in New Mexico is where Nutria Diversion Reservoir sits. This is rolling hill country. At 17 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. 18 miles away sits Church Rock, the nearest town. It is 109 miles to Albuquerque, the nearest city. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Nutria Diversion Reservoir

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. Across McKinley County, recorded fish include bluehead sucker, green sunfish, muskellunge, Rio Grande sucker and rainbow trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fish Nutria Diversion Reservoir to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 66°F on average, January about 27°F. The calendar is generous: something works in nearly every month. Some winters give nothing at all, so plan for open water. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. At Nutria Diversion Reservoir the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Should this one be busy, Nutria Reservoir Number 3 is 5.2 miles off. What applies at Nutria Diversion Reservoir may have changed since it was mapped.