Pacheco Lake Fishing in Mora County, New Mexico

• Overview

  Pacheco Lake belongs to Mora County, New Mexico. The country round it is pine and birch from end to end. Compared with other New Mexico water on our list, it sits high. Chimayo sits 26 miles from the bank. Ranchos de Taos is 28 miles and Nambe 28 miles. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water. There is room enough here for more than one party without crowding.

• Where to Fish on Pacheco Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Survey and observation records for Mora County include cutthroat trout, white sucker, brown trout, Gila trout and green sunfish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Pacheco Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 57°F at the top of summer and 24°F at the bottom of winter. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near early December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Pacheco Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Santiago Lake is 0.2 miles off. None of that is settled for Pacheco Lake in what we hold.