Spring 2011
INSIDE Around the Bend • Program Updates A.R.E. Volunteer Corner • Expo • Volunteer Of The Year • Trout In The Classroom Angling in the News • Reel Dollars
Around The Bend
O
ur New Mexico Outdoor Expo makes significant strides year after year in offering the best free outdoor skills training in the state. Last year we had a great time at the Saturday night volunteer banquet. We will be offering it again for all of our Aquatic Resource Education volunteers. This free BBQ dinner is a way for us to recognize those volunteers who have contributed three or more years of service to aquatic education in New Mexico. So, please plan on attending even if you cannot work Expo this year. If you would like to attend this informal, early evening event just let us know before August 1st! I hope you can join us.
Conservation Spotlight • Colorado Pikeminnow • Ti Piper WILD Activities • River Otter Workshop • Student Poetry • Join Us On Facebook Volunteering in 2011 ARE Book Shelf • First Cast In the Field In the Kitchen • Green Chili Catfish
All photos in this newsletter were provided by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish except where noted. Visit us online at www. wildlife.state.nm.us Editing, design and layout: Mark Gruber
The Department aquatic resource education pond is doing really well. Ducks and shorebirds have found it and a kiosk is going up providing shade and a staging area for exploring the area. A water harvesting plan was recently completed. The plan calls for using natural runoff and drip irrigation to water the areas around the pond and stream. Soon we will be planting a diverse array of native sedges, rushes, willows, shrubs, and trees. The purpose of the plants are to attract wildlife and slow erosion.
Kevin Holladay
A.R.E. Volunteer Corner 2
New Mexico Outdoor Expo
Outdoor Expo will be held again at the Albuquerque shooting Range Park, August 2021, 2011. We will have the fish aquarium back from Bass Tubs, Oklahoma, the perennial favorite catfish pool, fly-tying and fish-prints. The Dexter National Fish Hatchery will be loaning us some huge catfish again so the pond should be an exciting place to be. We are renting some misters this year to keep our volunteers, customers and catfish nice and cool. New this year is the ability of vendors to sell goods and services-except for food.
A.R.E. Volunteer of the Year for 2011, Matt Pelletier The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is very pleased to announce that Matt Pelletier, President of New Mexico Muskies Inc., Chapter #59, is the recipient of the award for Aquatic Resource Education Volunteer of the Year for 2011. Matt has done an outstanding job in bringing an education component to NM Muskies Inc. and has helped recruit members to donate their time to educating kids about the joys of angling for muskies and the skills needed to land them. Several members are slated to help with the Grants Free Fishing Day clinic this year. So Matt, where did you grow up? I was born and raised in Albuquerque.
What are some of your first memories of fishing? Who taught you how to fish? My father and grandfather were the ones who first took me fishing. We would troll Heron, El Vado, Eagle Nest, and Santa Cruz lakes catching coho, kokanees, and trout; just putting along in a 17 foot fiberglass boat. Those were good times and ingrained the passion of fishing in me at an early age. I didn’t do too much fishing once I got into high school but a good friend, Shawn Jones, got me back into fishing when I was about 18. We were working a construction job in Santa Fe and one day on the way home he took me out to the Cochiti Lake spillway. We caught a bunch
What do you like about New Mexico? Its diverse terrain, and lack of natural disasters (Matt laughs heartily). No really, it is such a diverse state with an abundance of game and all the different species of fish to go after.
If you would like to join this group of individuals helping kids develop a life-long interest in angling or would like more information about our A.R.E. Volunteer Program please contact Kevin Holladay, (505) 476-8095 or kevin.holladay@ state.nm.us. To download the application at our website go to www.wildlife. state.nm.us and go to Education/Project WILD.
ARE Patches Available for Volunteers If you are an active volunteer you should have a couple of ARE patches. If you would like a patch and have not yet joined as a volunteer just fill out an ARE Volunteer application (found on our website) and send it in to the address listed on the application. Once we approve your application, we will let you know of the next volunteer opportunity. Once you have completed your first activity let us know and we will send a couple of patches out to you!
A.R.E. Volunteer Corner 3
A.R.E. Volunteer of the Year continued of fish that day and I’ve been hooked ever since... He still holds that over me to this day (laughs again). How did you get started in muskie fishing? It was the allure of watching a New Mexico Wildlife show on muskies. They weren’t big fish back then, but I vividly recall seeing those heavy green stripes with the silver background and it just seemed so unique and intriguing. Matt Pelletier is hooked on muskies Back then I used to aim for fishing 12 new bodies of water a year. Some years I would hit over 20 new bodies of water! On June 10, 2007 I caught my first muskie at Bluewater Lake and I’ll never forget it. The fish was only 26 inches but at the time it was the coolest thing on earth. What do you enjoy about being an ARE Volunteer and doing youth education? I really enjoy working with kids. It makes me feel real good and it’s a ton of fun! We are also really glad to be able to help support the program with our in-kind match. Our donated time keeps the program going while we help teach folks about the joys of having tiger muskies in New Mexico. What is your favorite lure or fly for muskies? I don’t have any one particular favorite, that I’ll mention it has to be jerk baits in the 6-8 inch size. Rapalas, Lucky Crafts, River 2 Seas work; but there are so many different styles out there and each serve their purpose in given situations. A couple years ago I spent all year fishing jerk baits for every species you can imagine; rainbows,
browns, brookies, large and smallmouth bass, white bass, crappie, walleye, tiger muskies, pike, catfish, and even carp. What can I say, I’m a jerk bait freak. What do you think makes muskies such an exciting game fish? It is a tough question. There are so many ways to answer this. Club member, Stan Kosiewicz once said “they are tigers, you hunt them”. I have to say that it’s the hunt, but you’re hunting a predator! I don’t feel the same way about any other fish– it is hard to explain, you simply have to experience it. You can be casting for 6 hours straight without a strike but just a follow from a tiger will make your heart jump into your throat... suddenly you feel energized enough to cast huge lures for another 4 hours. When you are out on the water you know they are there. Sometimes you can even see them basking in the sun on a shallow flat, but getting them to bite is an entirely different story. They know they are the top predator and often ignore your offerings. You can go months without catching anything then you have this monster explode in the water 5 feet away from the boat! You never know when it’s going to happen... persistence and patience is key. I have always been a multi-fish species kind of guy but once I got into muskies, they took over!
A.R.E. Volunteer Corner 4 Trout in the Classroom Takes Off By Toner Mitchell, President, Truchas Chapter, Trout Unlimited Trout In the Classroom (TIC) program in New Mexico schools is a collaboration between teachers, the Department of Game and Fish, and the Santa Fe-based Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited Youth Education Program. TIC students hatch trout eggs in a classroom fish tank and raise them to fry stage. They then release their finned friends into a local public fishery. During the months-long experiment, teachers discuss chemistry, ecology, watershed health and management, trout biology, and land ethics. This spring, schools in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Moriarty, Eldorado, Pecos, Raton, and Farmington successfully handled challenges ranging from equipment malfunction to problems in water chemistry. By the end of this school year, over 1,000 juvenile trout will have been released into area waters thanks to the work of over 300 dedicated students, their teachers, Truchas Chapter volunteers, and Game and Fish. In addition to TIC, the youth education program enjoyed its second year participating in the Pecos Unified School District’s After School Program (ASP). The Pecos ASP was also a collaborative effort, drawing support from Truchas Chapter volunteers, Game and Fish, the U.S. Forest Service, Cow Creek Ranch, the New Mexico Wildlife Center, Roybal’s Flies in Pecos, and even the governor’s office (Governor Martinez’ husband, Chuck Franco, was a valuable and tireless volunteer). Approximately 30 Pecos middle schoolers learned to tie their own flies as well as cast them. They learned how trash and fishing tackle left near lakes and streams can maim or kill birds and animals of all kinds.
When the Truchas Chapter purchased fishing licenses for ASP participants, Game and Fish warden Phil Howse discussed the responsibilities that come with being a lawabiding sportsman, and when John Wright, youth education director and USFS official Shane King led the students through a cleanup of Monastery Lake, they emphasized the principles of Leave-NoTrace. The Pecos ASP culminated with a fishing day, which highlighted the basic purpose of outdoor youth programs, that kids can learn while having fun. The future looks brighter for these kinds of programs. TIC might take root in at least four more schools before the year is out, and the Chapter is looking forward to establishing after-school programs in other local schools, including at least one at an area pueblo. We all know how important it is to get kids outdoors, to get them interested and invested in their local landscape, its ecology, its upkeep, and the significance of healthy land to the livelihoods of families. If we only consider the students who participate in TIC – leaving out friends, siblings, and parent whom they might have influenced – we are growing the number of young people who will be taking care of our wild country in the years to come. All the more rooted in their homeland, they will become teachers, land managers, consultants, or legislators. Some of them may simply pick up a piece of litter or release a trout after having kept enough for one day. No matter what the case may be, let’s rejoice that in some important way, these young citizens will be ensuring that New Mexico remains a special place.
Angling In The News 5
Reel Dollars By Craig Springer For the last 500 years, scribes have waxed poetic about the virtues and vices of fishing. Some lament the challenges and others applaud the rewards of the quiet sport. The apostle Izzak Walton wrote in his book The Compleat Angler in 1653 that fishing “will prove to be a virtue, a reward unto itself.� Fishing and conservation have inherent and intrinsic values, and they own other values that are very measurable. Two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) economists, Joseph Charbonneau, Ph.D., and James Caudill, Ph.D., recently made such measurements. They assessed the economic contributions made by the work performed in the Fisheries Program, nationwide, from 2004 to 2008. The numbers they reported in their peer-reviewed work were adjusted to the value of a dollar in late 2010. The numbers are stunning, and would make any mutual fund manager blush. Results from the entire USF&WS Fisheries Program and its 154 field stations account for a total economic output of $3.6 billion, coming
from an investment $128 million. In the National Fish Hatchery System, 123 million stocked fish yielded 13 million angler-days in turn spurring $554 million in retail sales, $256 million in wages of jobs created, where $37 million was returned to the federal treasury in income tax. Another $34 million was generated in state income taxes. Better habitat means better fishing. Toward that end, the USF&WS Fisheries Program has restored thousands of acres and miles of streams for the betterment of fish, and it is good for people. The economists calculate that habitat conservation has a value of $2 billion. Money changing hands means jobs. All told, the economic output related to the conservation successes of the USF&WS Fisheries Program is responsible for 68,000 jobs in a variety of industries. Five hundred years of fishing literature may have laid threadbare any questions on the value of fishing. But one thing is clear, conservation is important to the economy, and you can take that to the bank. Craig Springer is the editor of Eddies, a free USFWS publication available on line. This article is reprinted with permission.
Conservation Spotlight 6 Ancient Survivors By Colleen Welch How many of us have ever caught a fossil fish? If current recovery plans are successful then we may get the chance to see four unusual fish that have been surviving in the Colorado River basin for the past 3 to 4 million years.
has hundreds of stories and first-hand interviews with senior citizens about catching, cooking and eating the now-endangered fish. The Colorado Pikeminnow was referred to as “whitefish” and “salmon.”
The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program is recovering two Colorado River Watershed fish that are on the federal endangered species list. The recovery program provides Endangered Species Act compliance for the Colorado pikeminnow (formerly the Colorado squawfish), listed in 1967 and the razorback sucker listed in 1991. Two additional endangered Colorado River fish, the bonytail chub and the humback chub, are also the focus of recovery efforts.
The Colorado pikeminnow was an important food source during the Depression years. Evidence has also been found that these fish were consumed by Native Americans. Archeological evidence of these historical fish have been found at Pueblo Indian sites with Colorado pikeminnow bones dated to around 1300 to 1400 A.D. In addition, an archeological site now inundated by Lake Mohave, unearthed bones of razorback suckers.
Historically, the Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) and the razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) occurred in all reaches of the Colorado River and its major tributaries including the San Juan River.
According to Gene Bittler of Maybell, Colorado, “I pitched that green frog out there and this (Colorado pikeminnow) hit it, just about straight across, and he ran down that fast water, riffles, and took out about 200 feet of line before I turned him around. It was one of the most thrilling fish I ever caught if you want to know the truth.”
The Colorado pikeminnow was an important food for human residents. Historical Accounts of Upper Colorado River Basin Endangered Fish
The Colorado pikeminnow is the largest American minnow, growing up to 6 feet long and 80 pounds
Conservation Spotlight 7
in size. It is an elongated pike-like fish with a dusky-greenish, slender body with gold flecks on the dorsal surface. Its head is long and slender. The mouth is large and nearly horizontal, with slender teeth adapted for grasping and holding prey.
and Fish is one of 11 program partners that make up the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program. The headwaters of the San Juan River originate along the southern slopes of the San Juan Mountains west of the Continental Divide in Colorado.
It is the top native carnivore of the Colorado River system and a voracious predator. The young feed on insects and plankton; and adults feed mostly on fish. Larval fish caught in 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010 indicate hatchery-produced fish are reproducing in the wild.
The San Juan River sub-basin is the second largest of the Upper Colorado River Basin and it drains an area of about 23,000 square miles in southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southeastern Utah and a small part of northeastern Arizona before joining the Colorado River at Lake Powell.
The razorback sucker has a long, high, sharpedged hump, or keel, behind the head from which its name is derived. The head and body are dark, especially on breeding males, and the sides brownish fading to a yellowish white abdomen. The razorback sucker grows to a large size, reaching lengths of 36 to 39 inches and weighs up to 12 pounds. Historically found in large rivers with swift and turbulent waters, the fish used slow backwater areas to feed on benthic fauna and flora, detritus and plankton. Most wild fish now are found in Lake Mohave, and Lakes Mead and Havasu. Reintroduced adults in the San Juan River have been successfully breeding. However, monitoring efforts indicate that young surviving through their first year remain rare, likely due to lack of suitable food and predation by non-native fishes. The New Mexico Department of Game
New Mexico facilities that raise the endangered fish for the Program include the Dexter National Fish Hatchery in Dexter, NM. They raise Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker and bonytail chub. Additionally, the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry Ponds near Farmington raise razorback sucker for stocking in the San Juan River.
Conservation Spotlight 8 Ti Piper: Champion Fishing Skills Advocate Ti Piper’s working life has a singular purpose. Simply put, he has devoted his career to teaching others about the joys and responsibilities of angling in New Mexico. His passion for fishing is broad and far-flung. He loves it all; fly-fishing, bait fishing, fresh-water, salt-water, stream and reservoir angling. Ti is a founding member of the New Mexican Riparian Council and the Aquatic Resource Education Association. The Department has been quite fortunate to have Ti as the fishing skills education program contractor for almost all of the past 20 years. In 1990, he and Luke Shelby (former Assistant Director) pioneered the use of swimming pools to reach urban audiences with a children’s fishing clinic at the City of Albuquerque, Rio Grande Pool in Albuquerque. This very first Department Kids Fishing Clinic was done with the partnership of Duwayne Ordonez, Albuquerque Parks and Recreation, Don MacCarter, Project WILD Coordinator, Jerry Marrichinni, NW Area Fisheries Manager (former Director and now Game Commissioner), Henry Grasmick-Lopez and Dan Shaw, a contractor for the nascent aquatic education program (now at Bosque School, Albuquerque). The late Scott Brown, then Chief of Public Affairs, filmed the entire program.
Luke Shelby wrote about those first few fishing clinics for the American Fisheries Society.Ti Piper was a co-author. Luke presented the paper in September 1992 at the annual American Fisheries Society meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota. In recent years, Ti has kept up his incredible pace; crisscrossing the state providing fishing clinics and classes to a wide variety of audiences. One of his main accomplishments has been the integration of fishing skills and aquatic resource education into numerous schools across the elementary grade level. He is in high demand at schools so he is able to choose schools that are willing to give him access to numerous classes with at least 2-3 days of instruction in fish biology and fishing skills before he takes them out actually fishing. Ti tailors the instruction to meet state standards in benchmarks in a variety of subject areas. He also has been instrumental in reaching out to developmentally disabled adults and kids so that they also can go fishing. If students need a license to fish, Ti finds local sponsors to purchase one or he will pay for it himself.
Advanced Project WILD Natural History Workshop on River Otters
WILD Activities 9
Project WILD joined forces with Project Learning Tree March 25-27 for a Natural History Workshop training near Taos, NM. The weekend professional development training for educators was held at the Rivers and Birds office space in Arroyo Seco. The theme for this workshop was on the reintroduction of river otters to northern New Mexico. A presentation by Jim Stuart, Department biologist, and Rachel Conn from Amigos Bravos included a photographic story of the otters’ trip from Washington State by vehicle and by plane to the high mountain waters near Taos. In the spirit of both Projects WILD and Learning Tree, we did not stay indoors too long. The group traveled a short distance to the Lower Hondo Campground along Rio Hondo. Participants actively engaged in WILD and Learning Tree activities as they learned about riparian wildlife, including macroinvertebrates collected at the site. Participants included classroom teachers, USFS and BLM interpreters and education staff from Taos Pueblo.
Student Poetry
Looking At The Watershed Watersheds, fish, nature It’s what sustains me I love breathing the air it makes my mind relax, little stream critters they are all around me I feel like I’m one of them. I can see every detail with my naked eye I wish I could live like this: Clean water Mayfly, dragon fly’s Wiggling horsehair worms This is what I love the most: Honest, upfront nature and nothing else. Ashley Gallegos, Bosque School, Albuquerque, 2009
Water Treatment Haiku Water must be clean Sanitation must be good Super fly water Derek Kieckhefer, Bosque School, Albuquerque, 2009
Join Us On Facebook Did you know that New Mexico Game and Fish is on Facebook? This is one of the best ways to stay on top of Game and Fish programs that are relevant to fishing and aquatic education. Often, our Facebook page is the first place we post stocking reports, fishing reports from anglers, and your photos. We also highlight other exciting wildlife news and programs. Go to the New Mexico Game and Fish Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nmdgf Stop by and introduce yourself. We would love to get to know you and learn ways that we can help you with volunteering for the aquatic resource education program!
VOLUNTEERING IN 2011
May 14 Catch a Special Thrill, C.A.S.T, event, Navajo Lake State Park. Take disadvantaged and disabled kids fishing for a few hours.
June 11 Hopewell Lake-USFS & BLM Fish Fiesta
May 18 Pecos After School Program Kids’ Fishing clinic at Monastery Lake Park. Contact John Wright, (505) 992-2601.
July 11-15 Eagle Rock State Park Youth Camp
June 19 Tentative Date Santa Cruz Lake-USFS & BLM Fish Fiesta
July 16 Kids’ Fishing Day at Seven Springs Hatchery, near Fenton Lake.
June 4 Free Fishing Day Locations include Tingley Beach, Alumni Pond, Grants, Eagle Rock, Blue Hole Park, Aztec, Lake Roberts, Grindstone Reservoir, and Clayton Lake.
August 20-21 Department sponsored Outdoor EXPO, held at the City of Albuquerque Shooting Range Park.
June 5-10 New Mexico Forestry Camp, Rancho de Chapparal Girl Scout Camp, Santa Fe National Forest Numerous aquatic education opportunities throughout the week
September 23-25 National Hunting and Fishing Day Outdoor EXPO, Fenton Lake State Park.
June 11 National Get Outdoors Day, Tingley Beach in Albuquerque. Educational focus will include fishing, climbing wall, biking, outdoor connections and healthy lifestyle. This is a multi-agency sponsored event.
October 14-15 New Mexico Science and Math Teachers Associations’ annual conference at Piedra Vista High School in Farmington.
September Date to be announced C.A.S.T. event, Elephant Butte State Park.
To volunteer for any of these events or for more specific locations and times, contact Kevin Holladay (505) 476-8095, kevin.holladay@state.nm.us. or Colleen Welch (505) 476-8119, colleen.welch@state.nm.us.
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The A.R.E Book Shelf 11
First Cast, Teaching Kids to Fly-Fish
Phil Genova, Foreward by Dr. John J. Kirk, Director of the New Jersey School of Conservation Stackpole Books, 1998. Although this book came out more than 10 years ago, it is still a worthwhile addition for anyone interested in passing on the flyfishing tradition. First Cast is based on a unique program that has taught thousands of youth to fly fish. The Fly Fisher Apprentice Program is a field-tested system that takes kids from all socioeconomic levels and teaches them flytying and casting in addition to helping them develop knowledge of and respect for the fish and their habitat. First Cast explains every segment of youth flyfishing education. It offers depth, scope and coverage not found in other books written about flyfishing. Beginning with a chapter on mentoring an apprentice, the book takes the reader through flytying materials and instruction, tackle and equipment, casting, exploring the aquatic environment, field trips, skills, the salt-water experience, and culminates in a chapter on community programs. From this book, adults can learn the special techniques of teaching flyfishing that will make the sport interesting for children. The motto of the Fly Fisher Apprentice Program is, “Pass on the Tradition.�
Colleen Welch
In The Field 12
Karl Moffatt, Truchas Chapter-TU, instructs at Monastery Lake
Mesilla Valley Flyfishers Kids Fishing Clinic, Alumni Pond, Las Cruces
Mark Lujan, BLM Taos, explains his aquatic WILD activity
Pecos Middle School students clean up Monastery Lake
John Wright, Trucha Chapter-TU, shows Colleen Welch some fly tying tips
Dr. Quincy Spurling, UNM is New Mexico’s Project WILD 201 Facilitator of the Year
In The Kitchen 13
Fishing Is Hot And The Cooking Is Easy As summer approaches, many parts of the state are starting to heat up. Urban fishing ponds are stocked with catfish and are a great place to start off for this meal.
Lightly salt and pepper both sides of fish. Add to pan, fleshy side down. Place skillet in oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until fish is cooked through, but not overdone.
Green Chile Catfish
Caramelizing the vegetables mellows the chiles, allowing the wonderful flavor to come through without overwhelming heat. This is delicious served over brown long-grain rice or wild rice, smothered in the sauce made by the chiles and onions.
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1-2 catfish filets 1-2 tablespoons olive oil 1-2 tablespoons butter 3-4 garlic cloves, finely diced 1 medium white or yellow onion, cut in half, thinly sliced 2-3 poblano or Anaheim green chiles, cut in half, de-seeded, and sliced thin 1-2 jalapeno peppers, cut in half, and sliced thin Liquid to coat the pan and cover the vegetables (a combination of chicken broth and white wine Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with olive oil. Saute garlic, onions and chilies until soft, about five minutes. Add butter and allow vegetables to cook slowly on low, caramelizing slightly. Add liquid to cover vegetables at the end of this cooking time.
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Adjust the number of filets and chiles according to the number of servings desired. One filet and two chiles will serve one. Two filets and three chiles will serve two. A nice complement to this dish is olive oil ovenroasted sweet potato fries garnished with your favorite spice. Our family loves cumin or rosemary. Slice them thin, bake at 450 degrees. Check them after 20 minutes, turn them and go another 15-20 minutes to desired crispiness. What is your favorite fish recipe? Send it in and we will print it in our next issue.
Aquatic Education Coordinator - Kevin Holladay • (505) 476-8095 • kevin.holladay@state.nm.us Aquatic Education Co-Coordinator - Colleen Welch • (505) 476-8119 • colleen.welch@state.nm.us N.M. Department of Game and Fish, Aquatic Education, 1 Wildlife Way, Santa Fe, NM 87507