Gone fishin' —
Anglers flock to area lakes, ponds and rivers

ABOVE: Apolonio Lucero helps his son, Joshua Lucero fish at the Riverwalk Park in Grants Saturday morning during a free fishing day and fishing workshop. Joshua's grandmother, Margaret Lucero sits in the chair behind the fishermen. BELOW: Holin Ami adjusts bait on his fishing pole at the Riverwalk Park in Grants Saturday morning. Ami was participating in a free fishing day and fishing workshop. [photos by Daniel Zollinger / Independent]

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Saturday brought clear skies and perfect temperatures across the state and fishermen took advantage of free fishing day to hit area ponds and lakes. In Grants the Riverwalk Pond and Fishing Workshop staff brought everything for the youth fishing day and at McGaffey anglers flocked to a renewed McGaffey Lake..

Participants in Grants did have to supply their own tackle, bait and reels, the Game and Fish Department brought instructors, teaching equipment, informational material, and fish. The pond was stocked last week with trout and catfish after being cleaned by the city’s parks contractor, CH2MHill OMI, and the results were clear from the number of catfish thrown back or just swimming in underwater baskets, waiting to be taken home.

Jace Dalton, 4, caught eight fish before noon, but he said he tossed them back into the pond. Jace lives with his mother, Anita Dalton, in Rio Rancho, but comes to Grants to visit his grandmother, Linda Dalton.

Fishing with Jace was his grandfather Harold Dalton, who came from Lubbock, Texas, for the day.

“It is our time together. We do it every year,” Harold Dalton said.

Joseph Cantana of Grants was on the cleanup crew for OMI. He and his extended family sat in a shelter they erected next to the Daltons. No one in the group could say exactly how many fish they caught all together, but son Dante caught five and the holding basket in the pond at Cantana’s feet was crowded with circling channel catfish.

“Between us, we will eat them all,” Cantana said. He added, “Doing the cleanup, doing the fishing is enjoying the result of the work.”

Co-op producers of the event donated volunteers and prizes for the grand drawing after the official fishing closed. Since it was free fishing day in New Mexico, young participants from 6 to 11 could fish all day if they desired, but the event closed as children chose prizes, including tackle boxes and a Barbie rod and reel, from those presented for the day by Grants Rotary Club, the Grants/Cibola Chamber of Commerce, Grants MainStreet Project and Future Foundations Family Center.

A big red concession stand, staffed by Romie Jaramillo and other volunteers for sponsoring groups, brought lunch for hungry anglers and catfish fans, offering a free meal at noon.

Kevin Halladay, Aquatic Resources Education representative and Project WILD Coordinator for New Mexico Game and Fish, said about 250 people attended the event. Project WILD is a national award-winning conservation and environmental education curricula for young people from kindergarten to seniors in high school, sponsored by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

Halladay said that this year Riverwalk Pond came under new rules in the annual proclamation issued by the department. In the past, the pond was open to children younger than 12 years old, but with the efforts of City Councilor T. Walter Jaramillo access has been expanded to include seniors and those with qualifying disabilities. Halladay said that last year Jaramillo approached the department to have the rules changed and hit the department at the right time in the process to get the change through in short order. He noted that it is an involved process and usually takes much longer.

How did Saturday’s fishing workshop compare to last year’s? FFFC director Laura Malaj said it was bigger; there were more people there. Halladay said there were more fish there, too.