EAGLE NEST, NM - Eagle Nest Lake State Park hosted an Ice Fishing Tournament on Saturday, January 28, 2017. 258 participants braved the -22 temperature to compete for $3,930 in prize money. This event was co-sponsored by the Friends Group of Eagle Nest Lake and Cimarron Canyon State Parks in cooperation with the Eagle Nest Chamber of Commerce and the NM Department of Game and Fish.

"This year, we had an incredible amount of participation with anglers, families and on-lookers who braved the frigid temperatures to come out and have a family, fun day out on the lake," said Christy Tafoya, Director of New Mexico State Parks. She added, "We are grateful to our co-sponsors for making this event a huge success!"

The 258 fishermen participating in the Ice Fishing Tournament came to Eagle Nest Lake State Park from all directions - as close as Angel Fire and from the north, as far away as Cheyenne, Wyoming, Colorado and the Raton area. From the south, anglers came from Clovis, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Taos and places in between. From the east, some came from Amarillo, Texas.

Prize Money Awarded:

Trout/Salmon Winning Fish were caught by:

1st 21" Trout by Michael A. Salazar, Santa Rosa - $627
2nd 20-3/8" Trout by Roderick Lujan, Las Vegas, NM - $470
3rd 19-3/8" Trout by Joe Montoya, Ranchos de Taos - $313
4th 18-1/2" Trout by Nathan Pratt, Albuquerque - $156

Perch Winning Fish were caught by:

1st 10-5/8" Perch by Jacob Montez, Taos - $477
2nd 10" Perch by Marcos Romo, Taos - $357
3rd 9-7/8" Perch by Joshua Kitting, Tijeras - $238
4th 9-1/8" Perch by Matthew Monjaras, Tijeras - $119

Pike - No pike were caught by the fishermen entering the Pike category with $650 in prize money.

Creel Category - Points for total fish caught in entered categories:

1st 39 Points by Nathan Pratt, Albuquerque - $210
2nd 33 Points by Matthew Peterson, Los Alamos $157
3rd & 4th Place tied at 30 points each:
Mike Davis, Clovis - $78.00
Casey Davis, Cerro - $78.00

The ice and weather stats on fishing day were: the ice thickness was 13 inches, the temperature at 6 a.m. was -22 degrees, the tournament ended at 2 p.m. with the temperature at 27 degrees. The winds averaged 15 mph. Participants stated that the sun was shining, making it a beautiful day to be outdoors ice fishing and winning cold, hard cash and fabulous prizes!

For more information and current updates about the lake's ice conditions, please contact Eagle Nest Lake State Park, (575) 377-1594. For questions about fishing in northeastern New Mexico, call the Department Game and Fish, (575) 445-2311.

Information also is available on the Department of Game and Fish or New Mexico State Parks respective websites, www.wildlife.state.nm.us and www.nmparks.com