Calladito Lakes

Calladito Lakes is a reservoir in McKinley County, New Mexico, and covers about 9.4 acres, reaches about 6.9 feet at its deepest point and holds roughly 36 acre-feet.

The small size of Calladito Lakes makes quiet casts and short moves more useful than carrying a pile of tackle. With little deep water in Calladito Lakes, weeds, wind, and water color can matter more than depth alone.

Fish and Baits

Fish listed for Calladito Lakes include Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Green Sunfish, and Largemouth Bass.

Start the bluegill search on Calladito Lakes by trying to use a small jig, worm, or tiny plastic around green weeds and protected pockets.

Targeting largemouth bass calls for a plan to fish a soft plastic, jig, or spinnerbait around weeds and protected cover.

To begin with channel catfish on Calladito Lakes, fish cut bait or a nightcrawler on the bottom along a channel edge or warm flat.

How to Read the Water

Before changing spots on Calladito Lakes, start where two things meet: weeds and open water, rock and mud, a point and a drop, or clear water and dirty water; fish that edge at more than one depth before leaving it.

Season by Season

Use this plain plan on Calladito Lakes: in spring, start with warming banks, creek mouths, and shallow cover; summer usually pushes the better bite toward the outside weed edge or a nearby drop; fall can bring bait back to windblown points, while winter calls for smaller moves and a slower pace.

A Simple Tackle Plan

For a short trip to Calladito Lakes, a medium spinning rod, 8-pound line, a small box of jigs, a few crankbaits, and a simple bottom rig cover most situations; change depth or speed before changing every piece of tackle.

While fishing Calladito Lakes, record the wind, water color, productive depth, and cover after a bite; those four notes are more useful on the next trip than a long list of spots that did not produce.