Best brook trout lakes in New Mexico
6 New Mexico waters list brook trout (official records or labelled estimates). Ranked below by size and depth-data quality, leading with the waters in our reviewed search catalog — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. The native char of cold ponds and streams. Needs the coldest, cleanest water in the lake.
- Cabresto Lake — Water guide · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat TroutWhy #1: mapped size signal; check the water page for depth coverage · no verified access record attached
- Hopewell Lake — Water guide · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat TroutWhy #2: mapped size signal; check the water page for depth coverage · no verified access record attached
- Canjilon Lakes — Water guide · Rainbow Trout, Brook TroutWhy #3: mapped size signal; check the water page for depth coverage · no verified access record attached
- Stewart Lake — Water guide · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat TroutWhy #4: mapped size signal; check the water page for depth coverage · no verified access record attached
- Trout Lakes — Water guide · Rainbow Trout, Brook TroutWhy #5: mapped size signal; check the water page for depth coverage · no verified access record attached
…plus 1 more New Mexico waters holding brook trout.
Find the closest brook trout waters to you →
How to use this ranking
The order is a map-planning ranking, not a claim about today's fish population. It favors larger mapped waters and gives survey-backed contours a three-times data-quality boost. Agency population surveys, current regulations, access and recent conditions should make the final decision.
When to fish brook trout in New Mexico
- Spring 2–15 ft — Ice-out scatters brookies along shorelines and inflow mouths, feeding on the first insect activity.
- Summer 10–30 ft — Brookies hold where the coldest water is — spring holes, deep basin edges and inflow plumes.
- Fall 2–15 ft — Fall is the show: brilliant spawning colors on gravel shoals and inflow gravel.
- Winter 3–20 ft — A classic ice-fishing target — active all winter in shallow to mid-depth water.
Also in New Mexico: best largemouth bass lakes · best smallmouth bass lakes · best walleye lakes · best white bass lakes · best northern pike lakes · best crappie lakes · best bluegill lakes · best channel catfish lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best common carp lakes · best brown trout lakes · best kokanee lakes · best cutthroat trout lakes
Brook Trout elsewhere: Ontario · Sweden · Wisconsin · Minnesota · British Columbia · Québec · Michigan · Maine · New Hampshire · New York · Montana · Saskatchewan · Massachusetts · Wyoming · Washington · New Brunswick · Alberta · Connecticut · California · Vermont · Utah · Colorado · Nova Scotia · Idaho · Oregon · Nevada