Waters · Lakes · NM · Fri, Oct 30
Heron Reservoir water level today 7092.03 ft, rising
Bite index 7/10 — Biting — save your energy for the evening.
Worth a cast.
Built from solunar, pressure, level, wind. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.
Today's bite windows
Sunrise 7:28 AM · sunset 6:11 PM · tomorrow's first major 4:57 AM–6:57 AM · windows on every water
Conditions right now
What this means
Heron Reservoir level over the last 8 days
7092.03 ft up 0.04 ft in 24 hours
That sits 100% of the way up the band it has held over the last 9 days, between 7074.68 and 7092.03 ft. Over the week it is up12.71ft.
The week ahead
| Sat | 6 | Biting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 6 | Biting | |
| Mon | 6 | Biting | |
| Tue | 6 | Biting | |
| Wed | 5 | Picky | |
| Thu | 6 | Biting | |
| Fri | 6 | Biting |
Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.
Before you go
A New Mexico fishing license covers this water — $35 a year for residents. NMDOW sets the rules and is the one that counts.
What it costs, and who is exempt →Nearby waters today
- 7 Biting El Vado Lake NM · 12 km
- 7 Biting Navajo Reservoir NM · 76 km
- 7 Biting Blue Mesa Reservoir CO · 202 km
- 8 On fire Jordanelle Reservoir UT · 597 km
- 6 Biting Lake Allatoona GA · 2006 km
Questions people ask about Heron Reservoir
Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Heron Reservoir.
- Is it worth fishing Heron Reservoir today?
- 7 out of 10 — biting. Worth a cast. The strongest stretch is 3:55 AM–5:55 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
- What time should you fish Heron Reservoir?
- Today's major windows run 3:55 AM–5:55 AM and 4:27 PM–6:27 PM, with minor windows at 12:12 PM–1:12 PM and 9:45 PM–10:45 PM. Sunrise is 7:28 AM and sunset 6:11 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
- What is the water temperature at Heron Reservoir?
- No gauge on Heron Reservoir measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 50.8°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KLAM (Los Alamos Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.
- What is the water level at Heron Reservoir right now?
- 7092.03 ft, the reading for October 29 from the Heron Reservoir and Dam gauge run by the USBR, which publishes one value a day. Over 24 hours it is up 0.04 ft.
- Are water levels rising or falling at Heron Reservoir?
- Rising. The lake is up 0.04 ft in 24 hours and up 12.71 ft over the week. Over the last 9 days it has held between 7074.68 and 7092.03 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.
- Can you eat the fish you catch in Heron Reservoir?
- That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. New Mexico Environment Department publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where mercury, PCB and DDT advisories are listed per water in a chart linked from that page. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.
- Do you need a licence to fish Heron Reservoir?
- Yes. A New Mexico fishing license covers this water, required from age 12. NMDOW sets the rules and is the one that counts.
- What size fish can you keep in New Mexico?
- It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass, catfish (all species except bullheads), crappie, striped bass. Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.
Largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass limits · Catfish (all species except bullheads) limits · Crappie limits · Striped bass limits · Check a length against the rules
Where these numbers come from
- Solunar computed 8:44 AM
- NOAA KLAM Los Alamos Airport 7:55 AM
- NOAA ABQ gridded forecast 6:02 AM
- USBR Heron Reservoir and Dam daily reservoir operations Oct 29
Read at the dam on Willow Creek by the Bureau of Reclamation once a day. No temperature sensor.
No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.