Current Colorado Fishing Report

Below you can find current, up to date lake and reservoir fishing reports for Antero, Blue Mesa, 11 Mile, Spinney, and Morrow Point. These fishing reports are a direct result of Sport Fish Colorado's adventures on the water so you know that the information is current and accurate! Each report has a title that identifies when each lake was fished and we try to include as much relevant information as possible in each report. Our goal is for our fishing reports to act as a fishing guide that helps take some of the guesswork out of your next fishing experience. Please enjoy!!! (Sport Fish Colorado follows all bag and possession limits and does not endorse breaking any of the Colorado Division of Wildlife's rules!)

May 7, 2012 Blue Mesa Fishing Report: Big Full Moon changes bite..slightly!

Water Temp: 48-50
Inflow (cfs): 1039
Outflow (cfs): 875
Lake Elevation: 7483'
Boat Ramp Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Marinas: Elk Creek- Open 7-5 Lake Fork-Closed

Fishing continues to be good across Blue Mesa Reservoir, despite the very bright, full moon! Rainbow trout, brown trout, and lake trout fishing has gotten a little tougher over the last few days, but the kokanee salmon bite has been excellent!

Rainbow & Brown Trout- We have been finding rainbows and browns most consistently in 5-20 feet of water along rip rap shorelines. Crankbaits, jerkbaits, and maribou jigs have been consistent producers as well as kastmasters, krocodiles, and blue fox spinners. Casting, trolling, and jigging have all been working.

Mackinaw Lake Trout- we are finding these fish in 20-60 feet of water. Fish are roaming several different types of structure right now, but the edges of flats in 40-60 are holding the best numbers of fish. Trolling some type of rainbow or salmon imitation or jigging a tube jig or Berkley gulp! minnow has been most effective.

Kokanee Salmon- Every day has been a little bit different. One day we were catching these fish at 25' consistently when the clouds moved in and the action DIED! I brought a leadcore up to one color (5') and the action resumed! About an hour later, the clouds cleared out and our shallow bite died so I dropped a down rigger to 30' and once again, we were back in the action! These fish move up and down a lot depending on the conditions so don't lock yourself in to a certain depth. Pinks, oranges, greens, and reds have all been producing on our favorite Rocky Mountain Tackle squids and spinners and our Lazer hooks from Eagle Claw! Tip these with white shoe peg corn and run them behind a Rocky Mountain Tackle dodger.

*** Come tune your kokanee salmon skills up at Sportsman's Warehouse in Colorado Springs this Saturday at 12 noon, where we will be giving a seminar on how to consistently find and catch these fish!

April 25, 2012 Colorado Fishing Report: Now it feels like spring on Big Blue!

Water Temp: 48-50
Inflow (cfs): 646
Outflow (cfs): 1277
Lake Elevation: 7484'
Boat Ramp Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Marinas: Closed

Blue Mesa came alive this weekend with nearly as much boat traffic as the 4th of July!!! Fishing was excellent with limits of kokanee being caught as well as some trophy lake trout. Unfortunately, a lot of the bigger fish I heard about being caught were killed including the beautiful monster that I released one week ago. The only reason I am sure it is the same fish is a divot out of the top of this old fish's tail where some white coloration had grown in. Catch and release works, especially on fish that are 20-40+ years old! That fish gave me a memory I will never forget and the guy who caught it yesterday a memory he will never forget, but the lifetime memories for that fish stop here. PLEASE consider getting a replica if you are fortunate enough to catch a trophy! Replicas last a lot longer and look just as good! I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is very important if we as fishermen and women want to sustain a fishery with trophy lake trout! Check out the trophy lake trout under water release video below! The surface temps jumped up 5 degrees yesterday and the salmon came up with them! We are finding salmon from the surface down to 40 feet and catching them on the usual array of dodgers, spinners, squids, and spoons. The color changes daily so try several until you dial them in. The trout fishing is still good, but they are going to drop deeper as the water temps rise.

April 16, 2012 Colorado Fishing Report: Now it feels like spring on Big Blue!

Water Temp: 41-43
Inflow (cfs): 708
Outflow (cfs): 886
Lake Elevation: 7485'
Boat Ramp Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Marinas: Closed

The last four days have felt a lot more like spring time conditions, with cold temps, snow, and lots of wind! Fishing has been consistent for all species, although bite windows vary day to day. The weather really fired up the kokanee salmon and on Saturday I thought my sonar was on demo mode because they were EVERYWHERE!!! Last week I had the opportunity to take a couple of my buddies from high school fishing. We had a tough day of fishing in the cold, but were blessed with an incredible fish! This lake trout was very old and as a result, very big! We took very special care in handling her and releasing her and she swam away strong to grow and give somebody else a chance at a memory that we now share! Practice CPR (catch, photo, release) on trophy lake trout because it takes these fish 15-20 years to grow to 20 lbs! If you are blessed with the opportunity to catch a trophy lake trout, handle it with caution. Keep your hands out of its gills. Never hold or weigh it vertically. Support it's body evenly so that no damage occurs to its vertebrae. We use a cradle to weigh and release our fish. This tool is very handy and protects these awesome specimens! Help us spread the word about protecting these trophy lake trout!

April 9, 2012 Colorado Fishing Report: Blue Mesa is about 100% ice free!!!

Water Temp: 40-44
Inflow (cfs): 938
Outflow (cfs): 662
Lake Elevation: 7485'
Boat Ramp Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Marinas: Closed

Fishing continues to be excellent! All species are biting and the lake is 100% ice free. It's hard to not find fish! Kokanee are all across the lake in 5-40 fow, rainbows and browns are cruising shallow over deep water and concentrated along rocky shorelines and lake trout have been the toughest to find, but they are showing up on flats, humps, and points as usual. There is now a courtesy dock at Lake Fork and Elk Creek is supposed to have one soon!

April 5, 2012 Colorado Fishing Report: Blue Mesa is about 90% ice free!!!

Water Temp: 39-43
Inflow (cfs): 938
Outflow (cfs): 662
Lake Elevation: 7485'
Boat Ramp Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Marinas: Closed

Today was our third day on the open water and the 2012 season is off to an exciting start! The trout fishing is off the hook, some nice lake trout have been showing up and today we did a number on the kokanee! I anticipate this year to be incredible for kokanee salmon and I think today was just a sneak peak at what the future holds! I have seen some incredibly large schools of salmon in the last few days. Water temps are sitting between 39-43 degrees across the lake and as the water warms the fishing should only get better. Fish are holding in large concentrations in certain areas so keep moving until you start seeing fish on the finder. These areas are changing daily as the fish are moving a lot in search of food so don't "fish a memory!" Fish rocky shorelines for trout and look in 5-50' of water for salmon. The lake trout are spread out and at every depth right now so the key is to cover a lot of water to find them. If you want to fill your freezer with salmon or get in on some incredible fishing action give us a call today! Dates are limited!

March 28, 2012 Colorado Fishing Report: Ice out is near or here for most Colorado lakes and reservoirs!!!

An above average warm winter is resulting in earlier than normal ice-out conditions. Antero, 11 Mile, and Blue Mesa are all starting to show areas of fishable open water! I had one last ice trip on Blue Mesa yesterday. We left around noon and I wouldn't advise anyone getting on Blue Mesa ice any more this year. Taylor still has 30" of good ice with minimal snow and slush on top. Eleven Mile is about 80% open water and Antero is close to that. ICE OUT is here!!! This is one of the most fun trout action times of the year so, be sure to take advantage of it! Large numbers of hungry fish are going to be cruising shallow looking for an easy meal! If you are interested in a trip now or during some of our peak kokanee fishing times, please call and reserve your preferred date(s) soon because a lot of the better fishing times are booking up fast!