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Colorado fishing report, May 26
Published May 26, 2004 at midnight
Southwest region | Northwest region
• Arvada Reservoir - Some walleye are being caught by trolling slowly with a floating leech or worm on a harness and bottom bouncer. Some trout action from shore using Power Bait or salmon eggs.
• Aurora Reservoir - Fair for trout using salmon eggs. Bass are hitting on soft plastics in Senac Cove. Wipers action has been slow. Fair for walleye.
• Barr Lake - Bass are being caught in the tree areas on the north side of the lake. Small Roadrunner lures are most effective.
• Bear Creek - Fish early with Hare's Ear nymphs, small silver Blue Fox spinners or Panther Martins.
• Bear Creek Reservoir - Good for stocker rainbows using worms and rainbow or orange Power Bait.
• Berkeley Lake - Fair for trout with Power Bait or Zeke's Cheese Bait.
• Centennial Park Lake - Rainbow trout are very active. Best action is on minnows off the pier on the west side.
• Chatfield Ponds - The big pond on the east side of the South Platte River is providing good fishing for largemouth bass. Buzzbaits are most effective close to shore while soft plastic worms in black or purple work best in the deeper water. The lakes closest to the main road are fishing well for perch and crappie.
• Chatfield Reservoir - Large numbers of walleye, but many of them undersized, are being caught on leeches using a single hook with a split shot about two feet up the line. Fish along the dam or the buoy line on the south side by the marina. Jigging is best over the old bridge with crawlers or leeches. Smallmouth bass are hitting along the dam.
• Cherry Creek Reservoir - A few wiper have been showing in shallow water along the dam. Use shiners or Rat-L-Traps and shallow-running Shadraps. Walleye are being caught on trolled leeches in 12-foot depths.
• Evergreen Lake - Some rainbows being caught on Power Bait and Crave Bait.
• Georgetown Lake - Best to fish the cleaner water in the lower reach, where small browns and rainbows are being caught on salmon eggs and worms.
• Jim Baker Reservoir - Gulp maggots below a bobber will catch many small bluegill. Trout are being caught in 6-foot depths on Power Bait.
• Main Lake - Bass fishing is slow but they are being caught on Gulp worms dragged on the bottom in shallow water.
• Quincy Reservoir - Excellent for bass. They are spawning along the shoreline and hitting on crankbaits or soft plastics. Slow to fair for trout. Beadhead Prince Nymphs, midge patterns and Pheasant Tails are most effective when fished early mornings and evenings. There have been a few reports of large crappie caught on jigs.
• Rocky Mountain Lake - Fair for stocked rainbow trout. Use Power Bait, worms or Crave Bait.
• Sloans Lake - Slow. Carp are rolling on the surface and can be caught on a piece of corn or Power Strawberry bait.
• Smith Reservoir - Bass are active in the shallows and can be caught on Powercraw plastics.
• South Platte River (Waterton Canyon) - A two-fly rig featuring a Copper John and San Juan Worm has been the most consistent fish-getter.
• Standley Lake - Slow for wipers, crappie and walleye. Stocker trout continue to be caught on Power Bait, worms and spinners.
• Washington Park Lakes - Worms and salmon eggs are catching stocked trout; a few crappie are being taken on live minnows or spinner jigs.
• Webster Lake - Some trout being caught on Power Bait in 8 feet of water.
NORTHEAST REGION
• Barker Reservoir - Fair to good for trout using night crawlers, salmon eggs or Power Bait.
• Bellaire Lake - Good for trout using Sparkle Power Bait, Fireballs, Kastmasters, Little Cleos and small Tasmanian Devils.
• Big Thompson Ponds - Catfish are biting on chicken livers, popcorn shrimp and other baits in the back pond.
• Big Thompson River - Upper river is off-color but very fishable with streamer flies such as Hornbergs, Matukas or Zonkers. Nymphing works on the lower river.
• Boulder Reservoir - Fair for walleye using white or chartreuse Twister tails. Bass are hitting white jigs, minnows or worms off the dams. The inlet and north shore are best for catfish.
• Boyd Lake - Walleye fishing is fair to good with several fish weighing more than 3 pounds caught on Shadraps, harnessed crawlers and white Twister tails. Stocker trout and catfish also biting.
• Carter Lake (west of Loveland) - Some nice walleyes have been caught on Rat-L-Traps and Short Warts.
• Chambers Lake - Brad Pappas reports terrific fishing for rainbow trout with worms, Power Bait or salmon eggs.
• Douglas Reservoir - Stocker trout hitting on Power Bait, Fireballs and red worms.
• Dowdy Lake (Red Feather) - Good for trout after recent stocking.
• East Delaney Lake - Slow. Some anglers have caught trout with Kastmasters, Little Cleos or white plastic jigs.
• Hohnholz Lakes - Fair to good. Bait works best in Lake No. 2 and lures are most effective in Lake No. 3.
• Horsetooth Reservoir - Fair for all species.
• Jackson Lake - Excellent for channel catfish, good to excellent for trout, good for wipers and slow for other species. Fire Tiger Rapalas, Silver Kastmasters and silver Mepps have been most productive for lure casters; night crawlers are the most effective bait. Several 10- to 15-pound channel cats have been caught along the west shore.
• Joe Wright Reservoir - South side is the best place to look for grayling. Slow for trout but improving.
• Jumbo Reservoir - Slow for trout.
• Lake Estes - Good for trout at the inlet with Power Bait, eggs and worms.
• Lake John - Fair to good with salmon eggs, crawlers and Power Bait.
• Laramie River at Hohnholz SWA - Fair with Panther Martin, Vibrax and Mepps Black Fury spinners. Fly fishers working pocket water and still pools have been making nice catches on Matukas, Hornbergs and large black Halfback nymphs.
• Lon Hagler Reservoir - Good for stocker trout on bait, crawlers or minnows.
• Lonetree Reservoir - Fishing for walleyes, wipers and crappie has improved with the return of warmer weather.
• North Michigan Lake - Good at the inlet using small spinners or Hornberg, Halfback and Spruce Fly streamers.
• North Park Streams -Anglers are doing well with Panther Martins, Mepps Black Fury and Vibrax. Fly fishers do best nymphing with Stoneflies, hellgrammites, Prince Nymphs and Hornbergs.
• North Sterling Reservoir - Good for wipers along the dam and main points using crayfish tails, shrimp or night crawlers; good for catfish drifting cutbait or nightcrawlers in the Cunningham Arm or from shore near Sunset Point; fair for walleye and saugeye jigging grubs tipped with live bait in 25-35 feet of water; poor to fair for crappie; fair for trout along the dam on worms and other typical baits.
• Parvin Lake (Red Feather) - Fair to good using Little Tasmanian Devils, Thomas Rough Riders and Kastmasters. Best areas to fish are the southeast side and along the north shore.
• Pinewood Reservoir - Fair to good for stocked trout with bait of all kinds.
• Poudre River - Flow is 610 cubic feet per second, clarity poor but runoff seems to be stabilizing. Fly fishing in the upper part, above Rustic, is fair to good. Lower end is discolored and fly fishing is difficult.
• Seeley Lake - Bass, crappie, panfish and a few trout are being caught on various baits and plastic worms.
• Seymour Reservoir - Good for trout.
• Slack Weiss Reservoir - Good for stocker trout using Panther Martin, Mepps Aglia and Vibrax spinners and bait.
• South Delaney Lake - Good for 10- to 14-inch cutthroats using silver Kastmasters and Thomas Buoyants.
• St. Vrain Ponds (formerly Barbour Ponds) - Good for stocked trout in all three ponds. Some anglers have also been catching bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish.
• St. Vrain River - Fair with bait in pocket water. Fly fishers do better with Flashabou Olives, Beadhead Nymphs and small baetis dry flies.
• Union Reservoir (Calkins Reservoir) - Good for smaller wipers with worms, shrimp, crayfish or mussels. Crappie have started biting on minnows around the pier. Trout fishing is good from shore using worms or Power Bait.
• Watson Lake - Good for smallmouth bass with small crankbaits, plastic worms and topwater plugs. Trout anglers are catching some nice rainbows with Thomas Buoyants, Panther Martins and Vibrax spinners.
• Wellington Reservoir No. 4 - Good for stocker trout with bait.
• West Lake (Red Feather) - Good for stocker trout.
NORTHWEST REGION
• Blue River (below Green Mountain Reservoir) - Flowing low and clear. Blue Wing Olives have been providing good surface action for fly fishers and caddis may start emerging soon.
• Blue River (Dillon to Green Mountain Reservoir) - Flow remains at 52 cfs and fishing is good. Midge and baetis hatches, Blue Wing Olives and mysis shrimp provide good action in the tailwater below Dillon Reservoir.
• Colorado River (below Parshall) - Salmonflies provided incredible fishing for big brown trout last week, but the hatch is tapering off.
• Colorado River (Glenwood to Rifle) - Unfishable.
• Colorado River (near Granby) - Runoff has increased but the river is fishing well. Nymphs and midges work, but surface action is starting to pick up. Dry/dropper rigs, egg patterns and black or olive Woolly Buggers all catch fish.
• Elkhead Reservoir - Crappie are biting in the shallows, bass are becoming more active and trout fishing is good.
• Freeman Reservoir - Good for cutthroat and brook trout.
• Fryingpan River -Clear, flowing at 131 cfs and fishing very well. Hordes of fish are rising to Blue Wing Olives from noon til 4 p.m. Midges and Mysis Shrimp are still out in good numbers below the dam. Smaller patterns Nos. 18-22 size are best with 6X and 7X tippets required.
• Granby Reservoir - Excellent for lake trout and rainbows.
• Grand Lake - Good for rainbows at the river inlet and near the boat ramp.
• Green Mountain Reservoir - Fair. Trout are being caught on Kastmasters, and kokanee salmon are hitting on red or green Needlefish.
• Green River - Running clear. Nymphing with Woolly Buggers, beadheads and scuds works best for fly fishers while lure casters do well with Blue Fox, Mepps or Panther Martin spinners and minnow-type lures such as Rapalas.
• Harvey Gap Reservoir - Excellent for trout, good for crappie. Fishing by the dam has proven to be most consistent. Northern Pike are becoming more active.
• Highline Lake - Good for stocker trout. A few 18- and 19-inchers have been caught along with the stockers. Crappie are starting to bite on crappie jigs.
• Lake Avery - Good for trout with worms and Power Bait.
• Mack Mesa Lake - Good for stocker trout.
• Rifle Gap Reservoir - Excellent for trout using Rapalas, green or silver spinners and waxworms.
• Rio Blanco Lake - Crappie are hitting well on white and yellow jigs. Good for pike.
• Roaring Fork River - Fishing well from Basalt to Aspen with good water clarity. Below the confluence of the Crystal River the river is too high and muddy to fish with much consistency. The upper Fork is seeing good daily hatches of BWOs and caddis. Try Nos. 14-18 Lite Brite Caddis, Breadcrusts, BLMs, Princes and P-Tails.
• Shadow Mountain Reservoir - Early morning and late evening are prime times for trout.
• Stagecoach Reservoir - Good for trout at the inlet; pike fishing is picking up.
• Steamboat Lake - Good. Woolly Buggers and worm/marshmallow combinations have been most successful.
• Vega Reservoir - Very good for trout, especially along the south shoreline. Fish are hitting on Power Bait, salmon eggs, worms, flies and Panther Martin spinners.
• White River - River is still high and fast but clearing nicely from Buford upstream. Anglers have been catching fish with Woolly Buggers, Copper Johns, streamers and other high-visibility flies.
• Williams Fork Reservoir - Good for pike in the shallows, best early in the morning. Kokanee are also hitting well but lake trout have moved into deeper water.
• Williams Fork River - Excellent for rainbows and brown trout using emerger patterns in caddis, Mayflies, Blue Wing Olives and PMDs.
• Willow Creek Reservoir - Very good for rainbow and brown trout. Some anglers are also catching kokanee.
• Wolford Reservoir - Lower lake is clear and fishing is good for splake and rainbow trout, improving for kokanee.
SOUTHEAST REGION
• Adobe Creek Reservoir (Blue Lake) - Some crappie are being caught along with good fishing for blue and channel catfish.
• Anticline Lake - Excellent for stocker trout.
• Arkansas River No. 3 (through Pueblo) - High water is making fishing somewhat difficult.
• Arkansas River (Buena Vista to Salida) - Caddis continue to hatch in the Buena Vista area. Water clarity is variable but has had little impact on fishing over the past few days. Use Nos. 16-18 Caddis on rising fish, use Nos. 14-16 Beadhead Prince Nymphs and Copper Johns subsurface. Spin fishing is good to excellent.
• Arkansas River (Leadville to Buena Vista) - Caddis hatch continues near Granite, 10 miles south of Leadville. Fish are very active on egg-laying caddis in the evening.
• Arkansas River (Salida to Canon City) - Fish the edges with Stonefly Nymphs, Prince Nymphs and Rubberleg Copper Johns. Spin fishing is very productive.
• Beckwith Reservoir - Fishing for warm-water species is improving, especially for catfish.
• Bonny Reservoir - Fishing has picked up. Walleyes are taking night crawlers drifted slowly off boats. Shore casters have been catching white bass and wipers off the face of the dam near East Beach. Some catfish have been taken from shore and from boats with crawlers.
• Brush Hollow Reservoir - Fair to good for most warm-water species.
• Clear Creek Reservoir - Good for trout using Power Bait or salmon eggs. Boaters are having excellent luck with Kastmasters along the south shore.
• Cottonwood Lake - Good for rainbow trout using orange Power Bait or salmon eggs.
• Daigre Reservoir - Fair to good for trout.
• DeWeese Reservoir - Good for stocker trout.
• Elevenmile Reservoir - Fair for all species. Boaters are seeing the best action toward the east end of the lake. Shore anglers are having the most success with bait at Rocking Chair and Witcher's Cove, using salmon eggs, spawn sacs, worms and chartreuse or green glitter Power Bait.
• Fountain Lake - Excellent for trout .
• Hayden Meadows Reservoir - Very good for trout.
• Horseshoe Reservoir - Excellent for trout with some fish reaching 15 inches. A few tiger muskies also have been caught.
• John Martin Reservoir - Crappie bite has slowed though some are still being caught on live minnows fished beneath a bobber at the base of the dam. Fair for wiper and bass.
• Martin Lake - Good for trout with spinners, salmon eggs and Power Bait. Also good for wipers and northern pike.
• Monument Reservoir - Excellent for stocker trout.
• Nee Gronda Reservoir - Fair to good for wipers using Rat-L-Traps, jigs with Twister tails or live minnows fished under a bobber. Saugeye are hitting on jigs and worm rigs and smallmouth bass have been biting well in the trees along the east shoreline. Crappie are becoming more active.
• Nee Noshe Reservoir - Some wipers have been caught on worm rigs. Saugeye are biting on jigs tipped with worms.
• North Lake - Good for trout.
• Pueblo Reservoir - Slow but improving for trout and warm-water species. • Runyon Lake - Excellent for stocker trout.
• San Isabel Lake - Fair to good for stocker trout.
• South Platte River (between Spinney and Elevenmile) - Very good. Rainbows are spawning and hitting on Black Beauties, Beadhead Olive Scuds, peach and apricot egg patterns, red or brown Chironomids, WD-40s, UFOs and olive Woolly Buggers. Hatches include baetis and midges. Flow is 70 cfs.
• Spinney Mountain Reservoir - Shore anglers are doing better than boaters. They are having good action along the North Boat Ramp and Homestake Canal entrance. Tubers are finding fish off the second and third parking lots on the north side. Fish seem to be hanging 5 to 15 feet offshore. A few pike have been caught on black Woolly Buggers and medium-sized rainbow Rapalas.
• Trinidad Reservoir - Good for trout, catfish and bass. Catfish have been hitting in the coves and at the inlet.
• Turks Pond - Fair to good for bass, wipers and saugeyes. Stocker trout continue to be caught on bait and spinners.
• Turquoise Lake - Very good for lake trout and rainbows.
• Twin Lakes - Very good for trout using salmon eggs or Power Bait.
• Wahatoya Reservoir - Fair to good for trout.
SOUTHWEST REGION
• Beaver Creek Reservoir - Anglers are consistently catching rainbow and brown trout, mostly with bait but some with lures.
• Blue Mesa Reservoir - Lake trout fishing has heated up near the dam; large Kwikfish and Bombers trolled 40 to 60 feet deep are most effective. Kokanee salmon also are turning on. Brown trout are hitting well in Iola Basin.
• Echo Canyon Reservoir - Excellent for trout.
• Gunnison River (below Crystal Dam) - Fishing has slowed but there are still caddis and Blue Wing Olive hatches coming off.
• Gunnison River (through the canyon) - Fishing is incredibly good. Salmonflies arrived 10 days ahead of schedule. The big pteronarcys started hatching at the confluence of the North Fork and have moved up to 1 mile below the Smith Fork.
• Gunnison River (Upper from Almont to Blue Mesa) - Best fishing has been close to the bank and under the branches while casting from a raft or dory.
• Jackson Gulch Reservoir - Good for stocker trout. Perch are active along the dam and in deep water.
• McPhee Reservoir - Good for stocker rainbows.
• Mountain Home Reservoir - Good for rainbow trout of 12-15 inches.
• Ridgway Reservoir - Very good for stocker rainbows.
• Road Canyon Reservoir - Good for rainbow trout.
• Taylor Reservoir - A few pike are still being caught in the shallows but the best action now is on rainbow trout, which are being caught on baits and spinners.
• Trujillo Meadows Reservoir - Good for rainbow and brown trout.
• Vallecito Reservoir - Excellent for brown trout and pike.
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