With the record-warm weather this week lots of good things are starting to happen - lake temps rising, runoff starting, and mountain lakes opening up.
The lakes in NoCo have seen the waters flirting with 50 degree morning water temps and low to mid 50s in the afternoon. With the late spring and some calm warm days recently these temps have jumped quickly on the surface but the fish activity isn’t matching. I think the late spring with colder temps still has the water colder in the depths and fish are acting like they are a week or two behind normal.
The runoff is starting with the melting of the lower elevation snow. This is showing up in increase streamflows (most have increased close to 3x from just over a week ago) and additional inlet ditches starting to take water. This week the ditch that fills Lake Loveland has turned on and currently flowing about 100 cfs. Here are some of the current streamflows:
Poudre - 214 cfs at canyon mouth
Big Thompson - 137 cfs above the canyon, and 82.7 cfs below Lake Estes
St. Vrain - 29.3 cfs at Lyons
South Platte - 38.9 cfs below Chatfield
The ice is starting to leave some of the mountain lakes. Ice off can be some of the best fishing for shore anglers and for the biggest fish in the system. Here is an update on some of the more popular mountain locations.
Red Feather Lakes - West is almost ice free, Dowdy has about 1/4 ice free along the edges.
Antero - starting to see some open water. (Road closure starting soon - see below)
Eleven Mile - mostly open
Spinney - will be opening April 21. Hand launched craft will be allowed, no motor boats at this time.
This past week I was spedning time on Boyd and Union. Boyd’s water temp yesterday was 49.3 degrees at sunrise and I saw 54 degrees midafternoon. The northern shore still seems to holding the most fish, with big schools of white bass and adult shad. White bass are being caught casting spoons and trolling shad imitating crank baits. Trout are being caught through out the lake with the best area being the southern end using shallow diving stick baits like a Rapala Husky Jerk or bottom bouncers and spinners. Union is running similar temps. The lake is down a little but expecting water fairly soon to top off. The best bite has been trolling with leadcore in the 12-18’ depth range or extremely slow presentation with nightcrawlers. The is a big concentration of adult shad in the NW end of the lake. The warming water has shad thinking about spawning. It’s still too cold for anything to happen but it is causing them to move towards the warmer shorelines. I did watch CPW stock about 3K trout in Union on Monday, this should provide some good action for the next couple weeks.
A few other updates: The local pond bites are picking up. Lots of bass being reported and panfish bite is picking up. Still need to use slower presentation and some people are finding the bluegill suspending in the afternoons. Chatfield is still fishing good to great for walleye both day and night, the smallmouth are picking up as well. This weekend the CWT tournament planned for Cherry Creek has been moved to Chatfield. If you don’t like fishing in crowds it might be a good weekend to look elsewhere. Cherry Creek bite is starting to pick up, with walleyes moving out into the basin. Trolling cranks slow in that area is producing some nice fish. Be patient and change lures often if you are running through fish and not getting bit. Out in the NE Jackson has been fishing slow, and the Jumbo boat ramp will be opening Saturday.
A few other lake notes. Most of the lakes in the Denver area have stable water levels. The inlet ditch at Jumbo has shut off. Carter and Horsetooth continue to fill.
Snowpack is dropping with the warmer temps, lets hope the little colder weather the next few days brings snow to the mountains. The South Platte is currently at 101% of normal snow pack.
This Saturday I will be on with Terry Wickstrom Outdoors at 9:45 am talking front range fishing. Tune into Terry’s show from 9a-11a on 104.3 The Fan.
I’ll be at St. Vrain on Sturday for the Family Fishing event from 9a-2p. Stop by and say hi. I have lots of giveaway from Scheels and some discount coupons!
ALERT
South Park road closure that will impact Antero access.
Hwy 24 will be closed from Hartsel to Antero Junction for culvert replacements starting April 17 and running for 21 days min.
CPW NEWS
A new director for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been selected, Jeff Davis from the state of Washington. Jeff will be starting May 1. This was announced in a DNR press release. The unique thing is as of this morning CPW website has said nothing about the new director. Let’s hope the new director will listen to the voice of the anglers of Colorado. I look forward to learning more about him and getting a chance to talk to him.
Sandy flesh disease found in a walleye at Pueblo Reservoir. Sandy flesh is a disease mainly found in older walleyes. Typically it is found in a very small portion of the population in any body of water infested with it. The flesh has spots of sandy color found when cleaning the fish. If you find a fish with sandy flesh; take pictures, report to CPW, and do not eat.
Recent trout stockings in NoCo: Elhrich in Milliken, Loveland service pond in Loveland, City Park in Fort Collins, and I watched 3k trout get stocked in Union Reservoir in Longmont on Monday.
FLP FISHING TIP: Location - Low water and Mapping
As I mentioned I've been on Boyd and Union this week. Boyd is 19 feet low and Union is a lake that doesn’t have a map. While on these lakes I spent some time doing a couple things that will benefit me finding fish in the future.
First, when a lake is low I take time to drive around or walk the shoreline to look for unique feature that could hold fish when the lake fills up. (I make notes in my phone so I don’t forget.) Some of the things I look for is: depth changes, rocks, bottom transitions (like mud to sand), variation in rocks, and vegetative growth. Vegetative growth holds nutrients that will be released as they decompose when the lake fills back up. These nutrients increase plankton in the area, attracting minnow/young of the year fish which brings the gamefish. Take time to note what water level these spots will be best as the lake fills and drops in the future. Some of these spots will be good at full pool, while others might be better as the lake is at lower levels. Also take a look for fish structure not quite out of the water. Here is a picture of one of the fish structures I assisted Centennial Bass Club and CPW install a few years ago in Boyd.
Second, I took the time to create a map of Union. Many of the depth finders from all 3 big manufactures will create maps from their sonar data. You just need to record the data - while you are fishing or take some dedicated time to make the map. I took about 8 hours to create a detailed map of the breaks on Union, the no wake speed limit caused it to take a little more time. This map will help find similar break lines along the lake or follow a weedline that is at a certain depth. All this information makes fishing more efficient in future.
Next time these opportunities arise use them to benefit future fishing success.
FISHING FUNNIES
How many of you are the same? I just bought a couple new rods this week. I’ll do a product review once I’ve had a chance to give them a good test.
Been following along for a couple months and just subscribed - great content and I appreciate the detail. I remembered seeing the post that Boyd put in some structure but still haven't been able to find it while driving around. Will keep a closer eye out with it being so close to the surface right now! Thanks again.