Three feet of depth at the end of a boat ramp may not seem like much, but at Nee Noshe Reservoir south of Eads, it’s all the difference for boat-based anglers trying to access a dwindling fishery.
Using gravel and Geo-Web, a Division of Wildlife crew recently added 110 linear feet to the ramp. Boats of up to 17 or 18 feet now are able to launch, depending on their degree of draft.
DOW biologist Jim Ramsay reports evaporation has shrunk a reservoir that covers 3,500 surface acres when full to only 600 to 700 acres. Maximum depth in spots is 18 feet. The lake still contains a good population of wiper, saugeye, largemouth and smallmouth bass and catfish. Crappie have dwindled with the habitat.
Neighboring Nee Gronda Reservoir has retained more water – up to 30 feet over 1,900 acres – with good numbers of saugeye, wiper, crappie and catfish, along with some bass.
Only small boats can be launched from the public ramp. The private Cottonwood launch at the north end of the lake is available for larger craft for a $10 fee.
Generally, southeast Colorado fishing has been suppressed by cool water temperatures. Ramsay expects the bite to improve once temperature rises into the 60s, possibly sometime this week.
