The latest was released by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife office on Tuesday.
Metro Denver Area
Chatfield Reservoir
The water levels are normal and visibility is around 6 to 8 feet. Fishing is great for all species right now. The bass fishing is great with a slip bobber along the dam with minnows, leeches and worms. Try using soft plastics in the shallow water on the south end of the lake near Catfish Flats. The trout fishing has also been great with slip bobbers, worms, spinner baits and traditional PowerBait rigs. Most of the trout have been caught off the handicap pier and off the point extending out from the marina into Roxborough Cove. The walleye fishing is doing great on Lindy rigs with jigs tipped with worms and blade baits.
Northeast Colorado
Barr Lake
The current water temperature is 75 degrees with water clarity around 3 feet. The fishing is hot right now for walleye. Jigging and slip bobbers are producing limits. Speed is key. Focus on 10 to 16 feet of water near weed lines. The perch fishing is starting to pick up. Fish are showing up around shallow weeds but still staying deep. Look for fish sitting on the first depth change around shallow weeds. Small jigs with a piece of night crawler dragged or with a slip bobber will catch fish. These fish are also catchable from shore as the summer goes on and the water level falls. The wiper are being caught early and late in the day from shore. Worms and mussels are the best bait for shore anglers. Casting spoons and lipless crank baits have been catching fish from boat and shore. Boat anglers are doing best with jerk baits and lipless crank baits. Follow the birds and find the bait. The trout fishing has been tough lately, but a few fish are being caught early, and boaters have to go deep to reach these fish. Use spoons, wobblers and small crank baits with snap weights or down riggers to get the baits down.
Eleven Mile Reservoir
The trout fishing continues to heat up, with anglers catching their limits with very little effort. Fishing from boat and shore are both very productive. Pink continues to be an effective lure color, along with red and orange lures. Anglers should be fishing in the deeper water with Needlefish and Tasmanian Devil lures. The kokanee salmon fishing has improved dramatically this week. The salmon have been found about 40 to 50 feet below the surface biting on pink Tasmanian Devil lures. The pike action remains sporadic, but anglers are having luck fishing deep near Deer Island.
Jackson Lake
The lake level is currently full. The current surface water temperature is approximately 77 degrees. Fishing has picked up lately. The fishing has been fair to good for wipers, walleye, drum, and trout.
North Sterling
The lake is currently about 78 degrees. Shrimp were the bait of choice this weekend catching catfish, walleye, wiper, and crappie. The west trailhead, the inlet canal and Balance Rock were the main shore fishing spots for catfish, walleye and crappie. Curly tails and jigs worked to catch crappie and walleye off the Marina Point. Wiper are still biting on leeches and minnow mimics. Some walleye, wiper and crappie have come out on worms. Wiper have mostly been caught off of Darby Point, Elks Bay, and the east and west side of the south boat ramp parking lot. A 28-inch northern pike and a 29-inch walleye came out this weekend.
South Platte River Dream Stream
Despite the low flows on the Dream Stream, anglers are still catching fish. Flows were dropped a few days ago due to the lack of downstream demand and an effort to fill Spinney Reservoir. Incoming flows are nearly 320 cubic feet per second, so the lake is filling, slowly but surely. The city of Aurora expects the lake to fill by the end of the month. Once the lake fills and there is downstream demand, look for flows to improve. Current hatches include caddis, yellow sallies, pale morning duns and tricos. Anglers are catching a mixed bag of rainbow, cut bow, brown trout, and the occasional Snake River cutthroat. It is not a bad idea to carry some bug spray because the mosquitoes are starting to become a problem in some areas. (Courtesy of )
Spinney Mountain Reservoir
The south boat ramp is still closed. Anglers are catching trout along the east shorelines and near the islands. The pike action remains sporadic, but anglers are catching some pike on Rapalas.
Vega Reservoir
The lake is full and all three boat ramps are open. Fishing has slowed down a bit, however, some anglers are catching rainbow trout in the 12- to 16-inch range using PowerBait, spinners, worms and salmon eggs. All boats must have an inspection prior to launching.
Southeast Colorado
Arkansas Headwaters
The upper river is coming into prime form. The water is still high and swift, but shoreline habitat is opening up and summer hatches are getting underway. Yellow sallies, caddis, and crane flies are all active on the upper river at this time. Anglers should be cautious with this flow, but cherry picking the slow shoreline lanes should produce well this week. Flows in the middle river are slowly receding, though clarity has improved dramatically. Each day will incrementally provide more shoreline habitat, improving the fishing as we go. Big dries, dry-dropper rigs and streamers all fished selectively in the best holding water will definitely produce well this week. Flows are still high and fast on the lower river, but clarity has improved and fish are returning to feeding stations where structure exists to break up the current. Golden stonefly patterns and streamers should work great this week.
Clear Creek Reservoir
Trout angling from a boat and shore has been slow at Clear Creek Reservoir. Most of the reported catches from anglers consisted of homogeneous groups of 8- to 12-inch rainbow trout. A few anglers reported landing rainbow trout in the 18- to 25-inch range. The best trout fishing has been in the morning. In less windy conditions, fly fishermen were able to catch trout on dry flies resembling ants. Fishing with Thomas Buoyant lures from a boat has been the best method to catch trout. Trolling for trout at the southern part of the reservoir with a cowbell and worm combination worked well too. The kokanee salmon fishing has been very slow. Successful boat anglers targeting kokanee salmon caught the fish at dawn. The best tiger muskie fishing has been in the afternoon and evening. Tiger muskie went for rainbow Rapalas at the eastern part of the reservoir. Several anglers reported tiger muskie following a lure up to a boat but not striking the lure. The reservoir is closed to trailer motorized watercrafts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The current boating hours are from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
John Martin Reservoir
The reservoir is currently at 187,000 acre feet and the current water temperature is about 78 degrees. Anglers are still catching a lot of white bass and small wiper on the reservoir. There are still not many reports of crappie, walleye, or saugeye being caught. Fishing at the spillway is slow to moderate with some reports of catfish being caught. There are currently two gates open. Lake Hasty is still fishing alright in morning and evening, but slows down during the heat of the day.
Lathrop
Anglers are having luck pulling in stocked trout on both lakes. Martin is providing great northern pike fishing using spinners. The stocked trout are being caught on PowerBait and night crawlers. No reports of muskie or walleye have come in lately. Stop by the visitor center to show off your catch and get in the book.
North Gateway Park
Rainbow trout and Snake River cutthroat trout from 10 to 18 inches continue to be caught despite the summer heat. The recent rains cooled the water temperature making the fish want to bite again. Anglers are using any type of PowerBait and various lures to catch fish. Smaller crappie, bass, and catfish are being caught on the west side of pond No. 1. Driving access is now open to the public to the back two ponds. There is one road leading to the south side of the ponds and the parking lot is between ponds #2 and #3.
Turquoise Lake
The lake is starting to rise. With the recent increased water levels, boat fishing success is starting to increase. The fishing from shore is really good for both rainbow and lake trout.
Twin Lakes
The lakes are still low, although the runoff is starting to increase water levels. Fishing from boats has been fair, for both rainbow trout and lake trout. Fishing from shore is starting to pick up, especially near the power plant. Anglers are reporting lake trout being caught from shore with both sucker meat and PowerBait.
Northwest Colorado
Colorado River
Water conditions are improving every day on the Colorado River. Flows are dropping to around 2,400 cfs, creating much better fishing. The best fishing is downstream of Pumphouse. Nymph fishing is the most productive method throughout the day, while the streamer and dry fly fishing is great later in the day. Do not be afraid to use big streamers. Expect to see large hatches of stoneflies, caddis and PMDs.
Elkhead Reservoir
The current water temperature is at 71 degrees. The pike, bass and crappie are biting very well on a variety of lures.
State Forest State Park
Fishing is currently very abundant and fishing is good throughout the park. The fish are biting on everything from worms to cast masters. Fly anglers are having success on dry flies in the evening.
Southwest Colorado
Navajo Reservoir
The water temperature is currently at 72 degrees. The bass fishing has been excellent and the crappie fishing has slowed down some.
Ridgway Reservoir
The water temperature is currently at 64 degrees at the swim beach. The fishing has been moderate due to the high spring run-off. We have seen brown trout up to 11 pounds and rainbow trout up to 22 inches long. For the brown trout, try using a rainbow Rapala, and for the rainbow trout try using a Kastmaster, red or yellow rooster-tail, and worms.
Taylor Park Reservoir
Shore and boat fishing around 18 feet deep with green or orange PowerBait is working to catch nice sized rainbow trout. Trolling with cowbells or small lures is also producing nice rainbow trout around 20 feet down. The lake trout are biting sucker meat and worms on the bottom anchored in 60 to 80 feet of water along river channels and drop offs. Using down riggers and trolling Apex or Little Cleo in 60 to 80 feet is also a good method to get your possession limit in a short amount of time. Small northern pike are biting lures but the larger ones are only biting bait off the bottom in 10 to 20 feet of water. The kokanee salmon are still a mystery. The water level is perfect for shore fishing. The surface water temperature is holding around 57 degrees. The winning fish from the June 11 pike derby was a 42 ½ inch 24.25 pounder.
