September Blue Mesa Fishing Report: The season is changing, but fishing is still pretty good!

Whew!  August was a blur!  Fishing was good to excellent overall!  We are now approaching the tail end of the salmon season for 2012.  Fishing is still fair and even sometimes good for the mature kokanee if you run in to the right school at the right time.  The trout bite is starting to wake up with cooler mornings and water temperatures dropping back down into the 60’s.  During the fool moon, we had a couple of good night bites for browns and rainbows!  From here on out, we will ride out the last of the mature kokanee jigging schools and then switch over to chasing trout, younger salmon, and eventually lake trout!  Stay tuned for more fall action!

Trout- Rainbows are showing up from the surface down to 42′.  The Lake City Bridge inlet has been good early in the mornings as well as some of the major coves from Old Stevens to the Bay of Chickens!  Some anglers have been doing well trolling z-rays, rooster tails, kastmasters, and tazmanian devils in 1-25′ of water for more rainbows.  You can usually see a lot of rainbows feeding on the surface in the morning when the water is calm.  Browns can be found most consistently in 5-70 feet of water along rip rap shorelines and off of the points. They are shallow early and late in the day and then they drop back down into deeper water.  Crankbaits, jerkbaits, and maribou jigs have been consistent producers as well as kastmasters, krocodiles, and blue fox spinners.  Think CRAWDADS!

Lake Trout- Mackinaw fishing has slowed, but some decent fish are still being caught from 80-140′.   These fish are roaming several different types of structure such as points, humps, sunken islands, and flats as well as suspending out over deep water.  Trolling some type of rainbow or salmon imitation or jigging a tube jig with sucker meat or Berkley gulp! minnow has been most effective, although we have been catching some nice lake trout on unorthodox trolling gear as well.  REMEMBER:  it is our duty as anglers to preserve the trophy Lake Trout aspect that Blue Mesa offers!  If you are blessed with the opportunity to catch a trophy Lake Trout (30″+) consider CPR (Catch, Photo, Release) and get a replica made!

 Kokanee Salmon-   Trolling has been fair from 30-80′ depending on the part of the lake you are on.  Change depths frequently until you find results.  These fish move up and down a lot depending on the conditions so don’t lock yourself in to a certain depth.  Knowing how to read your fish finder is a critical skill in consistently catching these fish.  All colors have been producing depending on the day, but chartruse, pink, orange, white, and green have been the most consistent.  Rocky Mountain Tackle squids and spinners and Radical Glow spinners and tubes accompanied by our Lazer hooks from Eagle Claw have been hot!  This stuff is the hottest kokanee gear on the market!  As usual, tip your offering with white shoe peg corn and run them behind a Rocky Mountain Tackle dodger.  If you find a school to jig, try a Pk Panic spoon!  These spoons have been red hot when other lures are slow!