A few fish some days, but every day is different!

We have seen a few nice big salmon come out over the last few weeks, but the bite is still tough and it seems like every day is completely different! The lake is still close to full and most all of the debris has beached itself. Most of our days have had mornings that start off in the low to mid 40’s and afternoons in the mid to upper 70’s with the occasional 80+ degree day!  We have seen some windy conditions in the afternoon.

There was some really bad news annonced earlier this spring. Blue Mesa has been confirmed to have gill lice. I have now witnessed it in 5 fish; 2 were rainbow trout and 3 were kokaee salmon.  Each fish has only had one parasite, which is good for survival, but this is the early stages of potential catastrophie.  We can only hope that Blue Mesa isn’t hit as hard as 11 Mile.

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Kokanee Salmon- the bite continues to be tough!  The fish are spread out across the lake and throughout the water column.  Most fish are showing up in 30-50′ in the morning and dropping to 40-80 when the sun gets high, but there are fish shallower and deeper!  This morning, we caught a 4 yr old salmon on the surface, which caught me off guard.  Experimentation is key and every day is totally different as far as what the salmon want so don’t get stuck fishing a memory!  Tip your lures with corn to help your confidence and increase odds. Persistence, experimentation, and patience is key.  Plan on cycling through LOTS of Rocky Mountain Tackle & Radical Glow lures as the fish are picky most days!

Trout- the trout fishing is still fair to good, but like the salmon, plan on seeing a lot of fish that don’t bite!  Most of our trout have been coming in the top 20′ of water, with some browns coming deeper.  Experiment with Rocky Mountain Tackle and Radical Glow Spinners, Venator lures, Kokanee Killers, Arnies, Kastmasters, and whatever else you have in your tackle box!

Lake Trout- Slow. We have been catching a few smaller ones while trolling for salmon, but overall the bite is slow.

Perch- Fishing is good for numbers! You can find perch anywhere you find submerged brush in 5-25′ of water. Use a small jig or spoon and tip with a piece of shrimp or worm!