Blue Mesa Fishing Report: water temps and levels have been on the rise!

The lake has been on the rise as daytime temperatures continue to increase! As a result, we are starting to see some random floating debris and the surface temperatures have climbed into the 48-51 degree range. The Lake Fork and Elk Creek boat ramps are open from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the Elk Creek Marina is currently open. Lake Fork Marina should be open soon. A lot of days we have seen some bad weather, but it seems like the colder days are past us now.

Rainbow & Brown Trout- fishing has been good, but conditions have changed with the water levels and temps rising. Ten days ago, you could fish almost any rocky shoreline and find fish, but now the fish that are shallow seem to be very concentrated. Covering a lot of water is key. Jerk baits, maribou jigs, spoons, and a variety of other baits have all been working, but Jerk baits and jigs are the ticket right now! Trolling has also been producing with rainbows primarily hanging in the top 10 feet of the water column and brown trout spending a lot of time in the 30-50 foot range.

Kokanee salmon- The kokanee salmon bite continues to be hot for this time of year! As the water has warmed, we have seen the salmon activity increase. Some mornings they seem to short strike the bait a lot, but as the day goes on the bite gets better. If you see a lot of fish on your fish finder, fish the depths you see them. If you don’t see a lot of fish on the fish finder, work the top 20 feet of the water column. Every day has been different as far as where the big concentrations are holding. You would think colder water means troll slow, but we have had success trolling in the 1.8 range some days! The fish have not been very picky at all. Rocky Mountain Tackle Spinners and Squids and Radical Glow Spinners have been dominating! Good colors have been pink, orange, green, and purple.

Yellow Perch- I’ve heard of a few caught, but have not fished for them.

Lake Trout- ice-off/spring is a well-known window to target trophy lake trout! However, this doesn’t necesarrily mean that it’s easy, it just means that there are a lot more opportunities. These big fish are old and smart and since the CPW started netting and removing them in 2009, we have not seen the numbers of trophy fish that were present in the early to mid 2000’s. We don’t keep many lake trout and release all lake trout over 22″ to help ensure that there will be a trophy population of lake trout into the future. Blue Mesa is a unique fishery and it is extremely important that we protect the trophy lake trout resource! Blue Mesa is capable of growing lake trout that some people are willing to drive as far as Canada to catch and we are blessed to have it in our very own state! If you are blessed with the fish of a lifetime, please consider getting a length and girth measurement, some good pictures and letting it go to grow and be a memory for yourself or somebody in the future!