Best Brown trout bite we’ve seen in a long time!

Ice out is typically a great time of year to catch a lot of fish and this first week of open water has probably been some of the best brown trout fishing we have seen in a very long time!  There are very larger numbers of fish along almost all of the shorelines and there are an abundance of 17-20″ fish showing up with the occasional bigger fish!  The lake Bureau of Rec greatly reduced the flows out of Blue Mesa last week and we have seen the reservoir slowly start to rise.  We are currently down about 31 vertical feet and I’ve heard that the lake might not completely fill this year.  However, this last big storm may change things a bit.  There isn’t much debris floating in the lake yet, but there are a few little logs, so always keep an eye out and use caution.  We have some great news, that the boat ramp hours are going to get later a lot earlier this year and the boat ramps in Iola are going to open a lot earlier as well!  Right now, the Elk Creek and Lake Fork Boat ramps are open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. but starting this thursday April 21, the hours will change to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.  As of May 19th the hour will go to 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.  The Iola boat ramp will open May 5th and Stevens Creek will open May 12.  Once these ramps are open, they will have the same hours as Elk Creek and Lake Fork.  Ponderosa will open May 26 and the hours will be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday.

Trout- the trout fishing has been excellent!  You can throw pretty much anything and catch fish along the shores. If you are not seeing action, move a little ways and try again.  Maribou jigs, jerk baits, spoons, spinners, are all catching fish!  Crawdad, rainbow trout, perch, and sucker colors seem to work best.  The bite has been good all day long and the stormier the weather, the better.

Kokanee- the salmon activity should really pick up when our water temperatures are in the mid to upper 50 degree range!  Check back in late May.

Lake Trout- ice-off and soon after is a well-known time to have a shot at some of the bigger lake trout that inhabit any lake or reservoir in the U.S. Blue Mesa is no different, but it sure seems like it has been tough the last few years!  This year has started out slow, with not many reports coming in.  They are out there and some of them are hungry, but it takes a lot of work and a little bit of luck most days.  The number of trophy lake trout in Blue Mesa is considerably down from what it was 10 years ago and because of that, it is more important now than ever before to practice catch and release on the bigger lake trout!  Yes, it is legal to keep one fish over 32″ a day, and the decision is up to the angler, but I encourage you to do some soul searching before you even get to the lake.  I will give you a list of taxidermists that can make you an incredible replica that will last far longer than a skin mount and if you want food for the table, email me about tactics for targeting the sub 22″ fish that are the best eating and I will help you out!  “CPR” (catch, photo, release) will help ensure that furture generations have an opportunity to catch these rare, elusive giants of the deep!  Tammy Haas (pictured below) of New Mexico was blessed with a 32 lber on one of our trips and got to experience our CPR practices first hand!  She has memory and picture that she will never forget and she also has the satisfaction of knowing that she can come back in the future and have the posibility of catching that fish again!

Yellow Perch- it’s a little early for perch, but we have caught a few. The bite is slow, but there are some decent fish to be had if you can find them and get them to bite!