Fall fishing is hot!

I apologize for such a lapse in fishing reports!  These reports take some time to put together and it seems like over the last few months I have been short of time.  August followed suit with the rest of the summer and was anything but normal for kokanee salmon fishing.  We found a few schools and had some good days, but overall there were a lot fewer fish and we spent a lot of time looking for fish instead of actually fishing.  The spawning operation has begun at Roaring Judy and from what I have heard, it appears that we are going to have anther low egg take year.  However, we have seen good numbers of 1 & 2 year old salmong showing up in our trolling mix so we should see some major improvement in the salmon fishing over the next several years!  Fall fishing is upon us now the bite is hot!  The surface temps are slowly dropping with the cold nights that we have been having.  As of right now, Iola, Elk Creek, and Lake Fork boat ramps are open from 7-4:30.  Iola boat ramp will be closed on Oct 14th and as of November 1st, all inspections will be available by calling in only (970-209-2335).  The marinas are closed and there are no more boat rentals available until next year.

**Blue Mesa does have gill lice showing up in a small percentage of the kokanee salmon and rainbow trout. Nobody knows how bad this will affect fish populations. Stay tuned…

Trout- the trout fishing has been fantastic all year long and right now is no exception!  Thousands of rainbows have been stocked at the Iola boat ramp over the last few weeks making that entire area good for catchables and great for getting a kid into some great action!  We are starting to find the brown trout and bigger rainbow trout all over the water column.  Some will be hanging out in the top 12 feet of the water column while others will be close to the bottom in 55 feet of water. Pay attention to your fish finder and don’t waste time fishing for the un-active fish.  We have been doing very well with Rocky Mountain Tackle squids, spoon bill squids, Assassins, and a variety of Radical Glow spinners!  Venator Wobblers and Taz Devils have their days too, but not quite as often.  The deeper fish seem to be more responsive to crank baits, but be ready to cycle through a few!

Kokanee Salmon- This is typically a slower time of year for catching kokanee salmon, but we are seeing a fair number of smaller kokanee showing up while we troll for trout.  Most of the fish we are catching in the top 20 feet of the water column, but occasionally we catch one below 50 feet!  The salmon are being caught on all of the same lures as the trout.  The smaller salmon are very fragile so we try to shake them off of the hook and avoid touching them or bringing them into the boat.  We have to take care of our future salmon population!

Lake Trout- We haven’t spent any time fishing for lake trout and haven’t heard any reports.  We should see the lake trout get a little more active as water temps drop and they get ready to think about spawning.

Perch- the perch fishing has also been very good all year!  You can find big schools of perch in just about every cove from 5-45 feet of water.   The bigger schools will be very apparent on your fish finder.  Small spoons like the Pk flutter fish tipped with a small piece of worm works well.