Grand Lake - The snow has been accumulating on Grand Lake and that is causing some very difficult travel when walking out onto the ice. There is slush present and seems to increase with every storm that dumps in the area. Access remains normal and the heavy traffic areas (swim beach, boat docks and the East end) continue to provide the best access to the lake. Fishing traffic has slowed down quite a bit but with the upcoming tournament, that will most likely be changing as a lot of anglers will be “pre-fishing” in the area where the holes will be drilled in order to increase their odds. Rainbow and Brown trout fishing has slowed down slightly in the shallows and these fish seem to be finding the majority of their feed in the 12-25 foot range as of late. As previously reported, the best fishing is during low light conditions and getting on the ice as early as possible is crucial to having a productive morning. We are catching most of our fish on very small tungsten jigs that are tipped with a soft plastic and a piece of nightcrawler or wax worm. The key to catching these fish is to use as small of a jig as possible but heavy enough to get down to the 20’ range in depth. Natural colors like green, black, smoke and brown seem to be having the best success right now. The lake trout fishing seems to have picked up slightly as the lake is getting fed with a good amount of new water from Shadow Mountain. The main food sources are brown and green in color so pay special attention to those colors when selecting your jigs. Currently, there is a nice, suspended bite going on and most fish are showing up over 80 feet of water right now. That will continue to change on a daily basis as spring approaches. Position your jigs a foot or so above the fish for the best chance at a strike right now. The remainder of the lake trout fishing continues to be focused on the bottom in 40-55 feet of water right now in as flat of an area as possible. If fishing a slope, most of the bites are coming with the “dead zone” on your electronics. Tipping your jigs with a small piece of sucker meat or skin that is no bigger than your pinkie fingernail has been best for our team. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Jake Foos.
Williams Fork Reservoir - Water level is at 74%. Lake trout bite has been good this week in 45 to 65 feet of water. Drop offs and creek beds in that depth range have been productive areas. Small plastics in the 1 to 3 inch range tipped with sucker meat have been producing most of the fish. Working jigs close to the bottom or on the bottom has been the most consistent bite. Recent snow has started to create some slushy areas that will probably worsen throughout the week making travel on the lake more difficult. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Sam Hochevar.
Lake Granby - Water level is at 70% or approximately 24.5’ low. With the recent snow storms, slush has shown up as expected. Have a plan to deal with this slush while walking or traveling on the lake in a machine it can be unforgiving. Rainbow and Brown trout bite has been fair. The rocky dam faces have been the areas to key in on targeting less than 15ft of water. Pink Dynamic Twitch tubes or a pink tungsten jig tipped with a waxie have been best producers. Lake trout bite has been good. Look for your best action in 30-70ft of water. Key in on main lake points with deep water close by. Natural colored plastics (green/brown/ black) 2.5 to 5” in length have been working well when tipped with a small piece of sucker. When the bite gets slow, try changing up to a glow or contrasting color jig. Remember lake trout are notorious light biters, pay close attention to those rods and line and set the hook when there is anything abnormal! Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.
The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand County for over 25 years. For more info please check out www.fishingwithbernie.com, www.facebook.com/FishingWithBernie/ or our Instagram pages https://www.instagram.com/fishing_with_bernie https://www.instagram.com/fishingwithaltitude
