Grand County Fishing Report 7/24/23

Grand Lake - With the latest warming trend and the snowpack starting to recede, the inflow to the lake has come down quite a bit but the fishing remains very good. Traffic on the lake continues to be very high so please use extreme caution when navigating across the water. There are a lot of paddle boarders, kayaks, sail boats and other small vessel recreationalists out there. The rainbow and brown trout fishing continues to be stellar in the early morning hours. For best results, get on the water as early as possible and try to fish as close to moving water as possible. My favorite morning bite is with a small Jerkbait along the shores. Dynamic HD trout are almost unstoppable but Tasmanian devils are a close second. Cast into shallow water and work the bait back into the depths for best success. If there is a morning rain storm, watch for surface action and look for the “slurpers”. This bite can also be a great time of you are limited to a fly rod. The lake trout have really started to chomp pretty well as of late with the water temps up into the 60’s. Small, natural colored jigs tipped with a very small piece of sucker meat has been getting most of our strikes lately. We are focusing on structure that is around 50-60 feet right now. One thing to consider is to not spend too much time on a single spot. If you are marking fish but can’t get them to fire, move on and find the active pods. This will really help you maximize how many fish you land in a day. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Jake Foos

Williams Fork - The east boat ramp hours are 6AM to 8PM daily. Last week the lake went down a bit but is holding steady at 99.5% capacity. Inlow is 133cfs, outflow is 92cfs. Surface temp has jumped to 66 early am warming to 71 mid-day. Visibility is excellent, I lose sight of jigs at about 12 feet. Jigging for Lake Trout has been good for the first few hours early AM, but once the fish have fed up on crawdads the bites gets slow until late afternoon. Small tubes or grubs tipped with sucker meat jigged gently on the bottom should produce limits of keeper size fish. When the bite slows start adding your favorite scent. Temperature tolerant juvenile fish can still be found as shallow as 20/30 feet, but the bigger fish have moved to deeper water. Look for mixed ages groups in 60 to 90 feet. There's a good chance fish suspended in the water column will bite. I'm finding Northern Pike fishing to be slow due to reduced population. Best chances on Northern's is early AM before the sun comes up, late PM as the sun is setting or windy/stormy conditions with overcast skies. Please practice catch and release on all Northern's caught. Williams Fork hasn't been stocked with Rainbow or Kokanee Salmon since 2020, fishing for both species is very slow. Brown Trout are active in the inlet area and along the rocks of the east shore line early AM. Mepp's, Vibrax and Rooster tail type spinners are getting bit. Randy H - Guide Fishing with Bernie

Lake Granby - Wate level is 99%. Water temp is 64 in the mornings warming to 68 by end of day. Boat ramp hours are 6am to 8pm with Sunset ramp being open 7 days a week and Stillwater open Friday-Sunday. Rainbow and brown trout action is fair. Best success is trolling shorelines in 20 ft of water or less early or late in the day with dodgers and pink/silver or chatreuse spinners tipped with a small piece of worm. Shore anglers are reporting success in the inlet areas early in the day with Tasmanian Devils or Kastmasters that will cast a long distance. Lake trout action remains good. Fish are starting to work a little deeper finding groups of fish from 40-90’. Being mobile and locating the active fish is important to success as the summer moves along. Glow grubs and small white or pink hair jigs tipped with sucker has been a great bait for those eater size fish (Under 19”). Upsizing baits and using a variety of plastics such as 4-6” tubes, grubs or flukes is producing more quality fish, but not as many bites. 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

Grand County Fishing Report 7/17/23

Grand Lake - Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm 7 days a week. Water temp has been in the low 60’s, with lots of people out enjoying the water. Fishing has been fair for rainbows and browns with best action trolling dodgers with blue/silver or pink/silver spinner tipped with a small piece of worm in 20ft or less of water. Best action from shore has been in the inlet areas with pink, silver and blue spoons, spinners and tasmanian devils. Lake trout action has been very good in 40-70ft of water, 3/8 oz white or black bucktail jig tipped with sucker has been very consistent catching good numbers of fish while our next go to bait has been a 1/4 or 3/8oz Clam Leech Flutter spoon in glow colors. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.

Williams Fork - The east boat ramp hours are 6AM to 8PM daily. The lake is starting to go down, water capacity is at 99%. Inflow is 209 cfs, outflow is 274 cfs. Surface temp is 64 early am warming to 67 mid-day. Visability is excellent which helps with the catch rate. There's a couple of big logs floating around that can't seem to make it to the shore, so keep an eye out for them. As we roll into the "Dog Days of Summer" the Lake Trout bite is still quite good early AM. As the sun gets higher in the sky the bite drops off, but they are still catchable if you are persistent. Look for Lake Trout in 50 to 80 feet of water on or near drop offs. Small tubes or twister grubs tipped with sucker meat and scent is working best for us. Northern Pike is slow, as is Rainbow and Kokanee Salmon due to low population. Please practice catch and release on Northern's. Brown Trout are hitting small spinners in the inlet area early AM. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Randy H

Lake Granby - Water level is 100%. Boat ramp hours are 6am to 8pm with Sunset ramp being open 7 days a week and Stillwater Ramp is open Friday through Sunday. Surface water temperatures are 63 in the morning warming to 67 by the afternoon. Fishing for rainbow trout has been fair, with best success early in the mornings. This should improve this as the lake was stocked last week with catchable sized rainbow trout. Trollers are reporting success trolling shorelines with pop gear and brightly colored spoons, or moderate diving crankbaits. Shore anglers are reporting success along the dams with typical baits fished on bottom or spoons and spinners in bright pink or orange colors. Brown trout action is fair, but conditions must be right. Best action is when it is overcast and windy. White crankbaits worked erratically along shoreline has been producing, as well as working white tube jigs along the rocky bottom. Lake trout action has remained good this week. Look for lake trout in 40-80ft of water, best action has been the areas with deep water close by. A 3/8oz jig tipped with a chartreuse or pink glow grub has been a great lure combo, but don’t be afraid to get wild with the colors bright and colorful seems to be getting the most bites. As always tip your lures with a small piece of fresh sucker to entice those light bites. 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

Grand County Fishing Report week of 7/9/23

Grand Lake - Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm 7 days a week. Best fishing for all species is in the mornings and evenings when the traffic on the lake is minimal. Rainbow trout and brown trout action has started to slow as the water is warming and the fish are moving deeper. Trolling lead core, snap weights or down riggers in 20ft of water with a dodger or pop gear and pink spinner has been producing some fish. Shore anglers are reporting success with night crawlers either drifted in the inlets or fished on the bottom. Lake trout action has been fair, look for them in 40-80ft of water. Typical baits such as 3” tubes, grubs and spoons tipped with sucker are all working. Best success with colors that glow. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.

Williams Fork Reservior - The east boat ramp hours are 6AM to 8PM daily. Water capacity is 100%. Infow is 345 cfs, outflow is 369 cfs. Surface temp is 61 warming to 65 by late afternoon. The lake is settling down from runoff. Visibility is 12 feet plus. I saw a couple of big logs floating around this week, so keep an eye out for hazards. Lake Trout are starting to move to deeper cooler water. Look for them in 50 to 80 feet of water. The Lake Trout bite is good for the first few hours in the morning then drops off until early evening. Tubes, twisters or plastics imitating a fish tipped with sucker meat is working well. A finesse presentation on the bottom seems to work the best. If you see fish get off the bottom, try some aggressive jigging. I don't see many boats fishing for Pike which tells me it's slow. I spoke with a guy at the ramp that said he had a good one on but lost it at the boat, if you're willing to work hard it's possible to catch one. Please practice catch and release on all Northern Pike. Shore fishing for Rainbow Trout and trolling for Kokanee is slow because neither species has been stocked since 2020. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Randy H.

Lake Granby - Lake is at 100% capacity. Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm 7 days a week at Sunset Boat Ramp and Friday through Sunday at Stillwater Ramp. Water Temp is low 60’s in the morning warming to mid 60’s by afternoon. Fishing for Rainbows has been fair with best success reported by trollers working in 12-20ft of water with pink or orange spoons and various crank baits. Brown Trout action has been good in the windy afternoons along the rocks with orange spoons or crayfish colored crank baits. Lake trout action has been good in 35-65ft of water. Focus on the rock to mud bottom transition areas or main lake points with sharp breaks. Dark colored grubs or 3” tubes tipped with sucker early and late in the day have been good baits, changing to a white or lighter colored bait during the bright, mid-day hours. If you are marking fish that are not biting, its time to move. Finding un-pressured fish seems to be key to getting them to bite. 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

Fishing Report Week of 7/3/23

Grand Lake - Boat ramp open from 6am -8pm. Water temps are mid to upper 50’s depending on time of day. Fishing has been fair to good along the rocky shorelines and in the inlet areas for rainbow trout and brown trout. A carefully presented slip bobber with a pink tungsten jig and a small piece of worm has been working well. Brightly colored spoons or spinners have also been catching fish. Lake trout action has been fair with best action being found in 40-65 ft of water on a 3/8oz jig head with a black or white Berkely power grub tipped with a small piece of sucker worked right on the bottom. Stay moving to find the active groups of fish. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.

Williams Fork - Ramp hour ae 6AM to 8PM daily. Water capacity is 100%. Inflow is 449 cfs, outflow is 408 cfs. Surface temp is 60/61 early am warming to 63 in the afternoon. Visibility is 12 feet plus. Most of the floating debris has made its way to the shoreline, but keep any eye out for stragglers. Jigging for Lake Trout has been consistently good early in the morning. On sunny days the bite drops off late morning, if you catch a cloudy day the bite remains good until noon or so. Look for Lakers in 50 to 80 feet of water. Most any natural-colored tube or grub tipped with sucker meat fished on the bottom is getting bit. Due to low population bank fishing around the campgrounds for Rainbow Trout is slow, but small Rainbows can be found in the inlet where the Williams Fork river runs into the lake. Kokanee trolling is very slow, again due to low/no population. Northern Pike fishing is also slow. The die hard that keeps after it all day may come up with a reward or two. Please practice catch and release on all Northern's as the fish are in decline. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Randy H.

Lake Granby - Lake is at 100% capacity. Surface water temps are low 60’s in the morning warming to mid 60’s by end of day. Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm with Sunset ramp being open 7 days a week and Stillwater Ramp open Friday-Sunday only. Fishing has been good for brown trout in the right conditions. Look for the browns to be most active in the lowlight periods of the day or when its windy and overcast. Crankbaits and bright orange spoons worked erratically along rocky shorelines has been producing fish. Rainbow trout action has been fair early and late in the day. Shore anglers are having some success along the dam faces and creek inlets with bait presented along the bottom, or a fly and bubble early in the morning. Trollers are reporting success with silver cowbells and pink or chartreuse and silver spoons tipped with a small piece of shoepeg corn or a worm targeting 10-18ft depths. Seeing lots of kokanee on the sonar, but not having or seeing much success catching them consistently, though you will occasionally catch them trolling for rainbows. Lake trout action has been good in 35-65’ of water. Look for them in the rock transition areas where it changes to muddy bottom. Best baits have been 2.5 to 5” tubes in shades of green, gray or brown. A slow jigging cadence right on bottom has been enticing those subtle lake trout bites. 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