GRAND LAKE - Conditions on the lake are changing with every storm that is dropping snow on the lake. There are some very good spots and there are some very bad spots found throughout. The easiest access points are off of the swim beach area and within the docks in town. Please make sure that you have a pair of boots that will shed water as the slush can range from an inch deep to pushing a foot in depth. Rainbows and browns are still hitting well presented bug imitation jigs in fairly shallow water. When fishing for the rainbows and browns, make sure to fish as early as you can and stay as quiet as possible when fishing less than 10’ of water. Tipping your jig will greatly increase the bite ratio. We are tipping our jigs with wax worms and very small pieces of fresh shrimp. The best jigs we have found right now are small CLAM Caviar jigs as well as small ice flys. Keep an eye on your electronics because we have found some very good fishing right below the ice pending you are quiet enough not to spook the fish. The lake trout fishing remains pretty good right now in about 50-80 feet of water. Look for the flattest bottom possible or at the top of a drop off when fishing as they like to have a “room with a view”. Again, I am downsizing my baits this time of year and am focusing a lot of effort with the finesse approach. Small Simcoe bugs by SIFlies are a main staple but don’t overlook a small soft plastic or tube jig as well. When fishing or the lake trout in Grand Lake, keep your baits as natural looking as possible. By that I mean, use smaller jig strokes and hug the bottom as much as possible. Always use a small, small piece of sucker meat or skin and load up on scent. These two pieces of the puzzle will greatly increase you odds. As always, if you are over deep water, keep an eye out for the suspended fish on your graph and put your jig 1-2 feet above the marks. This will almost guarantee a strike! - Fishing with Bernie Guide, Jake Foos
Williams Fork - Lake trout have been fishing well in 50 to 60 feet of water. Small plastic jigs in the 1 to 3 inch range tipped with sucker meat have been catching most of the fish. Drop offs around deep flats have been the most productive areas. Staying mobile and moving around structure has also been key to catching fish. Snow has made travel a little bit more difficult around the lake and we are seeing a few slushy areas as well. - Fishing with Bernie Guide, Sam Hochevar
Lake Granby - Conditions on Granby are also changing almost daily. It seems that once we get the fresh snow to from up we get another dumping of the white stuff and that is making for some very slushy conditions. I have found this year that being tied to weigh points and potentially having to fish in a foot of water/snow/slush is not necessary. Study your maps and look for “similarities” in bottom structure in areas that may not be swamped with slush right now. As always, make sure that you have all of the right gear and safety supplies (food, water, etc) because getting stuck might take some time to get out and fishing again. Stay safe and have fun! Rainbows and browns are still biting pretty well throughout the lake. Currently, we are keying in on shoreline structure and fishing around large rock piles. Very small tubes and similar soft plastics are getting most of the attention. Make sure to add a little bit of meat to the jig and load it up with some scent. I would suggest fishing as close to sunrise and sunset in the shallow water as possible. 3-15 feet of water is what is working for us right now. The lake trout fishing remains very strong right now for eater fish as well as big fish. We have found that the fish are much more pressured than they were a week or two ago and paying very special attention to the size of your bait and color are key factors to success. We are using more natural colored tube jigs for the big fish in the 3-5 inch range and fishing them very close to the bottom. The eater lake trout are still smashing just about anything you get in front of their faces. We are finding these fish starting to move towards deeper water as spring approaches. The deeper bite seems to be providing more constant action right now. We are focusing our efforts in 50-70 feet of water right now. For the small lakers, you cant beat a Simcoe bug or certain walleye jigs tipped with a small piece of sucker meat. The morning seems to remain strong and starts to taper off around 2:00 pm. Stay tuned to our facebook page as we will be releasing some more information on a new jig we are working on that is powered by a Trokar hook! Tight Lines and be safe out there! - Fishing with Bernie Guide, Jake Foos
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
