Ice fishing is here and it has been wonderful to get back out on the water again!
Grand Lake - Ice is 6+ inches with a few inches of snow on top and open water in the typical areas out from the channel to Shadow Mtn and in front of tunnel inlet on the east side. Fishing has been good early in the mornings in less than 10ft of water for rainbow trout and brown trout. Pink tungsten jigs tipped with Niku Flutter Fry or Clam Dropper spoon tipped with a waxie. Lake trout bite has been fair. Look for them in 25-50 ft of water. A P&D Lures Twist tail grub in Crawdad color or glow color tipped with sucker jigged close to the bottom has been producing fish. If the lake trout are looking and not biting, try adding scent or a tipping with a salmon egg. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.
Williams Fork Reservoir - Water level is at 76%. Ice is 5 to 8 inches across the lake. Lake trout fishing has been good in 45 to 60 feet of water. Small plastics such as tube jigs and curly tail grubs in a variety of natural colors or glow tipped with sucker meat have been producing well. When the bite slows down going to smaller tungsten jigs with a small piece of sucker meat has been the answer. Rainbow and brown trout bite has been poor. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Sam Hochevar.
Lake Granby - Water level is at 75% or approximately 20ft low. Ice thickness is 5-8”. Additionally there is a pressure ridge extending from Elephant Island to South shore of lake by Sunset Point. Use caution traveling this area and crossing the pressure ridge. The rainbow trout bite has been excellent, target them in less than 10ft of water along rocky shorelines. White and Pink Dynamic Twitch Tubes or Demons have been working well. Brown Trout bite has been fair, with best action just after sunrise in 6ft or less of water with rocky bottom. Bright orange and gold colored spoons or 2” Gulp minnows have been producing the best action. Lake trout bite has been fair to good, fluctuating with our big weather swings. Look for best Lake Trout action in 30-65ft of water, 3/8oz jig head with a green or glow colored P&D Twist Tail grub tipped with fresh sucker has been producing well. When the bite slows time to get out the Clam Flutter Spoons or blade baits to entice that reaction bite. Staying mobile and moving to find active fish has been the key to success on those tougher days. Good luck to everyone participating in the 3 Lakes Ice Fishing Contest this weekend! 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