Grand County Fishing Report Week of 9/16/24

Grand Lake - Boat ramp hours are 6am-6pm. Water temps are in the low 60’s and cooling a little each day. Fishing is picking up for rainbow and brown trout as the water cools. 2-3” chrome or white colored jerkbaits and spoons have been producing fish along the shorelines with most concentrated fish along the rocky shorelines. Lake trout action has been good. Fish are staged for spawn just outside the spawning areas in 40-70ft of water. A 3/8oz glow colored jig head paired with a dark colored body has been best lure choice, tipped with fresh sucker. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.

Williams Fork - The east boat ramp hours are 7am to 7pm daily. The water level is 89% or 6.5 feet low. The surface temperature has dropped to 60 degrees, warming to the low 60's by mid-day. Visibility is still good; jigs drop out of sight 10 to 12 feet down. With the cooler temps the Lake Trout bite is picking up and they're just begining to group up. This week's average was 13 fish per rod on a six-hour trip. I'd rate the fishing good right now. Small juvenile fish up to trophies can be found in 60 to 80 feet of water, with our main focus on the 70-foot area on the top of ridges or on the edge of a slope. Small 3" to 4" plastics (tubes, grubs, twisters, paddle-tails) tipped with sucker meat fished on or just off the bottom is producing hits. The Lake Trout bite generally gets slow mid-day. Northern's are slow as usual, in part due to a decrease in population and many of bigger fish no longer live in their traditional habitat. Some have moved to deeper water where food is more plentiful (think Lake Trout). Please practice catch and release on all Northern's caught. Brown Trout are active along the rocks north of the east boat ramp, and in the inlet before the sun hits the water. The lake hasn't been stocked with Rainbow's or Kokes since 2019 in an effort to control gill lice, so there isn't much action fishing for them. Randy H - Guide Fishing with Bernie

Lake Granby - Boat Ramp Hours are 6am-6pm. Water level is currently at 89% or approximately 8.5ft below full with water temperatures starting the morning in the low 60’s and warming during day. Rainbow and brown trout action is improving. Dynamic Twitch tubes worked along rocky shorelines in less than 10 ft of water and spoons such as Little Cleo or Kastmaster in chrome/blue or pink worked with a lift fall retreive has been producing fish. Lake trout action is fair to good depending on the day right now and if you are able to locate actively feeding fish. Look for them in pre-spawn locations in 50-75ft of water with deep water close by. A 3/8oz underspin jighead with a brown/chartreuse colored grub or pumpkin green/pink colored grub has been best producing lure. Tip your bait with a small piece of fresh sucker to keep the fish coming in and interested. Fall action is just starting to heat up and should be just getting better as the water cools, definitely make your plans to come enjoy the beautiful fall colors and weather!! 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 8/12/2024

Grand Lake - Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm. Starting to see the dog days of summer, the best periods of the day for rainbow and brown trout continue to be sunrise and sunset. Spoons are our primary lure choice right now, as this versatile lure allows us to work different depths until we find the one that is holding fish. A long cast, count your lure down, then lift fall erratic retrieve is producing fish. Vary your counting down until you find what is working. Lake trout bite is fair on most days, finding fish in 60-110 ft of water. A 1/2oz glow head jig with a 2” black power grub tipped with sucker has been our go to lure choice. Fishing with Bernie Guide, Dan Shannon.

Williams Fork Reservoir - The east boat ramp hours are 6AM to 8PM daily. The water level is 97% or about 2 feet low. Inflow is 60cfs outflow is 202cfs. Surface temp has been 66 early am warming to 70 degrees on calm sunny days. Visibility is 10 to 12 feet. The Lake Trout bite is fair right now, we're seeing 5 to 6 fish per rod on a slow day, 8 to 10 on a good day. We're still picking up a few fish as shallow as 60 feet but most have moved to deeper water. Look for Laker's in 70 to 80 feet. Small plastics tipped with sucker meat fished on or just above the bottom seems to be the best presentation right now. Sometimes adding scent helps. Cranking up to a Laker that is suspended or swimming in the column has a good chance of getting hit as these fish are actively looking for food. Releasing big Lakers into warm surface water after a long fight can be challenging this time of year. To help increase the odds of a successful release minimize handling and time out of the water. Patiently work the fish back and forth in the water to help reoxygenate the fish until it ready to go on its own.  If it won't go on its own tools like a SeaQualizer or Fish Saver Pro will deliver the fish back to cooler deep water and release it. Northern Pike are slow as usual, in part due to a decrease in population and many of bigger fish no longer live in their traditional habitat. They've moved to deeper water where the food is. Please practice catch and release on all Northern's caught. Brown Trout are feeding along the rocks north of the east boat ramp, and in the inlet before the sun hits the water. The lake hasn't been stocked with Rainbow's or Kokes since 2019 in an effort to control gill lice, so there isn't much action fishing for them. Randy H - Guide Fishing with Bernie

Lake Granby - Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm. Water level is at 94.5%, Approximately 4ft low and dropping. Water temperature’s start out in the upper 60’s in the morning warming to low 70’s by end of the day. Rainbow trout bite has been fair, still finding the best action in the areas where there is fresh cool water coming in to the lake. Tungsten bead head wooley buggers, jerk baits and spoons have been catching some fish. Brown trout action is limited to the early and late parts of the day or when storms come in and stir up the water. Small tubes and Rainbow trout colored jerk baits have been lures of choice. Lake trout action has remained good. Look for fish in the 65-100ft depths off main lake points, humps and saddles with deeper water close by. A dark colored 3/8oz jig head with a light colored plastic body has been a staple, tip this with a small piece of fresh sucker fillet and pay attention for 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