August is coming to a close after a busy summer and water temperatures are starting to drop as the days are getting shorter. Fishing has been very good all summer, even though it has looked different than usual with the low water. We expect this fall to continue the trend of great fishing and looking forward to the cooler temps and those leaves that are soon to be changing! Here is the latest conditions report.
Grand Lake - Boat ramp hours are 6 AM to 8PM. Water temperatures are in the mid 60’s. Lake trout action remains fair. Look for them in 50 to 90 feet of water. Small plastics and finesse has been the key lately. A 3/8 ounce glow jig head with a black Berkely Power Grub has been a go to combination tipped with a small piece of sucker. Pay close attention to detect those light lake trout bites. Rainbow trout and brown trout action is picking up, working the rocky shoreline areas with silver and blue colored Little Cleo spoons or Mepps spinners has been working well. CPW recently netted a large Brown Trout out of Grand Lake during sampling, great to see there is some healthy fish in here. Ddon’t be afraid to throw some larger crank baits looking for larger fish as the water cools!
Williams Fork Reservoir - Boat ramps will remain closed for the season due to low water levels. Non-motorized hand launched boats are allowed. Water level is at 31%. Projections for his reservoir are that it will be drawn down to 6%-15% by next spring. Shore fishing has been fair in the inlet areas. Small BWO, and midge patterns have been working in the inlet and tailwater sections of the river. Pike action has been slow, think crawfish imitations and hard baits for best chance at a pike.
Lake Granby- Sunset Point boat ramp hours are 6AM to 8PM. Stillwater Boat ramp is closed due to low water. Water level is at 56% or approximately 37 feet below full. Surface water temperatures are in the mid to upper 60’s depending on time of day. Rainbow trout action is picking up look for them along the shorelines around the creek inlets early in the morning or during the evening hours , live worms off the bottom or casting PK Flutter spoons in rainbow trout colors has been producing, trollers are continuing to have success with pink or silver Tasmanian Devils fished 8 to to 20 feet below the surface . Lake trout bite remains the best bite on the lake. Look for them in 55 to 85 feet of water. Natural green and brown colored tube jigs or grubs 2 to 3 inch size tipped with a small piece of sucker have been a consistent pattern, be prepared with a glow colored jigging spoon for when the bite slows to entice a few extra reaction strikes. Brown trout action is fair, best bite is in the evenings when the wind picks up. Look for mud lines and shoreline rock transitions to cast to with jerkbaits or pitching small crawfish colored tubes.
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
