Fishing with Bernie: Big fish bite

Grand Lake

The boat ramps are open from 6am to 8pm seven days a week. The water temperature is in the upper 60s (Fahrenheit) and the fishing is still good. Trout and brown trout work well along ponds and inlets with Blue Fox’s eight-ounce spinning with pink or silver blades or a small crank.

Trolls have reported success using cowbells and pink deer tipped with a small piece of black-colored worm or a glowing, flesh-encrusted caterpillar running straight down produced early in the morning. When the lake starts to get busy with traffic it’s time to fish out the flutter spoons and blade baits for more reaction, with a small piece of sucker for extra lure but don’t make it too big so it affects how the jig works.

Williams Fork

Eastern boat ramp hours are 6 am to 8 pm daily. Water capacity is fixed at just under 100%. With the rain flow increasing to 157 cubic feet per second, the outflow was 92 cubic feet. Surface temperatures appear to have reached a summer high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit in the early morning, reaching 72 degrees by midday. Visibility is good, and I lose sight of the dance at about 12 feet.

Lake trout fishing is still good in the early morning while the fish are actively feeding, but as the cold leaves the air the bite slows until late afternoon. Fish of larger size are eager to bite the small tubes or flesh-encased sucker larvae running gently on the bottom. Start adding scent when the sting has slowed down.

I see mixed age groups in 50-90 feet of water. Large lyres feed on smaller lyrates, so perching on smaller fish can be a good thing. The brown trout were active early in the morning biting the small spinners in the inlet where the river meets the lake. Browns can also be found along the rocky cliffs north of the boat ramp. Rainbow trout, Kokanee salmon, and northern pike slow populations due to low populations. Please practice catch and release for all northern catches.

Granby Lake

The water level is 98%. Boat ramp hours are 6am-8pm on Sunset Ramp seven days a week and Stillwater Ramp Friday through Sunday. Surface water temperatures are in the upper 60s in the morning warming to about 72 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon. Fishing for rainbow trout and brown trout was fair. Target 10-20 feet for these fish along dam rock faces or in areas of water movement. Pink and silver spoons, deer, and worms drifting under a float do well early and late in the day.

Trout turnover was from very good to excellent depending on the day. Look for the most active fish on the main lake structure in 50-90 feet of water. A three-eighths or half-ounce jig head with a purple glow or maggot slowly on the bottom yields good numbers of fish. The contrasting colored jig head seems to help as well as move around until you find an active group of fish.

Big fish bite as good as they get now, a larger presentation such as 6 inch (or larger) tube jigs in natural colors like green, brown or gray was the ticket. Slow down this presentation to increase the number of bites you get. Please practice good fish handling and quick release technique, limiting the time out of the water with all fish released in warmer water temperatures.

The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand County for over 25 years. For more information please see FishingWithBernie.comFacebook.com/FishingWithBernie/ or our Instagram pagesFishing_With_Bernie @tweet.