Colorado Fishing Report for Blue Mesa Reservoir
May 2013 Blue Mesa Fishing Report: Big fish are lurking, kokanee are ready to play!
Date: May. 1, 2013
Blue Mesa has had open water for about two weeks! We have been so busy on the lake that we haven't had time to update the fishing report. Fishing has been good overall, but has been day to day depending on the current weather system and the moon phase. All species are hitting and plenty of trophies have been landed!
January Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: The lake is capped and ice fishing is good!
Date: Jan. 8, 2013
The entire lake is capped and about 2/3's of the lake has safe ice. The fishing has been excellent for all species including kokanee salmon!!! For the duration of the ice season, we will be doing all of our ice fishing updates on our ice fishing site Icefishcolorado.com.
Check it out for all your ice fishing needs on Blue Mesa Reservoir!
October Blue Mesa Fishing Report: The trout bite is hot and salmon snagging is just around the corner!
Date: Oct. 25, 2012
First, I must apologize for the lack of fishing reports! End of the season activities, hunting, and unfortunate life events have kept me very busy over the last month and a half. The summer of 2012 lived up to all of its anticipated hype with thousands upon thousands of kokanee salmon being caught!!! From what I have heard, the kokanee salmon egg take at Roaring Judy Hatchery is going well with an abundance of eggs already taken! Every friday at 9:00 a.m. there is a kokanee salmon give away where every person with a fishing license can take at least one 10 fish limit of salmon for free! If there are enough fish, sometimes each person can take two limits.
September Blue Mesa Fishing Report: The season is changing, but fishing is still pretty good!
Date: Sep. 6, 2012
Whew! August was a blur! Fishing was good to excellent overall! We are now approaching the tail end of the salmon season for 2012. Fishing is still fair and even sometimes good for the mature kokanee if you run in to the right school at the right time. The trout bite is starting to wake up with cooler mornings and water temperatures dropping back down into the 60's. During the fool moon, we had a couple of good night bites for browns and rainbows! From here on out, we will ride out the last of the mature kokanee jigging schools and then switch over to chasing trout, younger salmon, and eventually lake trout! Stay tuned for more fall action!
August Blue Mesa Fishing Report: Bite has gotten tougher!
Date: Aug. 16, 2012
Over the last 10 days, we have seen the kokanee salmon bite get a lot tougher. Hard work will still produce good numbers most days, but the fish aren't exatly committing suicide. This is a result of the fish seeing the same presentation for a longer than normal jigging season. It's all about the details now. Little changes can make a BIG difference! So pay attention to the details and always remember that the first boat on the school typically yields the best results!
August Blue Mesa Fishing Report: Trophy kokanee bite is excellent, but SLOW YOUR ROLL!
Date: Aug. 5, 2012
We are 100% in the trophy kokanee pattern and the bite has been hot! There have been some of the biggest schools of salmon we have seen in the last decade! Because of this, there are plenty of schools for every angler who chooses to spend the time to look for a school on their electronics instead of being a shark like 90% of the boats on the water! This last weekend was one of the worst I have ever seen for fishing etiquette. Due to the gluttony I have witnessed over the last several weeks, I feel the need to state that kokanee fishing is supposed to be a fun, sporting outdoor activity; not a mission to deplete Blue Mesa of its kokanee salmon population or stock up on salmon for the next "x" number of years! The number of fish that I have seen the SAME anglers keep is disgusting! The possession limit is 10 fish per angler, which is more liberal than anywhere else in the country!
July Blue Mesa Fishing Report: A two day slow down, but fishing is still hot!
Date: Jul. 24, 2012
Overall, the kokanee salmon fishing remains good to excellent! Over the last two days the fish were a little harder to entice, but today they were back in full force and very aggressive! Trolling and jigging have both been effective, although most folks who don't spend the time to find their own schools of salmon don't typically do as well as those who do.
July Blue Mesa Fishing Report: Some good changes!
Date: Jul. 16, 2012
The salmon trolling is still red hot! Most anglers are seeing their best success in the first 3-4 hours after the sun rises, but these fish can be caught all day long. We are also starting to see some schools big enough to jig. This is 2-3 weeks earlier than normal! Hopefully, this doesn't mean that all the fish run into the river 2-3 weeks before normal, but only time will tell. In the mean time, take adavantage of the incredible fishing, but don't abuse it! The salmon numbers are back, but it is our responsitiblity as anglers to respect the possession limits the Colorado Parks and Wildlife has set forth to ensure they get enough eggs to keep these numbers up! If you've caught your limit and still want to fish, consider catch and release! We like to pinch barbs or go to single hooks when doing this to limit the amount of stress we put on the fish. Fish on!
Blue Mesa Fishing Report: More krazy Kokanee action!
Date: Jul. 7, 2012
Wow, the bite has gotten even better over the last week! Everything still seems to be 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule and we are already seeing the beggining stages of the male salmon getting their beaks. We are already seeing some smaller schools that are "jiggable." However, trolling is still the hot ticket! We are seeing rain almost every day around noon through the evening so taking advantage of the morning has been important!
Blue Mesa Fishing Report: An usually AWESOME year !!!
Date: Jul. 2, 2012
This summer is holding its reputation as one of the best salmon years in the last decade! We have been on the water EVERy day with little time for fishing reports. So here's a safe rule for my fellow anglers who follow and rely on these reports for their own fishing adventures; if we go long periods of time between posting fishing reports, it is safe to assume that the fishing is still good and you should probably get down here! You can also send me a text with your name and I will give you a brief report (719-649-3378) Lots and lots of nice fish have been coming to the fillet stations at Elk Creek, Lake Fork, Stevens Creek, and Iola boat ramps! Thus far, everything seems to be running a few weeks ahead of schedule and I have a feeling that our trophy Kokanee season that usually gets going around the first part of August is going to be no exception! We are already quickly booking up for the hottest bite of the year, so be sure to call and book a date before it is too late! We are currently seeing water temperatures that we usually don't see until the first part of August if at all and these temps have caused the lake to turn over in the last ten days putting a nasty algae across much of Blue Mesa. If this algae builds up on your line, take your rod out of the down rigger and shake it back and forth. You do not want this algae to build up on your line and jam up your level-wind reel when you are fighting a fish!Have a good 4th of July celebrating the awesome country we live in and be safe!
If you fished with Blue Mesa Fishing, see your fish and reports below by clicking on the corresponding month in the archives!
2009 ARCHIVES
2010 ARCHIVES
Captains' Log We love fishing Blue Mesa Reservoir and do it with a passion to catch more and bigger fish and give clients a memorable guided fishing experience on every trip. Here at Blue Mesa Fishing we do many kinds of guided fishing trips from Lake Trout fishing during ice out in the spring, to kokanee salmon trolling in the summer and jigging in the fall. After the kokanee salmon leave the lake, we focus on fly fishing the secluded waters of the Lake Fork arm of the Gunnison River and Cebolla Creek. We also offer guided ice fishing trips from Blue Mesa Reservoir to Rifle Gap State Park in Western Colorado. Here at Blue Mesa Fishing, we try to catch throughout the entire year and offer a variety of ways to do it. If you’re interested in a trip, look through any of our packages, or just read through our site to learn how you can catch more and bigger fish in Colorado. Thanks again for checking us out and visit our three new sites found at the bottom of each page! Fish On