March 19, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Full moon pushes opportunity later into the day!

Chuck and his son Chris joined me on Blue Mesa today for some late season ice fishing. The fish fed all night with the full moon and did not appreciate our early arrival. However, as usual, persistence paid off and the bite really turned on around 11! Chris and his dad took turns hooking and fighting fish until Chris’s dad hooks one that rips some drag and he says “this is a good one!” Being the veteran fisherman that he is, he decided to let Chris have a shot at this fish and Chris fought him like a pro! The lake trout ended up being a five pounder and the biggest fish of the day! After a couple hours of good action, the wind came out of nowhere and we decided to call it a day. There is still safe ice in Cebolla, the Narrows, and Iola, but there are some rocky and sandy shorelines that you need to be careful of. Sapinero is a little too sketchy for me, but I have seen a few guys at middle bridge. Be safe!

March 3, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Three days of fishing, one word; WOW!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 1074 Lake Elevation: 7483′ (36′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Jim and Barb of New Mexico came back for three more days of Blue Mesa ice fishing! We fished several areas across the lake and had mixed results, but overall we landed at least a dozen fish a day, and had a traditional Blue Mesa grand slam on the second day with a lake trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and kokanee salmon! We focused on lake trout most of the time, but several of my lake trout holes have had a lot of pressure over the last few weeks so we worked new areas that had less fish, but when they came through they would bite! We spent one afternoon chasing trout and had good numbers of trout and salmon moving through most of the afternoon. We marked quite a few salmon schools over the three day period and managed to land a total of six kokanee, including a fish pusing 19.5 inches!!! We also lost a salmon or two and several other opportunites. All salmon came on spoons tipped with mealies and corn. Trout were hitting the usual jigs tipped with a meal worm and the lake trout were hitting smaller tubes tipped with meat. The temps have been warm and today we had wind that ended up melting most of the snow on the ice and creating a lot of pools of water. There are also areas where smaller drainages are heavily flowing and dumping dirty water on the ice. Be cautious around these areas because the warmer water will make for sketchy conditions. Get out and take advantage of some hot fishing at times before the ice is GONE!!!!

February 27, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Keepin’ on the move pays off!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Today I had a party of five, which can be a challenge because it can be difficult to get everyone dialed and catching fish. Not today, these guys were on fire landing over thirty fish including lake trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout! We had beautiful weather and great fishing until nearly three o clock. The same arsenal of baits were working today and fish were found from 45-80 feet of water with one rainbow even coming at 62 feet deep!

February 26, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Fishing Down Under!!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Today I had Rachael and Damien from Australia fishing with me! The weather was crazy going from wind and blowing snow to dead calm, overcast, and warm. Fishing was good and these guys were immediately dialed in! They landed well over a dozen lake trout and three rainbow trout before they continued on to their next Colorado adventure; skiing! Pictures to come…

February 25, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Ice ice baby!!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed The ice has firmed up with some cold night time temps. There are still some pressure ridges to be cautious of in Cebolla and Sapinero/Soap Creek, but the ice is running 8-24 inches across the lake and the fishing has been good! Rainbows can be caught right under the ice to 20′ deep and are running in schools in some areas. Browns are in 15-70 feet of water and hitting tube jigs and maribous. Good numbers of lake trout can be found from 50-80 feet on drop offs and hitting Pk spoons, tubes, maribous, kastmasters, and curly tail grubs. Take advantage of the good fishing and safe ice while it lasts!!!!

February 20, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: First time ice fishers hammer some trout!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Today I had a crew of four first time ice fishermen! Joe and his son Holston and Bob and his son Robert are out from the east coast skiing for the weekend, but Holston has a broken elbow and can’t ski so ice fishing was Holston’s alternative. We chased rainbow and brown trout today and the action was hot and cold just like the weather. We fished some rocky shorelines in 20-30 feet of water and had fish come through all day. We had a lot of bites, but a lot of the fish were biting very lite so setting the hook was tricky at times. Holston did a great job reeling in fish despite having an elbow cast. We lost some fish, but managed to get enough trout for these guys to take home and have a nice famliy dinner!

February 18, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Wind and warm temps make for scary conditions!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Kenny and Matt joined me out on the ice today for some lake trout action! We stayed away from the scary ice on the west end of the lake. The number of fish moving through was slower than usual, but these guys were dialed in from the start and made every bite count!!! Good job guys! There is still a lot of sketchy ice on the west end of the lake as well as some big pressure ridges in Cebolla. Be cautious!

February 17, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Wind and warm temps make for scary conditions!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed The wind was very intense at times today and the temperatures were in the mid to upper thirties. This is a bad combination for a lake that has already had a hard time making ice. Several shorelines from middle bridge westward saw open water and there are also a lot of pressure ridges and holes in Sapinero that are unsafe! A good friend of mine who has been ice fishing longer than I have hit one of these pressure ridges going fifteen miles an hour and it swallowed his fourwheeler! Thank the good Lord, he was able to avoid getting too wet and we were able to get the fourwheeler out without losing anything, but it could have been a horrible situation! Be CAREFUL out there!!!!!

February 15, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Laker Love!.

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Ben and Colton joined me today for some lake trout fishing. The first half hour was on fire as fish were charging out of the depths to attack out jigs! However, they would not stay buttoned on the hook. Then the fish moving through slowed down dramatcially, which is my when I start scouting other areas for our next potential hot spot. I checked four different spots that typically have good numbers of fish moving through them and quite frankly these areas were dead. When I checked back on the boys, they had a few more fish on the ice. This pattern continued throughout the morning until we had a nice little flurry of action from noon to one, all in our original holes. Today clearly reminded me of the old saying “don’t leave fish to find fish!” Good job fellas, way to persist!

February 5, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: The lake has capped, but still waiting for safe ice.

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 376 Outflow (cfs): 258 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: Closed Blue Mesa has fully capped, but safe ice remains to be seen. Currently, most areas of new ice are ranging from 1-2 inches with pressure ridges and water seeping through cracks across all of the newly frozen areas. Temperatures have been getting close to the low to mid 30’s over the last few days so it might take a little while for this ice to thicken up. Click Blue Mesa Web Cam for a current view of lake.

January 26, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Two fun fishing days!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 362 Outflow (cfs): 474 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 (Elk Creek Closed! Must make an appointment 970-641-2337 ext 278) Marinas: Closed for the Season! Jim and Barb of New Mexico made the trip to Blue Mesa for a two day fishing excursion! It was Barb’s first ice fishing experience and she really had the rainbows dialed in on day one! Today we focused on lake trout and Jim used his years of fishing experience to catch on very quickly at detecting the lite bites we were getting from the lakers. Both days had periods of hot action, but today was a little better ice fishing on Blue Mesa. Thanks, guys! You were a pleasure! Rainbows are cruising 5-30 feet of water and the lake trout can be found within 20 feet of the bottom from 40-70 feet of water.

January 22, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Rainbows, Browns, Lake Trout, and……kokanee?!

Water Temp: 30-32 Inflow (cfs): 362 Outflow (cfs): 474 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 (Elk Creek Closed! Must make an appointment 970-641-2337 ext 278) Marinas: Closed for the Season! Today’s blue mesa fishing report is GREAT ACTION! There were a lot of people ice fishing blue mesa today. The has not advanced past the narrows at Elk Creek yet. Special guest Konrad Krauland of Power Pro fishing line joined me today and we had great action from 7 til 12. The rainbow trout in blue mesa are really making a strong come back with fish consistently running 14-17″ and 18-20″ fish are present as well! We fished three different spots today and found lots of rainbows at each location. We also caught brown trout, lake trout, and even a surprise kokanee salmon. Water visibility is around 15 feet in most areas, which is great for sight fishing! Rainbows seem to be cruising from just below the ice to about 25′ deep. All our browns came deeper today between 30-50′. Consistent lake trout fishing can be found from 40-70′. Kastmasters, buckshot spoons, tube jigs, lazer jigs, paddle bugs, and maribou jigs will all produce fish!

January 9, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Consistent Fishing!

Water Temp: 30-34 Inflow (cfs): 437 Outflow (cfs): 511 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 (Elk Creek Closed! Must make an appointment 970-641-2337 ext 278) Marinas: Closed for the Season! From the lake city bridge to the mouth of the Narrows on the Cebolla side is capped with 4-8 inches of good ice. Fishing is good for rainbows, browns, lake trout, and even perch in areas! Best bite time has been from first light until 11. Good numbers of lake trout can be caught in 40-80 feet of water on 3.5 inch white tube jigs tipped with sucker meat. Work your tube 4-10 feet off the bottom so the fish can see it and jig aggresively until a fish comes in. Crawdad and perch colored tubes, maribous and other imitations working well for lake trout and browns and rainbows are hitting pink, red, white, orange mini tubes. Rainbows and browns can be caught all throughout the water column, so watch your vex or fish finder. Tip your jigs with meal worms, sucker meat, or wax worms.

January 6, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Safe Ice Extends Westward!

Water Temp: 30-34 Inflow (cfs): 437 Outflow (cfs): 511 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 (Elk Creek Closed! Must make an appointment 970-641-2337 ext 278) Marinas: Closed for the Season! Most of Iola now has 4-6″ of safe ice. From the lake city bridge to the mouth of the Narrows on the Cebolla side is capped, although the ice around Elk Creek marina is 2-3 inches and there are a few areas of open water near rock points. Fishing is good for rainbows, browns, lake trout, and even perch in areas! Best bite time has been from first light until 11. Crawdad and perch colored tubes, maribous and other imitations working well for lake trout and browns and rainbows are hitting pink, red, white, orange mini tubes. Rainbows and some browns can be caught just under the ice and browns and lake trout can be caught within ten feet of the bottom. Tip your jigs with meal worms, sucker meat, or wax worms.

December 18, 2010 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Good Action!

Water Temp: 38-42 Inflow (cfs): 452 Outflow (cfs): 527 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 (must make an appointment 970-641-2337 ext 278) Marinas: Closed for the Season! Blue Mesa still has very little safe ice, but Iola now has skim ice and looks like it could freeze if we get some cold nights. Today, about 6-8 inches of snow came down, which makes it a lot easier to get your sled to the safe ice at the Lake City bridge. Fishing is good to excellend for rainbow trout with brown trout and lake trout making a frequent appearance as well. The rainbow trout population really seems to be doing a lot better this year with greater numbers and bigger fish showing up. Ice at the lake city bridge is 6-12 inches thick. Good luck and be safe!

December 15, 2010 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: The Lake is 5% Iced!

Water Temp: 38-42 Inflow (cfs): 452 Outflow (cfs): 527 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 (must make an appointment 970-641-2337 ext 278) Marinas: Closed for the Season! The Lake City bridge area has safe ice extending a hundred yards past it, but the rest of the Blue Mesa is still open water. There is still some great fishing from a boat or shore for brown and rainbow trout, working the shorelines with various presentations. The boat ramps are still open at Elk Creek and Lake Fork, but you must call (970) 641-2337 ext 278 at least fifteen minutes before you launch to get an inspector down to the ramp. Ice fishing at the bridge has been very good for rainbow trout and good for brown trout with a few perch showing up as well. The Gunnison area has been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures like the rest off the state so the ice progression across Blue Mesa will be slow until we get a cold snap. Check back frequently as we will keep you updated when this happens!

November 28, 2011 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: The Lake is 5% Iced!

Water Temp: 38-42 Inflow (cfs): 464 Outflow (cfs): 0 Lake Elevation: 7486′ (33′ low) Boat Ramp Hours: 7- 4:30 Marinas: Closed for the Season! Blue Mesa is still mostly open, but the air temperatures have been in the teens to below zero at times. The Gunnison River inlet is frozen with safe fishable ice, but the ice does not extend much past the Lake City bridge. Fishing is good for rainbow trout and brown trout from 10-15′ with all of your typical ice fishing jigs and spoons tipped with a meal worm or wax worm. No reports of any perch being caught yet. Stay tuned as Iola begins to freeze in the next few weeks!