Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report-

Here you can find current ice fishing reports and ice conditions for Blue Mesa reservoir near Gunnison, Crested Butte, and Montrose Colorado.  You can also find past Blue Mesa ice fishing reports by choosing the year you would like on the navigation bar to the left.   These Blue Mesa ice fishing reports typically cover ice conditions, fishing activity, weather, and areas to be careful of.  These Colorado fishing reports are compiled first hand by our fishing experiences and trips on Blue Mesa.  We update these reports every time we go out or hear new, relevant information from reliable sources.  Blue Mesa typically gets its first safe ice around the Lake City bridge in early December.  It then takes until mid to late January for the safe ice to reach all the way to the dam.  We try to keep these fishing reports updated, but get extremely busy with ice fishing trips during the winter. For more up-to-date, sometimes live, on the water Blue Mesa ice fishing reports and pictures, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

February 12, 2015 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Wierd  year, but still some safe ice..

Safe still spans from the Gunnison River Inlet to about a 1/2 mile west of Elk Creek Boat Ramp.  There is also 3-6″ of ice from the dam to a 1/4 mile east of Mac Island.  The temps have been warm and the conditions seem to change daily so use caution! There is still about 5-8 miles of open water from the Soap Creek Arm to the Bay of Chickens.  Fishing seemed to slow down a bit after last weeks full moon, but has still been good for all species except kokanee salmon.  Rainbow trout seem to be everywhere, especially on the eastern half of the lake!  Focus on 10-30 feet of water and fish aggressive.  Pk Flutter fish in perch colors has been a top choice!  If the fish aren’t in an aggressive mood, try a small ice jig tipped with a piece of worm or a wax worm.  Brown trout can be caught the same way, but are typically a little deeper, in 20-60 feet of water.  The lake trout fishing has been good this winter, with plenty of sup 22″ fish being caught and a few bigger fish showing up!  The ole’ trusty tube jig tipped with a piece of sucker meat is a “go-to.”  Focus on 40-80 feet of water and be sure to drill lots of holes!  Perch have been showing up all around Iola with several caught in last weeks Tightline Ice Addiction Tournament!  A small ice jig with a piece of worm usually does the trick!  The wildlife and sunsets around the lake have been a BONUS!!!

January 22, 2015 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Still a lot of open water!

Safe still spans from the Gunnison River Inlet to about a 1/2 mile west of Elk Creek Boat Ramp.  The rest of the lake is combination of open water and skim ice.  We should see some more ice form soon as night time temps have been well into the negatives!  Fishing has been good overall for rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout, and perch and salmon fishing has been slow.  The trout can be found virtually anywhere!  They are shallow, they are deep, they are cruising rocky shorelines and they are suspended in no-man’s land!  They usually aren’t picky either.  I 1/4 ounce Pk Flutterfish will catch trout, salmon, and lake trout if you choose to fish over deep water!  The lake trout have been showing up in good numbers in 50 to 80 feet of water and are usually hugging or relating to the bottom 10 feet of the water column.  Tube jigs tipped with a piece of sucker meat are the ticket, but spoons have been working too.  The occasional trophy lake trout is being caught too, but hard work, patience, and some luck go into getting one of those bad boys on the ice.  Remember: trophy lake trout in Blue Mesa are a valuable resource and practicing CPR (catch, photo, release) is a great idea to keep the trophy lake trout fishery in tact!  There have been some kokanee salmon showing up throughout the dry creek to elk creek areas, but they are very spotty and tend to be picky most days.  A jigging machine really helps your odds of attracting a school into your area.  Perch are in great number throughout the lake, but not always easy to find and catch.  Coves, mud flats, sand flats, sand to rock transitions, submerged brush, creek channels, and underwater islands seem to hold these fish, but they can be everywhere one day and gone the next!  A small ice jig and a piece of worm usually does the trick.

January 5, 2015 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Finally some ice!

We now have ice from the Gunnison River inlet to about a mile west of Elk Creek Boat Ramp!  From the mouth of the narrows (just west of Elk Creek) to the dam is still mostly all open water.  The ice is 10-13″ at the inlet and all of the new nice is 4-6″.  Use caution as there are some pressure ridges and thinner areas and there is 1-4″ of snow on the new ice, hiding some of these caution areas.  Fishing has been very good for trout in 10 to 40 feet of water. Most trout are suspended between 10-25′ down.  The rainbows are running 12-20″ with some even bigger!  The average is above normal and some areas have high concentrations of rainbows in beautiful spawning colors!  Pk spoons, ice jigs, tube jigs, ratsos, and maribou jigs in pink, white, red, and green have been producing.  Some small perch have been reported at the Lake City Bridge.  I have not heard any lake trout reports, but we have been finding some in 40-60 feet of water, although they have been very finicky at times!

December 14, 2014 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: Options!

The lake is still about 95% open water and water temperatures are still in the 40-44 degree range, which means that it is going to be a while before we see ice!  The Gunnison River inlet has 6-10″ of fishable ice and the trout bite has been very good!  There are also a few mature kokanee salmon swimming around the inlet area, but they look to be on their death beds.  Stay tuned as we get colder weather and more fishable ice!

November 11, 2014 Blue Mesa Ice Fishing Report: No ice in sight!

As of right now we are still fishing lots of open water! The coldest water I have seen in in the inlets and ranges from 36-50 degrees.  The trout fishing is red hot right now!