Colorado Bass Fishing?

[BassinGuy]

I might have to relocate to Colorado. Does anyone know how bass fishing is there? And what part of the state has the best lakes for bass fishing?

[Marty]

BassinGuy,

In a few years I just might also be relocating to Colorado – but I will be retiring. The only lake I have been on is Pueblo Lake and the fish are small. Come to think about it the Lake is also small. The lake holds both largemouth and smallmouth and there is a size minimum of 15 inches. When I was station at Fort Carson it took about 45 minutes to get to the lake. Fishing will shut down in the winter – I mean it gets real cold. It is nothing like the Delta or Clear Lake.

I will more then likely be heading down for long weekends to Okalahoma or Texas to fish.

What part of Colorado will you be relocating too? I will end up in Colorado Springs.

[fourbizzle]

I grew up in southern colorado. There are a few lakes that are worth fishing. But a 6lber is a dang big fish anywhere in colo.

Navajo Reservoir mostly in NM, pretty big lake though. smallies are really coming on strong the last few years i am told

John Martin Reservoir. Has the CO version on big fish

Pueblo Reservoir Centrally located. dink fest

Horsetooth Reservoir. Pretty new lake, smallies taking hold

There are a ton of small lakes that have bass and farm ponds can be quite a bit of fun. If I ever move back though, its gonna be northern pike and wild trout.

[Turkeyman]

I used to live in Longmont, as stated there are a lot of irrigation reserviors and private leases on reserviors. The Division of Wildlife has several lakes leased for public use and they stock each differently, Lon hagler near Fort Collins, used to be stocked heavy with trout to feed Tiger Muskies, Lone Tree near Berthoud had fair amounts of large mouth, Walleye's and was stocked with Wipers, (White bass/striper cross) they were an absolute blast. Horsetooth was always good for smallies, but they drained it to do some dam repairs so not sure how good it is. If you are into waterfowl hunting and in the Denver area the Canada hunting is fabulous. A good friend has just started his own guiding business and has a cast and blast pkg. Hunting in the morning and bass fishing in the afternoon. PM if you want more info.

[sTony]

My understanding is that a lot of guys that really like bass fishing from Colorado go to neighboring states to catch 'em up. Same for many in Utah and Nevada. The lakes are few and far between in some areas.

sTony

[wccjanel]

There's a great smallmouth population in Chatsworth (Littleton), but it fishes small. Fish by the tower, you'll find a reef there that holds them. Also, there is a sunken bridge that folks troll for walleyes - it too has smallies on it. If you can get around the docks without some young kid telling you that you can't fish there (yes you can), you may pick up some largemouth.

All the same stuff we throw here works there, as-well-as Wiggle Warts; floating Rapalas (old school), underspins, and in-line spinners.

Last time I fished Chatsworth was in 2006, so this is pretty contemporary news.

You may want to learn how to fish for some of the lake trout that the upper lakes have. Macks can be caught much the same way we fish bass - they love tubes, jerkbaits, and cranks - they fight like no tomorrow, and nobody minds if you chop one up for the table. Tasty stuff.

Keep us posted.
Good Luck,
james

[Chris J]

I relocated outside of Boulder last year and have been having a pretty good year. I focus on Horsetooth for smallies. During the spawn and post spawn, I was having 50-100 fish days on smallies up to about 3 lbs. There are also some really nice walleye in there as well. There are also some really nice largemouth in there for CO that nobody talks about. Carter is chunk rock heaven for big walleye and largemouth. There are places where we have 8 lb bass in the Denver metro area as well. Most people don't share a lot of bass info out here because there are a lot of meat fishing, not a whole lot of releasing of the big fish. It's also the only place where I get heckled for releasing fish.

The mention of lake trout fishing by wcc was a great point. I have some spots where I have been getting them on swimbaits. I am waiting for the kokes to move into the the tribs of lakes and the lake trout follow them up to feed. It's a blast. I get some very strange looks with the bass boat in with the trout guys.

The only problem with fishing here is that it's about a May to October thing. Fortunately we have some great skiing to fill in from there.

[kopper_bass]

BassinGuy,
I used to live in Denver, and then moved out here to CA. For sure, the bass fishing in CO doesnt compare to that of CA, but they do have it there and they fish 11 months out of the year. Most years Pueblo lake stays clear and can be fished all year. They take it seriously there as we do, and is quite a competitive group.

From Denver close by is Chatworth, Pueblo and Horsetooth (just redone and restocked) for fishing with a boat; and tons of small ponds and pits for some bank fishing. There is also some good fishing in the southwestern corner on the CO river system. That's Jerred Edwards country.

As sTony mentioned, the guys there also do a lot of traveling; way more than guys in CA whine about. They go to NM, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas to get some even better fishing in. Flaming gorge is there in WY, and Lake Norton and Cedar Bluff in Kansas, and of course Lake Powell out in Utah. The guys caravan as a big group when they travel, so its quite a fun adventure.

There are quite a few bass clubs there on the front range too. Check out Denver Bassmasters (my old club) to start.

If you need any further details, or a contact person, let me know.

Good Luck,

Kopper_Bass