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Summit County Fishing Report: Fall options abound, except kokanee

Dave Coulson
Special to the Daily

Avid fall anglers have been waiting for the kokanee to start showing in greater numbers, unfortunately the fishermen are outnumbering the fish as of late. A good cold spell is probably needed to really get things rolling. To date Green Mountain Reservoir has been dead for salmon, although trout fishing has been fair with eggs, worms and dough baits. Further downstream Wolford Mountain Reservoir continues to produce fair numbers of fish for those trolling. Wedding rings — especially green with a bit of corn — trolled behind dodgers have been effective. A number of anglers are fishing off the dam for kokes with limited success. Boating will end mid-October.

Granby Lake is seeing good numbers of lake trout as well as rainbows cruising the shoreline, but the bite has been slow. Spoons and minnow-style lures such as Rapalas are working fair and should become more productive as the waters cool. Fly-fishers should give streamers a try.

South Park’s Spinney Reservoir is fishing well for small northern pike with stick baits. Spinner baits and in-line spinners have worked around vegetation. Trolling with popgear and worms has also been good for rainbows.



Antero Reservoir is doing well with a variety of lures. Nothing large, but 12- to 14-inch fish on light rods makes for a fun day. Access to Jefferson Lake remains good. Rainbow action is good, with most trout baits, small spinners, and a fly and bubble with dark patterns. A number of small lake trout are being taken using small jigs in deeper water, up to 50 feet.

Twin Lakes is a good option for some fall rainbow fishing from the shore with a variety of lures. This is a great place to take kids as the fishing is typically nonstop. Weather is the only negative, as it can get nasty in a hurry, so pick your days carefully.



Rivers throughout the state are fishing well. Most hatches this time of year are midges with a few blue-wing olives mixed in. Terrestrials, such as ants, are a great choice also. Additionally, there’s nothing wrong with giving large attractors a try, such as renegades, Wulffs and Humpies to name a few. In the larger sizes, they also work to run a lightly-weighted midge nymph under them.

The Blue River below Dillon is fishing well at this time.

Dave Coulson is the Colorado editor for http://www.fishexplorer.com. He contributes a weekly fishing report to the Summit Daily News.


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