Fishing with Bernie/Courtesy photo
Grand Lake
The lake trout bite has been fair. Most lakers are caught in 35-55 feet of water on small soft plastic jigs tipped with sucker meat. Smaller tubes and grubs in the 1-2 inch range have been productive. Most fish are caught early in the morning; it really slowed down after 10 am
The rainbow and brown trout bite also slowed a bit this week due to the warm weather and bright bluebird days. Most fish are caught early in the morning and late at night when the lake does not have direct sunlight on it. The west side of the lake has been a little more productive for browns and rainbows as pumping operations continue this week.
Williams Fork
Eastern boat ramp hours are 6 am to 8 pm Water level is 100%, but the lake is down about 6 inches. Inflow is 172 cubic feet per second, outflow is 188 cfs. Visibility is 10-12 feet. The early morning surface temperature warmed to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit warming to 68 degrees.
County roads 3 and 341 were recently chip sealed resulting in chips on your fancy fishing boat. Trout fishing in the lake has improved now that the lake is completely settled. This week the catch rate was 10-12 fish per rod.
Lake trout are working their way into deeper water, but we are still catching all types of fish in 50-60 feet. In the third week of July, look for them in 60-80 feet. Small tubes, twister tail grubs or paddle tailed plastics tipped with sucker meat fished slowly on or near the bottom are producing the most bites. When the bite slows down start adding scent. The bite is best in the morning which stops around 9-9:30 am Pretty quiet by 10 am and completely dead by noon.
Fishing for northern pike is slow. Some are located near the mouths of bays. Other than crawdads and a few suckers, there isn’t much food in their traditional shallow water habitat. Look for them near the deeper water where the food is. Please practice catch and release on all northern pike.
Brown trout are working the rocks north of the east boat ramp and the entrance before the sun hits the water. The lake hasn’t been stocked with rainbows or Kokanees since 2019 in an effort to control gill lice, so there hasn’t been much fishing action for them.
Lake Granby
Boat ramp hours are 6 am to 8 pm Water temperatures are in the low 60s in the morning and warm to 66 degrees in the afternoon. Water level is 98%, about 1.5 feet low.
Rainbow trout and brown trout fishing has been fair. Mornings and evenings are the best times of the day. Silver and chartreuse spinners as well as green bead head wooly buggers are producing fish.
Trout fishing on the lake has remained excellent. We are looking for fish in 50-90 feet of water. A variety of plastics on a jig head tipped with a sucker will produce bites, but the color seems to change during the day so have a good variety on hand. Look for structure at your target depth with steep drop offs nearby and stay mobile to find groups of fish actively biting.
The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand County for over 25 years. For more information please see FishingWithBernie.com or visit us on Facebook.com.
