Grand Lake

Fishing has been consistently fair to slow depending on the day. Definitely in the mid-summer pattern with the water temps peaking for the season. Trollers are reporting success for rainbows and browns trolling pop gear and spinner tipped with a worm at 18 to 24 feet. Shore anglers are reporting the bite as slow with an occasional fish caught in the early morning or late evening. Lake trout have been most consistent bite in 65 to 120 feet of water. Glow tubes, grubs and minnow imitations have been the go-to plastics when tipped with a small piece of sucker, and as an additional attractant use a scent such as smelly jelly or powerbait. The bites have been light, but the fish are biting.

—Fishing with Bernie guide Dan Shannon

Williams Fork

Ramp hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Water capacity is at 90%, or 6.5 feet low. Inflow is 74 cfs, outflow is 275 cfs. With the cooler weather the last few days, the surface temp has dropped a bit to 68 degrees Fahrenheit in the early morning warming to 70 degrees. Visibility is good 12 to 15 feet down. The lake trout bite is quite good for this time of year. Clients are easily catching limits of 14- to 21-inch fish in 75 to 90 feet of water on small plastics tipped with sucker meat. The bite is fast and light, happening within a few inches of the bottom.

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We’re starting to see fish on the bottom bite halfway up the column when reeling up to do a bait check. Cleaning fish for clients I’ve notice mostly female fish are biting. Large trophy-class lake trout are getting tough to come by. Shore fishing for rainbows is very slow as is trolling for kokanee salmon, since the population has been purposely reduced in an effort to eliminate gill lice from the reservoir.

Northern pike are in decline so fishing for them is slow. I fished pike recently on an overcast day with light chop and rain and managed to catch one in six hours of fishing. Be prepared for a lot of casting with minimal result if you’re going pike fishing. Please practice catch-and-release on all northern pike.

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—Fishing with Bernie guide Randy H.

Lake Granby

Water level is at 93%. Water temps are warming into the low 70s by the afternoon on most days. Rainbow trout and brown trout bites have been fair. Trollers are reporting success trolling spoons and crank baits along the shorelines in 15 to 20 feet of water, early in the day. Shore anglers are reporting the most consistent bite early in the morning with worms fished on bottom in the areas where the creeks come into the lake and the water is coolest. Lake trout bite has been fair to good. Look for lake trout in 55 to 90 feet of water. Downsize your bite and slow down your presentation for best success. Tube jigs and grubs have been most consistent, but don’t be afraid to tie on a spoon or more aggressive bait as a change of pace. Most productive colors have been natural ones such as greens, browns and white, but always tipped with fresh sucker meat.

—Fishing with Bernie guide Dan Shannon

The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand County for over 25 years. For more info please check out FishingWithBernie.com, Facebook.com/fishingwithbernie or on our Instagram pages: @fishing_with_bernie and @fishingwithaltitude Call us at 303-956-3804