Grand Lake

Boat ramp hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Water temperatures are in the low 60s and cooling a little each day. Fishing is picking up for rainbow and brown trout as the water cools. Two to three-inch chrome or white colored jerkbaits and spoons have been producing fish along the shorelines, with the most concentrated fish along the rocky shorelines.

Lake trout action has been good. Fish are staged for spawn just outside the spawning areas in 40-70 feet of water. A three-eighths-ounce glow colored jig head paired with a dark colored body has been best lure choice, tipped with fresh sucker.

Williams Fork

The east boat ramp hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The water level is 89% or 6.5 feet low. The surface temperature has dropped to 60 degrees. Visibility is still good; jigs drop out of sight 10 to 12 feet down.

With the cooler temps the lake trout bite is picking up and they’re just beginning to group up. This week’s average was 13 fish per rod on a six-hour trip. I would rate the fishing good right now. Small juvenile fish up to trophies can be found in 60 to 80 feet of water, with our main focus on the 70-foot area on the top of ridges or on the edge of a slope.

Small 3- to 4-inch plastics (tubes, grubs, twisters, paddle-tails) tipped with sucker meat fished on or just off the bottom is producing hits. The lake trout bite generally slows by midday.

Northerns are slow as usual, in part due to a decrease in population and many of bigger fish no longer live in their traditional habitat. Some have moved to deeper water where food is more plentiful (think lake trout). Please practice catch and release on all northerns caught.

Brown trout are active along the rocks north of the east boat ramp and in the inlet 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 isn’t much action fishing for them.

Lake Granby

Boat ramp hours are 6 a.m.to 6 p.m. Water level is currently at 89% or approximately 8.5 feet below full with water temperatures starting the morning in the low 60s and warming during day.

Rainbow and brown trout action is improving. Dynamic Twitch tubes worked along rocky shorelines in less than 10 feet of water and spoons such as Little Cleo or Kastmaster in chrome/blue or pink worked with a lift fall retrieve has been producing fish.

Lake trout action is fair to good depending on the day right now and if you are able to locate actively feeding fish. Look for them in prespawn locations in 50-75 feet of water with deep water close by. A three-eighths-ounce underspin jighead with a brown/chartreuse colored grub or pumpkin green/pink colored grub has been best producing lure. Tip your bait with a small piece of fresh sucker to keep the fish coming in and interested.

Fall action is just starting to heat up and should be just getting better as the water cools. Definitely make your plans to come enjoy the beautiful fall colors and weather.

The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand County for over 25 years. For more info please check out FishingWithBernie.com.