Bass Fishing In Colorado

[wlewis55]

Just recently moved right outside of Denver from Va and am looking for some good spots for bass fishing. I also have a kayak that I'm trying to take out, if anyone has any good info that would be much appreciated.

[tritondriver]

i watched a video a few years ago of a pro that was from CO, dont remember his name, but in that video he basically said there was only one lake for bass fishing and i believe it may be south of the springs..

[iceintheveins]

The better bass fishing is on the Western Slope. Chatfield and Bear Creek have large numbers of smallies but a two pounder is a good one. Aurora doesn't have the numbers but it does have bigger fish up to 5.5 pounds or so. Many small ponds around Denver do have some nicer largemouth. It's just a matter of finding the right ones.

[BuckMaxx]

Welcome to our state. When I moved out here in 2002. If someone would have told me the bass fishing was as good as it is. I would have told em they are crazy. I grew up in Southern Mo on the Table Rock and Bull Shoals.How could you get any better then that??

Our bass fishing can be second to none. Biggest bass I have caught was 9 lb 2 oz. which was out of a small private lake. The biggest difference is most of our impoundments are irragation, so there is constant water moving in and out. This brings new oxygen into them constantly. With more oxygen the fish are more active and feel better. This also means they eat ALOT. Most of the big water Pueblo Aurora etc you shouuld probably have a boat. But there is plenty of small water around if you just do some research.

I would recommend you look into the Denver bass club but there are others. If you are not interested in tournament fishing it would be a great way to meet people.The Division of parks and Wildlife will also be extrememly helpful. THey will almost do everything but hook em for you.

Good luck!!

[Bass_Akwards]

Just recently moved right outside of Denver from Va and am looking for some good spots for bass fishing. I also have a kayak that I'm trying to take out, if anyone has any good info that would be much appreciated.

Use google earth man.  There's tons of great ponds around denver and the suburbs.  A good stick can catch some nice fish in many of them  I'm consistently catching 17 18 and 19 inch fish in places many anglers tell me they only catch 15 and 16 inch max. I was fishing a group of ponds on Monday night and as usual, asked everyone I saw in the parking lot after "how'd you do?"  I guess people could be lying but one guy said he didnt catch anything one guy said he caught three bass but nothing over 15 inches a couple guys had "more than 5 bass" but nothing over 15 inches.  This is insanely typical.  I ask anglers d**n near every time I go out "How'd you do tonight?"  "Anything over 15 inches?"  "Anything over 2 1/2 pounds?" (I never ask what they use as I hate when people ask me that) If I ask 100 fishermen at my local ponds these questions 89 of them will give me these same answers.  Meanwhile I'm catching 18 inch, 3 pound fattys and 16 inch fighters, and 20 inch whales!!!   I watch guys fish all the time.  we're shore fishermen so it's easy to do.  I watch how and where they cast.  Where they chose to stand when casting. The choices of bait their using etc and I just laugh.

 

7 out of 10 anglers at the local pond get how to "fish".  They get what a soft plastic is and get what cranks and jerks are, they all have their favorite lures and baits from childhood, but when you watch them fish, it's easy to see why they never catch the bigger bass in the lake or pond.  I'm not saying any more than that.  The point I'm trying to make is, don't ask people where the "good fishing" is.  Most people have no clue, and will tell you there's not any giant bass in a place where there IS giant bass but they just don't know it, and won't know it until they see me pull in two 4 pounders. :-)  

 

The guys who know where to land the piggies aren't just going to tell you where they do it either.  It takes a lot of research and a lot of casts to find those lakes and ponds that hold nice bass and then even more casts and time and money and energy to find the honey holes and special, tender little nooks and crannies on those bodies of water.  Get out there and put in the work and you'll find some killer bass hopefully.  PM me and I'll give you a nice body of water to fish for starters.

[Namsu11]

Welcome to our great state! I agree fully with BuckMaxx! When I first moved to CO from MI, I was under the impression that this was a "trout only" state. Was I ever wrong! Like others have mentioned, you will have to put in a lot of time and effort to locate good water and nice bass, but there are plenty of places! I have caught 2 largemouth that weighed 5 lbs. in the past 2 years and countless smallmouth and largemouth in the 3 lb. range. If you live near Denver, might I point you towards Aurora Reservoir and Quincy Reservoir close to Highway 225. The state record smallie was pulled out of Aurora Reservoir a couple years ago, and Quincy Reservoir is considered a trophy bass water. If you haven't yet done so, get yourself over to FishExplorer.com and register. Spend some time reading and checking out the website. It is how I got started out here in CO! Feel free to message me here on bassresource and I would be happy to talk bass fishing! Best of luck sir.

[Revival]

When i lived in Colorado, everyone was fishing at the Pueblo Reservoir for Wipers.  I used to bass fish at night at Valco ponds which was right before the reservoir.  There were 2 ponds open at the time but i heard that they have opened more.  The night fishing was awesome.

[CoBass]

Welcome to Colorado. Like the others have said, if you're looking for largemouth skip the bigger lakes/reservoirs and focus on small ponds. If you're target species is smallies, chatfield, bear creek, and horsetooth all have large populations of smaller fish that are pretty easy to catch. If you want a chance at a state record smallie, Aurora is the place to go. The last two state record smallies came from Aurora and I've seen pics of bigger ones caught that weren't turned in for the record. It's a tough place to figure out but there's some huge smallies in there. Aurora also has a very healthy walleye population and even though they aren't there in numbers, the last two state record channel cats were also caught there.

[wlewis55]

Thanks for the info guys, it def took a lot of searching to find some decent spots. for everyone who thinks there aren't big bass in CO is just a fool. Ive caught multiple 3 pounders and pulled a 4.2 out last week, and have missed bigger! I've only been here for 3 months and can't wait to see what other fisheries I can find!  trying to upload the picture of my 4 pounder but it says my file is too big.

[BuckMaxx]

Good for you!! I can tell you the bigger lakes right now are TOUGH!! I have been going to the smaller private spots and catching 30-40 a night on topwater. One of the most memorable for the year will be my girlfriend's 4 lber. It came 2 feet outta the water to karate chop her buzzbait. AWESOME!

[JellyMan]

I lived in Highlands Ranch for 4 months but never fished. I just heard through the grape vine that Chatfield and Aurora are about it other than private water. I hear about good water outside the state tho. New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas.

 

GOD I am glad to be home. Colorado was cool but my home is Florida. No job or salary will get me out of Florida. Dont know what you got till it's gone.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

willy getting skunked!!!!!! hahahah

[Blake - ColoradoAngling]

I live next to chatfield resavoir and there's these ponds and there call the south platte ponds and they all have tons of bass up to 2 and a half feet... Cuaght a 32 in large mouth out of there at the beginning of september

[CoBass]

I live next to chatfield resavoir and there's these ponds and there call the south platte ponds and they all have tons of bass up to 2 and a half feet... Cuaght a 32 in large mouth out of there at the beginning of september

There are some decent bass in South Platte Park but there ain't no 2 and a half foot bass in there let alone a 32 incher. Fish that size would be world record sized and a fish like that doesn't live anywhere in Colorado. Not trying to be a jerk about it  but maybe next time you should turn your tape measure over and use the side that is in inches not centimeters.

[Blake - ColoradoAngling]

There are some decent bass in South Platte Park but there ain't no 2 and a half foot bass in there let alone a 32 incher. Fish that size would be world record sized and a fish like that doesn't live anywhere in Colorado. Not trying to be a jerk about it but maybe next time you should turn your tape measure over and use the side that is in inches not centimeters.

Ok we'll maybe not 32 inches but in those ponds there's a lot of bass over 2 feet

[brgbassmaster]

When i was stationed in New mexico we had two tournaments in colorado. One was mcphee and the other was morgan lake i believe. I can't remember which one was the power plant lake but that one had some TOADS in it. We would be fishing in 5* weather with snow and the water was a steady 75-80 degrees. Also navajo is just below the state line in new mexico and that one has some real nice smallies in it and had some 5-6lb largemouth caught out of it in the few tournaments we had there.

[wlewis55]

nice guys! ill def have to check out those ponds this spring! anyone been out since the lakes and ponds thawed? I just caught my first 2 bass of the year a few days ago. landed a 2 lb on the first cast and a 2 1/2 on my swing jig!

[719BassFishing]

There are some good lakes in Denver such as Aurora and Quincy. My favorite place to fish is Pueblo Res. and the Valco Ponds right behind the dam of Pueblo. Those ponds hold some big bass. I know that there is a Denver bassmasters club that you can join. I fish in the Fountain Valley club that runs out of the Springs. Hope the advice helps!

[TheDanShinSwimbaiter]

hitting Valco tomorow.  i love this state. moved to Lakewood/Denver 7 months ago.  

 

colorado swimbaiters.

[calvincorey]

Pueblo has tons of smallies. Biggest I've seen was 4 lb. also has fair amount of spots and largies. Heard brush hollow was good, never been there though. Navajo and McPhee as mentioned. Also ridgway reservoir has been producing some toad smallies!!Dont forget rifle gap, and I heard elkhead reservoir has a few smallies. Anybody know about the smallmouth in the Yampa river?

[iceintheveins]

Pueblo has tons of smallies. Biggest I've seen was 4 lb. also has fair amount of spots and largies. Heard brush hollow was good, never been there though. Navajo and McPhee as mentioned. Also ridgway reservoir has been producing some toad smallies!!Dont forget rifle gap, and I heard elkhead reservoir has a few smallies. Anybody know about the smallmouth in the Yampa river?

The Yampa River is by far the best smallmouth bass fishery in the state, filled with smallies to 4 pounds and the odd 5 - 6 pounder. Hit it right and you will lose count of the 2 - 4 pounders you catch in a day, and throw in 8 - 12 pike per day up to 45" and it's an AMAZING fishery. Alas, the Colorado Division Of Parks and Wildlife, Colorado State University, and the US Fish and Wildlife service have killed about 100,000 smallmouth and 20,000 pike in the river because they consider them a threat to endangered and native chubs, suckers, and squawfish. Luckily it has really not had that much of an effect on the smallmouth in the river as there are simply too many, probably 3000 to 4000 fish per mile. It has hurt the pike fishing some though, but it's still a great pike river. That's right, they want to kill this trophy river in favor of rough fish, when the real cause of the rough fish being endangered are dams and diversions, NOT our sportfish. Elkhead is very good for smallmouth and pike as well but nothing like the River. Rifle Gap is good for smallies and pike too. Ridgway has a smallmouth fishery taking off, but alas the Division Of Parks And Wildlife are killing smallmouth in it too for the same reason as in the Yampa. The locals want to lynch them for what they are doing.

[calvincorey]

The Yampa River is by far the best smallmouth bass fishery in the state, filled with smallies to 4 pounds and the odd 5 - 6 pounder. Hit it right and you will lose count of the 2 - 4 pounders you catch in a day, and throw in 8 - 12 pike per day up to 45" and it's an AMAZING fishery. Alas, the Colorado Division Of Parks and Wildlife, Colorado State University, and the US Fish and Wildlife service have killed about 100,000 smallmouth and 20,000 pike in the river because they consider them a threat to endangered and native chubs, suckers, and squawfish. Luckily it has really not had that much of an effect on the smallmouth in the river as there are simply too many, probably 3000 to 4000 fish per mile. It has hurt the pike fishing some though, but it's still a great pike river. That's right, they want to kill this trophy river in favor of rough fish, when the real cause of the rough fish being endangered are dams and diversions, NOT our sportfish. Elkhead is very good for smallmouth and pike as well but nothing like the River. Rifle Gap is good for smallies and pike too. Ridgway has a smallmouth fishery taking off, but alas the Division Of Parks And Wildlife are killing smallmouth in it too for the same reason as in the Yampa. The locals want to lynch them for what they are doing.

Wow I didnt know it had that kind of fish in the river! Also, they aren't killing smallmouth out of ridgeway, yet anyways. when is the last time you fished the Yampa? Where is the best spots to fish there?

[iceintheveins]

Wow I didnt know it had that kind of fish in the river! Also, they aren't killing smallmouth out of ridgeway, yet anyways. when is the last time you fished the Yampa? Where is the best spots to fish there?

They have killed a few in Ridgway already. Fished the Yampa last year, my wife and I caught 67 smallies and 19 pike. Half the smallies were a pound or better we got 20 in the 2 - 4 pound range. Biggest pike was 38" smallest 22". Best reach of the Yampa is from Hayden to the Green River with the Craig area the very best.