I am going to Grand lake for a family thing on the first weekend of august. I've never fished these lakes before. So I thought I'd drag the boat up and see if I can find some Macks. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start looking? I'm primarily lookin for the large fish. But if I can get into some pups I'm ok w/ that. Thanks for any help.
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I have fished Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain, and Grand Lake which are all next to each other, If you are going to take a boat out I would suggest fishing Lake Granby because there are a lot of good sized lake trout in there, as for when you fish for them fish shallower waters in the morning and deeper waters in the after noon, I jig fish for them use a white tube jig and tip it with sucker meat. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
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Grand Lake in August usually the Macks are VERY deep (Grand Lake is the deepest lake in Colorado). About half of the lake is very shallow, and other half deep. I've always found it to be tough fishing for Macks in August but if you want to have fun with rainbows and such, then try around the inlets.
If you launch at Shadow Mountain Reservoir you can access Grand Lake - be sure to be careful of the submerged rocks on the right after you pass under the water gate into Grand - I know a couple of people that have lost props there.
I agree that Granby is the place to be if you want to catch a good quantity of healthy fish (18 - 24" inch fish). Pick up a map of the lake and fish the humps during the day. Early in the morning, I've seen Macks rolling on the surface even over Labor Day weekend and I've caught them even using a crawler under a bobber. Your bigger fish are going to be deep. If you have downriggers, try trolling with big spoons and a small piece of fresh cut minnows or fresh sucker meat.
Please, please, please - if you catch a big laker out of Grand or Granby think twice before keeping the fish. There are some fish in Granby and Grand Lake that go to 30 lbs but they are few and far between.
Thanks for the help. I spend allot of time fishing Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge, Twin and Turquoise lakes. For some reason just never have made it to the Granby area. Do these fish "stack up" like they do on the Gorge and Blue? Or are they spread through the lake? How is the wind? I almost strictly jig allot of wind pretty much makes it impossible to jig effectively.
No need to worry about me killing lake trout. I am a very strong supporter of cpr(catch photo release). I will attach a couple of pics. of fish I've caught and released this year. One of them being over forty pounds. I'm not bragging, just thought I'd share them with you. Thanks again
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To tell you the truth I don't really know if they gather up or are spread around up there, best bet would to troll around if you don't find out if they are gathered or not. Best of luck to you, and let me know how you do up there.
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OOOps I goofed on the second pic. here is a better one
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Thanks for the help. I spend allot of time fishing Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge, Twin and Turquoise lakes. For some reason just never have made it to the Granby area. Do these fish "stack up" like they do on the Gorge and Blue? Or are they spread through the lake? How is the wind? I almost strictly jig allot of wind pretty much makes it impossible to jig effectively.
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This time of year they do stack up on humps and off points. The wind can make it brutal for jigging sometimes but usually you're OK in the mornings.
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