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Fishing Off the Dam - Pueblo - Tips/Anything I Should Know?

5K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  _colorado 
#1 ·
I've been out to the res a few times in Feb at dusk fishing mostly suspending jerkbaits in a few different areas.

I'm thinking the waters may be too shallow and cold still where I've been. I'm looking to access some deeper water and with the full moon coming up I'm considering fishing the dam to up my probabilities. The last time I was out there I saw some lights down around the dam so it would seem this is doable.

If anyone who has done this .. do you have any tips or advice? I see folks walking across the dam (walking dogs, etc) so I assume you just head out and down the rocks. Is there anything else I should know about fishing off the dam?

Thank you
 
#3 ·
Thanks.. Yea, I'm definitely no fan of it either honestly.

It's not my first choice (I've been fishing around the dam and another area) but it just seems I must be too shallow. All signs I can see point to the dam for this part of the season.
 
#4 ·
Yes, park and walk. They can be anywhere along the dam and I mean anywhere. The best advice I can give you is what I can no longer do myself: walk the riprap. Fan cast an area with one or two patterns (I carry two rods) then move to the next spot and resume fan casting. Slow retrieves as close to the shore as you dare. While you will get some takers on long casts directly out from shore, when they are in spawn mode they will be close to the rocks. Do that until you find them or get tired, then turn around and repeat it coming back. If they are there you will find them. Make sure your baits suspend perfectly or slowly rise. Good luck - hope to see your report.
 
#6 ·
Yes, park and walk. They can be anywhere along the dam and I mean anywhere. The best advice I can give you is what I can no longer do myself: walk the riprap. Fan cast an area with one or two patterns (I carry two rods) then move to the next spot and resume fan casting. Slow retrieves as close to the shore as you dare. While you will get some takers on long casts directly out from shore, when they are in spawn mode they will be close to the rocks. Do that until you find them or get tired, then turn around and repeat it coming back. If they are there you will find them. Make sure your baits suspend perfectly or slowly rise. Good luck - hope to see your report.
Absolutely you will. When I get off work this afternoon I'm headed out to do exactly this. I should be able to get there with about ~30min of daylight left.

My weather app (WU) is telling me the moon is at 85% tonight. I would think this would be enough moonlight to assist walleye after dark - but I really don't know how close to Full is most ideal - or frankly if the only meaningful battle right now is the water temps.

This time of year I prefer to use suspend dots on my jerkbaits to make sure they sit as still as I can get them, get them to depth and let them sit for a long count in these cooler temps, it's almost like a senko bite.
Spent 10 min right before work with a clear plastic container full of water testing the suspension of my jerkbaits. Looks like some modification is needed to get them to sit perfectly still.

I see online that sportsman's warehouse carries suspending dots. Don't know if the new one here carries them in store. I won't have time to grab any today anyway ... but thank you for this tip, I wouldn't have thought of it.
 
#9 ·
No store here in Pueblo (dick's, the new sportsman's warehouse) carries either the dots or strips. I had to order them online. Supposedly arriving Thurs (day of full moon).

Walleye spawn when water temps are between 45 and 50 degrees. Right now is the pre-spawn, but you're fishing as if it was the spawn. Pre-spawn walleyes are going to be in 15 to 30 feet of water on the first flat closest to their spawning grounds. Deeper in clearer water.

The males will arrive at the spawning grounds before the females. Within the next week to ten days. They will also stay throughout the spawn, whereas the females will come in over a period of one to two nights do their business and leave, heading for the nearest feeding flat or mud basin. Not all females spawn at the same time, so some are constantly moving in.

Spawning activity will take place from dusk until about midnight. Generally from about the 10th of March until tax day. They'll be in that one to three or four foot of water right up on the bank. You should be directing your casts parallel to the dam or rocky points. Daytime hours the fish back off to the nearest deep water flat again.

Any windswept rocky point will attract spawning walleyes. The better the spawning habitat...the more spawners, but don't just limit yourself to the dam. Dark colors on a moonlit night ...bright colors on darker nights or stained water.

Yeah, you're a bit early for consistent action ...and definitely early as far as time of day/night.
With the dam closing on the 15th it would seem my window is fairly short. Once they close it I won't be able to work right off the rocks .. not that the lateral movement along the rocky dam last night was a picnic. I'm sure it gets easier - and funner - when there's something on the end of my line other than small tree limbs or an immovable boulder.

This timing does bring up the importance of alternate locations.

For pre-spawn (now until the 15th), it seems like I'll need to be getting some good long casts in with deeper diving jerkbaits than I have.
 
#7 ·
Mon, Feb 26 - Dam Fishing Jerkbaits

Arrived at dam shortly before dusk.



First thing I did was temp the surface of the water, came in at 38.8°.



I started on the dam about a quarter of the way from the NE corner of N1 cove and the dam... working my way toward the dam. The wind was blowing directly at me 3/4 of the time, the other 1/4 being complete calm (wind picked up again after dark before leaving).

I was casting out suspending jerkbaits on 8lb fleuro and working them extremely slowly. An hour or so in I realized that I probably needed to jerk them pretty hard a few times immediately after casting so they could get down in depth. They otherwise aren't really getting down to depth except for the occasional jerk driving them down as part of my normal retrieve. Not clear optimal strategy here.

My retrieves were extremely slow and pauses excruciatingly long. I have just begun to throw jerkbaits this month, with my understanding of them coming from articles and youtube vids. I tried a few different cadences, some slower than excruciating (15 count) and some a touch less.

I temped the water again for consistency a couple hrs after arriving. Came in at 38.5°. The North Shore Marina reports water temps at 37° calling there this morning.





I ended at about 8:30 having not quite reached the dam. The moon was quite bright at 85%, especially after a few early clouds passed.

Final Tally:
Walleye: 0
Snagged/Lost Rapalas: 1

After deciding to pack it in and make the long, frustrating walk back I was surprised to see some folks arriving as I was leaving. When I reached the parking area two more vehicles pulled in as I was putting my gear away. I can't help but think I may have been a little early.

Here is the color and clarity of the water.




Here are some questions I have:

-Is this what they call "coffee colored" or "lightly stained"? It seems quite a bit clearer than most of the water looked last year when I started fishing.

-Given the water color, what are going to be ideal colors to throw? I was tossing:
-Rapala husky jerk 1/4oz color: Silver (HJ08 S), depth 4-6 ft
-Berkley Cutter 110, color: Table Rock, 9/16oz, depth 3-6 ft
-Rapala husky jerk 3/8oz, color: Glass Purple Sunfire (HJ10 GPSF) depth 4-8 ft (this is the one I snagged and lost)

These 3 jerkbaits comprise 3/5 of my jerkbaits (now 1/2). I want to pick up a couple more but would like to make sure I'm getting the right colors for the right conditions.

-Is a later start (in good moonlight conditions) more ideal?

-What do these water temperatures mean? It would seem to me they are still quite cold yet the consensus seems to be this is indeed prespawn time. Am I wasting my time right now? Or am I in need of some modifications and continued persistence?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Walleye spawn when water temps are between 45 and 50 degrees. Right now is the pre-spawn, but you're fishing as if it was the spawn. Pre-spawn walleyes are going to be in 15 to 30 feet of water on the first flat closest to their spawning grounds. Deeper in clearer water.

The males will arrive at the spawning grounds before the females. Within the next week to ten days. They will also stay throughout the spawn, whereas the females will come in over a period of one to two nights do their business and leave, heading for the nearest feeding flat or mud basin. Not all females spawn at the same time, so some are constantly moving in.

Spawning activity will take place from dusk until about midnight. Generally from about the 10th of March until tax day. They'll be in that one to three or four foot of water right up on the bank. You should be directing your casts parallel to the dam or rocky points. Daytime hours the fish back off to the nearest deep water flat again.

Any windswept rocky point will attract spawning walleyes. The better the spawning habitat...the more spawners, but don't just limit yourself to the dam. Dark colors on a moonlit night ...bright colors on darker nights or stained water.

Yeah, you're a bit early for consistent action ...and definitely early as far as time of day/night.
 
#10 ·
I'm sure it gets easier - and funner - when there's something on the end of my line other than small tree limbs or an immovable boulder.
If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Put in the work for more than a few hours once or twice. Eventually your persistence will be off. Losing one jerkbait is nothing..... Try losing a couple hundred bucks worth in a 8 hour session and only catching one keeper....
 
#13 ·
the water temp you are taking is the coldest water in yhe lake 2 feet deeper will be warmer at 25 feet it may be 45 or more deg so don't worry about the temp the only lure i use along the dam is a rogue suspending in blue back silver sides and orange belly the action will be much better after the nets come out and it can be good all summer. the biggest we caught was 14 lbs on the first weekend of aug.
 
#23 ·
:thumb::thumb::thumb:
If you want to be a walleye master you must suffer like Jesus did for 40 days and nights. Literally. Lent is about giving up what you enjoy... and suffering to be as good of Zander fishermen as his apostles came to be after jesus’s Ressurection by the Easter bunny. Embrace hardship. Your God is smithwick clown, and your new Bible is the vampire chronicles on this forum. Begin your 40 nights of penance.
So it is written.....
 
#27 ·
Lol. I’m gonna try another lake a little further north from this one in a few days and try my hand again.

Also the thing to keep in mind I’m fishing places where there’s dinks, not pigs... I like fish tacos too much
 
#29 ·
Thank you Walleye Seeker. To be clear on what areas are not accessible during this time (from shore) is it literally everything on the dam side? I mean, can you fish the corners of the dam side, like n1 cove or south fishing where they meet the dam, etc?

Also, where do you (where can anyone) get the info on when the nets go away and access is reopened?

This is probably a dumb question (I just don't know so I'm asking) ... is the purpose of the nets exclusively to "take the walleye spawn" as you say?
 
#30 ·
All of the dam closes until they take down the nets, usually two weeks or so after they go up. They go up in other places too, mostly main lake points and bars. If you see orange floats about every 20 yards or so, that immediate area is closed. You can fish anywhere else.

They take the walleye to the hatchery, harvest and fertilize the eggs and distribute them in state and sell out of state. They plunk them back in a super secret spot that no one knows about and they do it on the darkest nights in the worst weather so no one sees! :D:cool: (joking)
 
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