NeeGronda/NeeNoshe & AdobeCreek: If you boat, you will have to carry it by hand down to the water.
Bait Store Situation: The WalMart in La Junta can sell you nightcrawlers as usual. [You can still enjoy meals at La Junta's very own "Copper Kettle Cafe" ] The 2 bait shops just outside John Martin are, by all appearances, out of business. The DOW officer recommends getting your live baits in CO SPRINGS. I don't know anything about Pueblo's bait shops, so...
Two of John Martin's boat ramps are towards the dam. Both are operable. The boat ramp way down towards the inlet is the one that is high above the water. The water level is 47' below norm as of March 05. It is still fishable, but....shallower means warmer in summer heat. Southeast Colorado is still very dry. February was like another drought month, being the second driest February in Colorado history. While some Front Range reservoirs are able, through water rights, to fill up to capacity this spring, SE Colorado is still hurting.
The only reason you can still put a boat on John Martin is, they built a new boat ramp about a 100 feet further down the slope. [ This ought to have been done at Spinney Mtn Res and several others too.] Looking back up the slope to the original boat ramp, gives an eerie feeling, and that 47' feet takes on a reality.
The water temp was 41 degrees on 21 March 05 (Monday) and that's the same reported water temp in Jackson Reservoir. That seems to be a good general indicator on most plains reservoirs.
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