[Fish Fondler]

Fished Jackson Lake today from 9:30 to 3:00 pm. The lake was fairly calm when we got there, but was already buzzing with jet skis, water skiers, and a few other fishing boats. We strated out trolling shad raps and rat-l-traps. Circled almost the entire lake and caught just 3-4 stocker sized trout (12-13") and one extremely small wiper (4"). We threw all of them back. It was about 12:30 pm and I said to my buddy let's just troll through the inlet area and then head back to the launch and call it day. He did not argue because it had been so slow and the numerous jet skiers on the lake were starting to drive us crazy. That's when it happened, the rod with a small (2") silver and blue rat-l-trap doubled over and we landed a 16" wiper. We reset the rods and hooked a 17" wiper about 50 yds. later. We eneded up catching six 15-17" over the next hour and a half. We also caught a 20" and 16" rainbow in this same time period. Ended the day by snapping off a pretty good sized fish (leaves you wondering what could have been). All of the legal wipers and larger trout were caught flat-lining over 10 ft. of water near the inlet (from where the houses start to about 150-200 yds. off the dam. As was the case earlier in the week, the fish primarily hit a silver and blue rat-l trap, but a blue and silver shallow running shad-rap also seemed to work well. Another good day at Jackson, but it took a little persistence.

 

[idratherbfishing]

Bonny and Jackson are my sons and my #1 and #2 choices for fishing/camping the 12th to 14th. Sounds like Jackson is hot. It seems that the place to fish is the inlet. I assume there is a current water inflow and not out. If its going out does that affect the bite?

Also how about the catfish, are the starting to come on yet in the evening? It would be great to get a 2 or 3 species lake for the trip and not just be one dimensional.

Any other lakes in the area producing?

Dan

 

[Fish Fondler]

Dan,

Jackson fishing has been pretty hot. The time before I caught most of my fish right off of the boat launch. With it being a beautiful Sunday, it was impossible to fish off the boat launch due to boat traffic. I have had pretty consistent luck for both wipers and rainbows in the general vacinity of the inlet. Not sure about catfish, because I do not really fish for them. However, I have heard that they do well on Jackson from shore with the typical catfish baits. The inlet did not appear to be flowing very hard today, but it looked like from the debris floating in the water off of the inlet that it probably flushed into the lake pretty good yesterday (the inlet definitely had some flow towards the lake but not too strong). We were wondering if the flushing yesterday may have been what brought the fish into that area today (not really sure but they seemed to be off of it today). Have not fished any other lakes in that area, so I can not help you there.

 

[idratherbfishing]

Thanks FishFondler,

I appreciate all the information I can get. Even though this is just a 3 day 2 night trip I am trying to make it as special and memorable as I can.

Dan

 

[lynmack]

I fished Jackson from 4pm till 8.The simularities between FishFondler and myself are amazing.I have never been there on a weekend and didnt realize the amount of boat traffic,so trolling out from the ramp was not an option.Headed down twards the inlet and caught one wiper in 14ft of water,also caught a couple small trout on my way down to the inlet.As FF said once i got close to the inlet the rods were a bendin.Caught 1 wiper and 6 trout(lost several more close to the boat) and for some reason i wanted to try by the boat ramp,again nothing,so back to the inlet and a couple more wipers.Sun was going down and my lights on my boat arent working so called it a day.Another excellent day at Jackson,even with all the boat traffic.

lyn

 

[Neal/CO]

Work2Fish and I are going up there this morning. Thanks for the report!

 

[Fish Fondler]

Lynmack,

Nice job! Fishing at Jackson can become very addictive with the average size of the fish you hook in that reservoir. Have you ever seen so many jet skiers in your life? At least none of them came too close to the back of the boat and did not cut-off any lures (I have had that happen before).

P.S. Good luck Neal I think you should have a good time there today. The hottest fishing for me has occurred between 12:00 and 3:00 pm. May seem weird, but that is how it has been.

 

[mobyJ]

Fished on friday morning and caught 4 trout and 1 wiper in the morning. Left for NE after that. Caught more and bigger fish at Jackson than either Swanson or Red Willow Should have stay in Ft Morgan.

 

[idratherbfishing]

Is there more than one boat ramp there?  I've seen the one by the store and its pretty steep,  I tow with a car and wonder will I have problems if the ramp is wet.  

Dan

 

[jdferguson]

Is Jackson bigger than Chatfield and secondly is there the same amount of boats and jet skiers???

I know its a stupid question, I am just curious and want to find a bigger calmer lake..

Thanks, John

 

[Fish Fondler]

Dan,

There is only one boat launch at Jackson. It is a pretty good launch with grooved concrete running down into the water. I don't think it is as steep as it looks or what you remember (especially when the lake is full). It should not be a problem backing your truck upto the water.

John,

I have a guide to lakes and reservoirs in Colorado. It lists Chatfield at 1450 surface acres and Jackson at 2967 surface acres. Jackson is a good-sized lake and my guess would be that it has significantly less jet skier and water skier traffic then Chatfield. However, it was pretty busy on this past Sunday. If you can get out there during the week, then that is the time to go. Last Wednesday, there was probably 8-10 boats on the entire lake with most of those being fishermen.

Hope this helps you fellas out!

 

[Fish Fondler]

Dan,

Oops! Meant to say car to the water not truck. I think you would be fine. The ramp has not been overly slick the times I have been out there. I do not need to put my truck into 4-wheel drive to launch there.

Take Care,
John

 

[idratherbfishing]

Thanks FF,

You are right I have only seen it when the water was low and the ramp barely usable. I did not have a boat back then just a canoe so it was no problem.

Dan

 

[jdferguson]

Thanks FF,

I will have to give that a try for sure. I need a change of scenery anyway.

John

 

[Fish Fondler]

John,

I am sure you will not be disappointed. One thing I forgot to mention is that it takes a little planning ahead before heading out there. It pays to look at the weather forecast, because they get nasty thunderstorms and potentially tornadoes this time of year. Also, this lake can be strongly influenced by the wind (out of the north, northeast, and east are the worst winds that I have experienced out there). Here are a couple of sites that provide up to the date weather information for that area. Good luck if you try it! Feel free to contact me with any further questions.

http://www.weatherperhour.com/US/CO/Wiggins.html

http://www.city-data.com/forecast/w-Wiggins-Colorado.html

P.S. I believe someone mentioned in an earlier report that the water in this lake goes eutrophic sometime in the middle of June, and that the fishing in this lake declines until the late summer/early fall. If anyone can elaborate please do.

 

[1eyered]

We were wondering if the flushing yesterday may have been what brought the fish into that area today (not really sure but they seemed to be off of it today).  Have not fished any other lakes in that area, so I can not help you there.

I put a bag of mussels on it that the flushing of debris did more bringing fish to the area than it didn't. If I had my boat out there, I'd chill along the lines of calrity changes if all else fails.

 

[JohnnyO19]

They seem to draw it down pretty low every year, usually starts towards the end of the month. Maybe with the recent storms this year, that might be delayed.