Photo: Dale Leikam drags a monster from the deep on Lake Granby last week.     Photo courtesy of Bernie Keefe

The wind has made the surface of the lakes very rough and has blown snow off some areas. Be careful traveling around the lake.

Williams Fork: Fishing for small lake trout (12”-18”) has slowed down a bit this week. Fish are still active from sunrise until around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, but we are getting a lot of followers and short strikes. Small pieces of sucker meat seem to help produce more quality bites. We are starting to see a lot of suspended fish off the bottom so keep an eye on the entire water column when looking at your electronics. Small swimbaits have been effective on the suspended fish. The large lake trout have been hit or miss, Some large fish have been showing up on structure in 50 to 70′ of water but bites have been tough to come by. Due to the increased pressure on the lake, you really need to have a flawless presentation to entice a strike. Pay special attention to fine details when watching your electronics and adjust accordingly to entice a strike. Fishing for rainbows and brown has remained slow to moderate with most of the action happening early in the morning, right around sunrise, using small jigs tipped with a wax worm, salmon egg and weighted nymphs on large shallow flats and bays. – Sam Hochevar. To book a trip with Sam, call (720) 666-0141.

Grand Lake is fishing well. Rainbows are still around the shorelines eating small bright colored jigs and spoons. It helps to tip them with wax worms, meal worms or shrimp. Lake trout are eating 1″-3″ tubes, twisters and spoons. Tip them with sucker meat, fish them 30-8-‘ deep. To book a trip on Grand Lake, call Dan Shannon (303) 956-3804 or Jake Foos ‭(303) 434-8468‬.

Lake Granby, the rainbows are very eager to bite small jigs tipped with bait. 6-10′ of water seems to be the key. They do bite early, the bite slows down about the time the sun hits the ice. There seems to be a shrinking window for the lake trout bite. It has been early, ‘til around 11 am, then it gets a little tougher. Soft plastics, marabous and spoons tipped with a small piece of sucker meat should get some bites.

The Fishing with Bernie team has been guiding in Grand county for over 25 years. For more information, visit fishingwithbernie.com.