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Jackson Lake State Park attracts many visitors in northeastern Colorado. The reservoir is popular for boating, water-skiing, jet-skiing, camping, and highly acclaimed beaches. Jackson Lake is a big attraction during hunting season with its terrific waterfowl hunting. There are many campsites around the lake with access to the swim beach and picnic spots. There is plenty of wildlife throughout the park and you may see bald eagles perched in the cottonwoods along the bank or soaring overhead.
The lake has become well-known for its wiper and trout populations, which are the primary attraction for many anglers. Walleye is another species that CDOW has been stocking on a regular basis that anglers can expect to encounter. While not high on many anglers’ list, the carp fishery is doing well and offers great sport for fish pushing 30 inches in the spring. Catfish also are known to reach respectable size. Black bass, crappie, and sunfish do exist in very limited numbers, as the sandy, gradually sloping lake bottom does not provide the habitat to develop good numbers.
Jackson 2009 Fishing Forecast
Wiper
Wiper fishing at Jackson has been excellent over the past 3 years; this trend should continue during 2009. Thanks in large part to great numbers of shad, a wiper’s favorite meal, these aggressive hybrids grow fast at Jackson. Most wipers caught during the 2007 survey were of legal size. Among the 3 NE plains reservoirs with wiper (Prewitt, Jackson, and N. Sterling), Jackson has the highest density of 15”+ wiper.
Walleye
Anglers should expect good fishing for keeper size walleye in 2009 as the group of 10-15 inch fish sampled during 2007 will join the group of walleye already exceeding 15”. Walleye sampled in the 2007 survey resulted from the stocking of 60,000 fingerlings planted in early 2006 (Pueblo State Hatchery). An additional 65,000 fingerlings were planted in 2007 and 2008 and should contribute to this year’s catch.
Rainbow Trout
Trout fishing at Jackson during 2009 should be good. Nearly 6,000 catchable trout (10”+) were stocked after the irrigation outlet was turned off in October of 2008. This means the vast majority of these fish remain in the reservoir. If anglers wish to ice fish for trout they should to visit the Jackson Lake State Park website or phone ahead for a conditions update. An additional 3,000 catchable trout will be stocked during the spring of 2009.
Catfish
Although catfish were not collected during the fall 2007 survey, many anglers reported good catches during the spring and fall months. Since 2005, a total 86,000 channel catfish fingerlings have been stocked at Jackson but the sampling methods employed often fail to detect this species. Avid catfish anglers should make their own conclusions.
Sunfish
Fishing for crappie and bluegill at Jackson will likely be poor during 2009. Lack of suitable habitat is the limiting factor as Jackson is annually drawn down for irrigation purposes and little spawning takes place by stocked sunfish. With the availability of extra crappie and bluegill for the NE plains, sunfish were stocked in 2006 and 2007 in hopes of establishing a viable population in Jackson Lake. Preliminarily results indicated poor survival.
*** No survey was completed during 2008
Getting there: From U.S. 34/I-76 interchange, take Colorado Highway 39 north for 7.25 miles through Goodrich, then go west on Y5 (follow the paved road) for 2.5 miles.
Fees: Colorado State Parks Pass
Daily - $6
Annual - $60
Boating: All Boats Allowed. Boating closes on November 1st.
Ice Fishing: Ice fishing allowed
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