Pueblo Reservoir - Pueblo, Colorado - FishExplorer.com Colorado Fishing Lakes & Rivers

Lake Pueblo is one of the most popular waters in southern Colorado. The reservoir has a State Park on the east end and a State Wild-life Area on the west end. Lake Pueblo offers boaters the opportunity for plenty of water skiing, jet skiing, and sailing. The state park has over 400 campsites and plenty of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and biking. There are two full-service marinas, one on the north shore and the other on the south. A popular swim beach, Rock Canyon, provides a sandy beach to lay out during the summer for an extra $1 per person. There are plenty of day-use and picnic sites around the lake. Some of the most popular sites are near the Rock Canyon beach.

At approximately 5600 surface acres when full, this large reservoir has continued to hold adequate water during drought years while other southeastern reservoirs were drained. The CDOW rates Pueblo as a “hot spot.” And no wonder, anglers can expect to encounter good numbers of walleye, wiper, bass, catfish, bluegill, crappie, and rainbow trout.

Boats should note that Zebra mussels were detected in Pueblo Reservoir and anglers are asked to prevent their spread to other waters. Boat anglers should clean all vegetation and debris from their boats and trailers before leaving the reservoir. Anglers should also drain all water from their boats bilge and livewells. All minnow buckets should be dumped before leaving the area. State Parks personnel will be inspecting boats prior to launching and upon departure and anglers can expect to comply with these inspections.

CDOW 2010 Fishing Forecast

Water levels look to start out very good in 2010 so there will be lots of new areas to fish. Anglers can expect better than average fishing for walleye, wiper, bass, catfish, and trout this season. The walleye population appears to be at very high levels and should produce high catch rates in May and June. Only a low number of legal fish over 18 inches in length (approximately 3-7 per 100 walleye caught) are likely to be caught by the average angler but results during walleye spawn showed more male walleye that were of legal size and a very good year class of 3 and 4 year old female walleye. Walleye can be caught all year long, but some of the best fishing is in May and June when the fish are schooled tightly on the flats and points throughout the lake. Jigs and grubs tipped with nightcrawlers are very popular baits. The wiper population is still declining some in the reservoir, but what it lacks in numbers, it makes up in quality. There are good numbers of fish in the 5-15 pound range if anglers can talk them into biting. There is also a very good year class of 1 to 1.5 pound wipers moving into the wiper fishery. Wipers are notoriously picky about what they will feed on.

Smallmouth and spotted bass are doing very well and largemouth bass numbers are improving. Catch rates on bass will be high and catches of legal fish over 15 inches can be common. Catfish numbers are improving and quality is high with fish in the 20 to 30 pound class showing up each year. Anglers should be looking for the flathead catfish present in the lake as a new state record flathead can show up at any time. Catfishermen do well during the summer months and into the fall. The trout fishery in the reservoir will be fair in 2010 with fair numbers of fish in the 14 to 22 inch range. Anglers could potentially see some decent catches of crappie in 2010 as population has been improving with increasing water levels in the reservoir. Good numbers of bluegill can be found around the brush and the tire break waters for anglers who wish to pursue these fish. Worms and bobbers work well for bluegill. Boaters need to be aware of the zebra and quagga mussel inspections at the reservoir.

Getting there: Take I-25 to Pueblo, then U.S. 50 west, for four miles. Turn south on CO 45 or Pueblo Boulevard and go four miles to CO 96 or Thatcher Avenue. Turn west and drive six miles to the park entrance on your right.
Fees: Colorado State Parks Pass
Daily - $6
Annual - $60
Boating: All Boats Allowed. No restrictions on boats.

New Boat Ramp Hours- April 15, 2009 to Oct 15, 2009 the boat ramp hours have been extended to 5am to 11pm. Then, Oct 16, 2009 to April 14, 2010 the ramps will be open between 5am to 6pm. No loading or unloading of vessels will be allowed after hours. Peak loading and launching hours are 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ice Fishing: Not recommended as reservoir rarely ices fully