Post By: fishthumpre Posted: 2/23/2018 3:56:04 PMPoints: 198
They have now closed off the trail across the Dixon dam that is supposed to be repaired not sure if work is actually underway. Anyone bee out there lately? Apparently no one's sure whether there's been additional fish kill, but common sense says yes. The lake actually refilled a bit last spring but is still way too low. There's a note on the Pine Ridge Natural Area website that says "The north and east side of Dixon Reservoir is CLOSED for safety reasons due to heavy equipment working on the dam and removed trail." But that's the only news report. I'd heard the work might be done by mid March but with recent weather I doubt that will happen. I do wish with the city would just say why they drained this lake and waited more than 2 years to do what appear to be pretty minor repairs, but at this point we might as well just wait and see. Sure was a neat little fishery...
I have tried fishing it about 5 times since its initial drainage and various fish kills. I have not caught a single fish nor have I seen anyone else catch one. The place may take a long time to get back to where it was.
Reply by: jig head Posted: 2/24/2018 11:51:05 AM Points: 681
I was there when they first drained it down and there were hundreds of pelicans gorging on fish for many weeks. I'm sure they ate a high percentage of the fish out of there.
Hopefully with it being drained for as long as it has been, we will see a “new lake effect” and all of the restocked fish will be able to rebound quickly. One of my favorite lakes in the state, especially to take new fisherman and kids to.
I was there last weekend and saw they had been working on the dam. They had removed enough material for the top to be about 6 feet wide. I have been a long time resident of west Fort Collins and Dixon is probably my most fished water so I do hope that it will be back to normal soon! To throw some hope out there, I had a decent year fishing for largemouth. All my biggest ones were there. From July though October I got 7 fish 18+ inches with the largest being about 20"/3.9 lbs. All were released but I hope they survived the ice. Here's some pics from 2017. sorry for pic quality, captured from my GoPro. No real perspective so you'll all just have to trust me ) lol
This sounds promising. I too am hoping for that new lake effect. It will be interesting to see the impact on weed growth. I noticed several references to refilling the lake after work is complete, but doesn’t it pretty much rely on runoff from the drainage to the south? I guess we’ll just have to waist and see. I guess I’m thinking about Dixon so much because it wakes up a lot earlier than most water around here...
I just got a response from the Fort Collins Natural Areas Department - work is underway, but repairs are expected to last through March. They also said that though Dixon is part of Pine Ridge Natural Area, the reservoir is privately owned and the city leases the majority of the water.
Anyway, looks like progress is being made. If I hear anything more I'll lot you all know. Bill
