Feb. 24, 2012

The Headwaters Chapter of Colorado Trout Unlimited has formed a new Grand Lake Committee to focus on the needs of fisheries along the Northern Headwaters of the Colorado River. This includes those tributaries originating in Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake, Shadow Mountain reservoir, and the Colorado River above Granby reservoir. The initial focus of the committee will be on improving Grand Lake as a fishery. Well-known to many as a lake fishing destination, we believe that improved focus on Colorado’s largest and deepest natural lake can improve tourism in the region and attract a new generation of fishermen and women into our sport. Our vision for Grand Lake is to improve the fishery to enable better success for first-timers wanting to catch their first trout; to foster the development of strains of trout most suitable to our high-altitude environment; and to sustain the existing lake trout fishery for those anglers wishing to capture trophy fish.

Changes in the DOW stocking plans for 2012: The stocking location for catchable trout will be changed to a location more proximate to the public docks. The stocking allocation will be shifted to favor this location with greater numbers. DOW will experiment with stocking 50,000 Hofer- Harrison fingerlings in the East and North Inlet streams, ideally establishing a sustainable population of aggressive trout that have been observed to grow quickly over the past few years. DOW has also agreed to reconsider the lake trout regulations for Grand Lake to require the release of smaller lake trout entering their spawning prime.

With DOW approval, Jim Gassner of Rocky Mountain Outfitters in Grand Lake has begun marking lake trout when first caught and released. Data from his work will enable us to better understand the population of lake trout in our fishery, and help us sustain the population that currently exists. Jim is also coordinating the first catch-and-release ice fishing tourney for Grand County, to be conducted the weekend of March 3 and 4, Check out:

Finally, we have begun to conduct a bench marking exercise by which we can compare Grand Lake to other comparable high altitude glaciated lakes. The object of this is to understand both the potential and the possible limitations of improving our fisheries.

Grand Lake, ColoradoJenny Lake, Wyoming

June Lake, CaliforniaFallen Leaf Lake, CA

Trophy German Brown Trout from June Lake Monday, May 10 11:54 AM PDT On Wednesday May 5, fishing from shore near the tules of June Lake, Dan Blanco landed this 15 lb. 10 oz. German Brown: a remarkable catch, the largest fish in the Eastern Sierra for some time.

Week Ending: # Data Pts# > 4M% > 4MWkly SD Avg, M 7/1/ %4.66 7/8/ %4.35 7/15/ %4.58 7/22/ %4.39 7/29/ %5.12 8/5/ %5.71 8/12/ %5.96 8/19/ %6.14 8/26/ %6.83 9/2/ %6.34 9/9/ %5.34 9/16/ %2.94 9/23/ %2.86 9/30/ %2.39 Total Jul-Sep: % Grand Lake Clarity Standard: 4 Meter Secchi Depth at 15 th Percentile, July – September 2011 GCWIN View Scope Secchi Data for Grand Lake:

Become a Member! Join at: Alternatively, you can send a check for $17.50 payable to: Colorado Trout Unlimited 1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 320, Denver, CO Please include your name, mailing address, phone and address. Thanks! Headwaters TU Website: Colorado TU: National: