by Don Swearingen

Created on: November 19, 2009   Last Updated: November 21, 2009

If popularity is any guide to fishing success, then Lake Pueblo, just outside Pueblo, Colorado is just about as successful a place to fish as there is.

It is second only to Cherry Creek Reservoir in the number of launchings, averaging 1800 launchings per day year 'round. That puts it in the category of very desirable places to fish.

Why would people come from as far away as Kansas and Denver (both are light years away) to put a boat on the water of this lake and fish?

The Lake

First of all, it's a big lake. 4800 acres big. That's about 6 miles long, and an average of 2 miles wide.

It also has numerous coves where the water is calmer, and the fish are plentiful with out contending with the wind, which sometimes comes howling out of the west, except when you're trying to win a race with your sailboat.

Getting There

From I-25, take the US Highway 50 Exit (Exit 101) and go West to Pueblo Boulevard. You can then choose to proceed West to Pueblo West, and go through the suburb (follow the signs) to the North Marina http://www.noshoremarina.com/ or North shore of the lake, or you can turn South on Pueblo Blvd, then west on Thatcher to the South Marina http://www.thesouthshoremarina.com/ and South shore of the lake. That gives you a choice of two launching ramps or marinas where you can find information, a launch point, and purchase food, licenses, and even rent a slip to store your boat.

The Fish

The most sought after fish in the lake is probably the walleye. There is a size limit of 18 inches, and the reason for that is kind of complicated. Fishing pressure is great in Lake Pueblo. The wildlife biologists estimate that if a fish is 18 inches long, it has spawned at least once. This gives the lake a nearly sustainable population of walleye, and a source of eggs and milt for the hatchery just East of the dam.

The same reasoning is applied to the size limits on both largemouth and smallmouth bass, which is 15 inches.

However, there's a kind of a sort of a bass that has no size limits, and that's the wiper. The wiper is a cross between a fresh-water striped bass and a white bass. It is sterile, so size limits aren't a problem here.

For your information, the largest wiper caught in this lake is the current State record, and is only 6 ounces less than the world record!

Does that mean you have to go out and catch big wiper, bass and walleye (It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!)? Not a bit. The coves provide good fishing for bullhead catfish, perch and bluegill.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>