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Blue Mesa Reservoir (Colorado) — a popular fishing spot. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.
The shoreline is heavily indented — bays, points and spits. Look for pike at the mouths of the bays and on the drop-offs behind the points. The islands add structure: drop-offs around their perimeter and channels between them and the bank.
The wind builds its wave along the west — east axis — 17 mi of open water; along north — south there is only 9 mi. When it runs down the main axis, the calm water sits against the bank it blows from, while the wave and the silt go to the far one — and the fish follow them there to feed.
Colorado: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active |
| Black crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active |
| Lake trout | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | slow | fair | active | peak | active | peak |
| Brook trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Cutthroat trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | fair | slow |
| Pike | fair | fair | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | active |
| Walleye | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow |
| White bass | slow | slow | slow | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Whitefish | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Yellow perch | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow |
| Brown trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Largemouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow |
| Rainbow trout | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow | slow |
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Blue Mesa Reservoir — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 56 °F — colder than the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie: the fish conserves energy and takes more cautiously.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is flat: it moves no more than 0.03 inHg over the day, so the weather isn't shifting today's bite.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Partly cloudy · feels like +58°
The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA data. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Blue Mesa Reservoir — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
Measured river conditions are available for Blue Mesa Reservoir: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge BLUE MESA RES AT ELK CR MARINA NEAR SAPINERO, CO, 2 mi away · measured 2022-09-29 10:15 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision