Where to Go Spinney Reservoir

Open 9 am to 6 pm Daily

Report Date: 9/15/2026

Spinney Boat Ramp Closure - The North Boat Ramp is closed to trailered launching due to low water levels. Spinney Mountain Reservoir remains open to hand-launched, motorized vessels.

CPW’s official Spinney Mountain Pike Management Tournament is underway and continues through September. It’s heavily affecting how the lake is being fished. Because sampling showed a dangerous spike in northern pike preying on young trout, CPW is offering cash prizes to remove them.

Conditions:

Spinney Mountain Reservoir is entering its peak autumn stillwater window with surface water temperatures steadily dropping into the lower 50s. The reservoir is operating at exceptionally low levels for this time of year, currently sitting at just 31% of total capacity. These low water conditions have drawn the shoreline back significantly, exposing vast gravel flats and concentrating fish into remaining deep-water channels, steep ledge drop-offs, and primary weed contours. High water clarity leaves late-season aquatic vegetation visible as it begins to decay along the receding margins. Trophy rainbows, cutbows, and brown trout have transitioned out of summer thermoclines to actively patrol these compressed shoreline drop-offs and channels. Additionally, northern pike are hunting aggressively along remaining weed boundaries.

Weather:

Short-Term -

Autumn high-country conditions with daytime highs reaching the low 60s under partly cloudy skies. Open basin prairie winds will build through the morning, pushing WNW breezes of 12–18 mph by early afternoon and producing steady surface chop.

Long-Term -

Daytime highs will cool into the upper 50s over the coming week, with nighttime lows dropping into the upper 20s. Overcast fall days will trigger prime shoreline feeding windows for trophy trout.

Hatches:

With the arrival of fall weather and cooler temperatures, terrestrial activity is decreasing across the South Park prairie, leaving midges and late-season aquatic insects as the primary dietary staples. Micro-chironomids (#18–#22) dominate daily emergence, hatching reliably during calm morning windows in shallow bays and along gravel drop-offs. As midday temperatures peak, small Fall Baetis (Blue-Winged Olives, #20–#22) provide occasional surface and emerger feeding opportunities, particularly on overcast or drizzly days. Subsurface, trout are actively gorging on protein-dense freshwater scuds (#14–#18), aquatic worms, and damselfly nymphs as they migrate out of decaying weed beds toward deeper wintering water.

Tactics:

When fishing from shore or wading shallow flats, rig a 9- to 12-foot leader tapered to 5x fluorocarbon under a small indicator, suspending a weighted Balanced Leech (black, olive, or bruised purple) or Epoxy Scud paired with a Chironomid pupa or Zebra Midge dropper 4 to 8 feet down. Anglers working from float tubes or hand-launched craft should strip leech patterns, Woolly Buggers, or small baitfish streamers along weed edges using an intermediate or Type 3 sinking line. If targeting northern pike, step up to a wire or heavy 30lb fluorocarbon shock tippet with large, high-visibility streamer patterns or swimbaits along deep weed lines.

Tips:

Pay close attention to wind direction: onshore winds push drifting midges, scuds, and terrestrial food right into shallow windward shorelines, bringing feeding trophy trout into casting range. Maintain a low profile when stalking shallow flats, as the exceptionally low 31% reservoir level and gin-clear water make fish highly sensitive to overhead motion, and always check your hooks for decaying weed fragments between casts.

Photo by Josh Heney

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