Blue Mesa Reservoir

Type
Lake or reservoir, Colorado (West)
Designation
Featured sport-fishing water · Special-regulation trout water
USGS gauges
None listed
Guides
1 nearby
Shops
2 nearby

Today on Blue Mesa Reservoir

No live reading for this water
Why there is no reading

Nothing live is published for this water, so there is no reading or verdict today. The readings section below says what we checked.

Regulations & access Guides & shops

Blue Mesa Reservoir is a lake or reservoir in Colorado, listed as Featured sport-fishing water by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

More about Blue Mesa Reservoir

1 guide and 2 shops nearby are listed here.

Updated · Sources: CPW Quality Waters

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

Blue Mesa Reservoir is a lake or reservoir in Colorado.

No real-time gauge

No real-time gauge on this water. We found no active USGS gauge on Blue Mesa Reservoir or on its stream system within about 25 miles, and no dam operator publishes data for it. A missing gauge says nothing about the water itself. Find the gauges nearest Blue Mesa Reservoir

About these readings

Nothing live is published for this water; the note below says what we checked.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Blue Mesa Reservoir on the map

About this

Shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Blue Mesa Reservoir: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of Blue Mesa Reservoir, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.

Restrooms near Blue Mesa Reservoir

Restrooms near Blue Mesa Reservoir

Restrooms within 2 miles of Blue Mesa Reservoir in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

Map of 3 restrooms near Blue Mesa Reservoir

Skip the map; every place is in the list below

Map of 3 restrooms near Blue Mesa Reservoir, numbered as in the list, with the water’s point marked.

  1. Dry Gulch Campground

    1.5 mi away in a straight line

    At a campground · National Parks Service

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  2. Restroom

    1.8 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  3. Restroom

    2.0 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near Blue Mesa Reservoir

  • The Gunnison River at the North Fork confluence, a wide riffle below dry hillsGold Medal Water
    Photo credit

    The Gunnison River at the North Fork confluence, Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Gunnison River

    Colorado · about 24 mi

  • The Taylor River running through a rocky, wooded valley in Gunnison CountyGold Medal Water
    Photo credit

    The Taylor River, Gunnison County, Colorado. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Taylor River

    Colorado · about 24 mi

  • The Rio Grande winding through a broad valley near South ForkCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Cochetopa Creek
    Photo credit

    The Rio Grande near South Fork, Colorado. Photo: Kevin Stroup, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Cochetopa Creek.

    Cochetopa Creek

    Colorado · about 25 mi

  • The Los Pinos River running between cottonwoods and pines, seen from a road bridgeCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Los Pinos Creek
    Photo credit

    The Los Pinos River in La Plata County, Colorado. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Los Pinos Creek.

    Los Pinos Creek

    Colorado · about 28 mi

  • The Animas River running high and brown past Santa Rita Park in Durango, with a forested hill behindFeatured sport-fishing waterRepresentative photo · not Uncompahgre River
    Photo credit

    The Animas River from Santa Rita Park, Durango, Colorado. Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Uncompahgre River.

    Uncompahgre River

    Colorado · about 32 mi

  • The Fryingpan River just below Ruedi Dam, with the dam's outlet works upstream and a dry, grassy slopeCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Archuleta Creek
    Photo credit

    The Fryingpan River below Ruedi Dam at the Rocky Fork day-use area. Photo: Klambpatten (with Bureau of Reclamation), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Archuleta Creek.

    Archuleta Creek

    Colorado · about 35 mi

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

2 official designations

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water. Listed in the finder under trout.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Surface area
8,940 acres
Watershed
Upper Gunnison

Public land along it

About this

Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-04) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped shoreline. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

49.7 of 89.2 mi of shoreline on public land

  • Gunnison Field OfficeBureau of Land Management · 47.5 mi
  • Gunnison National ForestForest Service · 2.1 mi
  • Gunnison State Wildlife AreaState Fish and Wildlife · 0.1 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Blue Mesa Reservoir

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

2 shops nearby

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. After them, fly-focused guides within 40 miles whose website does not name it. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

The hatch and season chart for this water's region.

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Southwest and Colorado
About this chart

1 hatch charted for the region, not measured on this water. From Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

  1. January: no charted hatch
  2. February: no charted hatch
  3. March: no charted hatch
  4. April: no charted hatch
  5. May: no charted hatch
  6. June: 1 charted hatch
  7. July: 1 charted hatch
  8. August: no charted hatch
  9. September: no charted hatch
  10. October: no charted hatch
  11. November: no charted hatch
  12. December: no charted hatch

Green drake (June to July)

Plan a trip here

About this

None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

No hub within 40 miles

Gear checklist

About this

A stillwater fly-fishing checklist for lakes and ponds: a 9–10 ft 5–6 weight rod, floating and intermediate lines, chironomids and leeches, and float-tube options, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler stands knee-deep in a calm lake with the rod bent, playing a trout

Lakes & stillwater

9′–10′ rod, 5–6 weight, floating + intermediate lines · Rainbow, brook and brown trout in lakes

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (3)

Watch: stillwater trout basics

About this

Chironomids, leeches and where fish hold in a lake.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • Catch More Trout in Lakes Using Indicators – Stillwater Fly Fishing TipsEmbedded from YouTube · Fly Fish Food · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Stillwater Fly Fishing Is Simpler Than You Think! | Introduction to Stillwater Fly FishingEmbedded from YouTube · Fly Fish Food · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Why is this Chironomid Fly Pattern So Versatile? | Two-Toner BC Chironomid | Fly Tying TutorialEmbedded from YouTube · Fly Fish Food · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on stillwater

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Blue Mesa Reservoir.

No stories from here yet.

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 9 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the point for “Blue Mesa Reservoir” (reservoir) in the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Water type is our own classification.