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Boyd Lake FISH SURVEY and MANAGEMENT DATA Benjamin Swigle - Aquatic Biologist (Fort Collins/Boulder) [email protected] / 970-472-4364

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Boyd Lake FISH SURVEY and MANAGEMENT DATA Benjamin Swigle - Aquatic Biologist (Fort Collins/Boulder) Ben.Swigle@State.Co.Us / 970-472-4364 Boyd Lake FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA Benjamin Swigle - Aquatic Biologist (Fort Collins/Boulder) [email protected] / 970-472-4364 General Information: Serving as a state park, Boyd Lake (1700 acres) provides quality fishing for walleye, white bass, catfish, and trout. Anglers may additionally catch smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and perch. The lake is open year round to fishing. Park website: http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/BoydLake Location: Larimer County. At I-25 and US 34 (exit 257B) go W to Madison Ave. Go N 1 mile on Madison . Recreational Management: Colorado State Parks Purchase a Fishing License: https://www.co.wildlifelicense.com/start.php Fishery Management: Warmwater angling, seasonal trout. Amenities Previous Stocking Sportfishing Notes Boat Ramp 2021 Walleye Swim Beach Black Crappie Fish any rock structure when Modern Restrooms Bluegill water temps are 45-55°F. RV hook-ups Channel Catfish Later, fish are scattered but Tent Camping Largemouth Bass tube jigs, lindy rigs, triple Hiking Trails Rainbow Trout ripples, are good choices. Marina Saugeye Picnic Areas Walleye White Bass Ice Fishing Follow the birds! The white 2020 bass will be chasing shad! Regulations Black Crappie Use silver castmasters or Min. size for walleye and Channel Catfish another shad imitation. saugeye is 15” long, only 1 can Rainbow Trout Often attracted to flows when exceed 21”. Bag and Redear Sunfish the reservoir is filling possession limit is 5. (especially at 40-52°F). Min. size for largemouth and 2019 smallmouth bass is 15”. Black Crappie Largemouth Bass Statewide bag and possession Channel Catfish Bass fishing can be frustrating limits also apply. Largemouth Bass given the limited amount of Entry requires a Colorado State Rainbow/Cutbow Trout structure. Try rock rip-rap areas Parks Pass available on site. Walleye with crayfish imitations. Channel Catfish Best baits are cut shad or chicken liver. Night fishing is best. 2020 Fall Survey (9/18/2020) 5 Gillnets M Total i Length (inches) Weight (lb) SPECIES Catch i Mean Minimum Maximum Mean Minimum Maximum BLACK CRAPPIE 1 n 4.53 4.53 4.53 0.08 0.08 0.08 BLUEGILL 2 6.40 6.14 6.65 0.21 0.20 0.22 CHANNEL CATFISH 8 21.05 16.73 27.76 3.63 0.26 8.87 COMMON CARP 5 15.74 12.32 20.83 1.07 0.45 1.74 GIZZARD SHAD 24 13.59 11.97 16.18 0.96 0.65 Google2.32 Earth™ LARGEMOUTH BASS 2 15.55 14.96 16.14 1.95 1.83 2.08 RAINBOW TROUT 4 13.82 13.07 15.04 0.85 0.70 1.06 SMALLMOUTH BASS 5 10.79 8.43 12.60 0.49 0.25 0.70 WALLEYE 95 14.88 10.04 25.00 1.10 0.32 4.63 WHITE BASS 58 11.18 8.82 16.57 0.75 0.35 2.33 WHITE SUCKER 18 14.74 9.84 16.93 1.25 0.41 1.82 YELLOW PERCH 22 6.63 5.75 8.11 0.15 0.06 0.26 Future Fishing Forecast Walleye – The 2030 gillnet survey indicates walleye fishing at Boyd Lake should be good and similar to angling during 2016-2019 based on the number of walleye caught per net (19). Annual abundance has slightly increased relative to 2019. The chart below illustrates the detailed length frequency distribution of the 95 walleye sampled during 2020. Five (5) gillnets were deployed and fished overnight. Walleye stocking during the spring of 2019 also included nearly 1.7 million fry (production of excess fish) in addition to 72,000 fingerlings, I am confident the walleye fishing will remain strong despite not stocking this species in 2020. To compensate for the lack of stocking in 2020 stocking rates increased during the spring of 2021 and addition to planting the hybrid saugeye. 41% White Bass – Angling for this species will likely be decent in future years with plenty of spawning adults available to naturally produce young fish. Over the past 5 years white bass numbers are trending. These fish typically eat gizzard shad provide good action May-September. More news – The Centennial Bass Club of Northern Colorado spearheaded a project to install artificial habitat which provides cover, promotes plankton grown, and adds structure for fish communities. The habitat is located on the northern part of the reservoir and likely only visible with electronics. This project will be expanded in 2020 to nearly quadruple the number of structures. Rainbow Trout – Thousands of 10-inch rainbow SPECIES Catch i Ave. Length Ave. Weight (lbs) trout are stocked annually at Boyd. In general the n (inches) number we sample is relatively low by design as BLACK CRAPPIE 2 c 8.19 0.35 trout are stocked in the spring or well after the fall BLUEGILL 13 6.78 0.27 survey is completed. In recent years ice fishing at COMMON CARP 1 19.25 3.21 Boyd has become extremely popular. Thus, Boyd GIZZARD SHAD 1 15.94 0.96 Lake will again be a good ice fishing destination for LARGEMOUTH BASS 3 8.75 0.51 a number of species this winter. RAINBOW TROUT 34 12.17 0.67 NEW DATA – Right is the summary of the spring WALLEYE 5 19.87 2.82 trapnetting on Boyd, look for this method to expand WHITE SUCKER 5 16.98 1.51 in future years to better understand the success of Notes: 7 Trap Nets set for 18 hours each. panfish stocking and reproduction. We did not learn too much thus far..
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