Why do most Horsetooth walleye have to go back?

CPW manages the reservoir as a backup walleye brood water. Recruitment fell after rainbow smelt took hold, so only fish of 21 to 24 inches may be kept, two a day, which protects younger spawners and the largest females.

Can I ice fish Horsetooth?

No. Larimer County does not allow ice fishing because the fluctuating water level makes the ice unsafe.

When is the water lowest?

Usually in mid-September, after summer deliveries, according to Larimer County; the reservoir can swing up to 60 feet in a normal year.

Is fishing good at Horsetooth Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Horsetooth Reservoir Fishing Report Today (October 2026)

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Hybrid striped bass

Best: the spring shad spawn and fall; summer at dawn and dusk

A hatchery cross of striped bass and white bass, also called wiper or palmetto bass, stocked by state agencies into reservoirs and rivers as a sport fish that also eats gizzard shad. Schools roam open water after shad. In spring, windblown shorelines, riprap and dams during the shad spawn (May in Oklahoma); in fall, the pre-winter feed on the same kind of banks.

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Horsetooth Reservoir Fishing Report

Today's Fishing Report

The plan, species by species

Before you go

Water and weather

No live gauge on this water

Right now

Bite planner

Which day to fish Horsetooth Reservoir this week

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Species guide

Smallmouth bass

Largemouth bass

Rainbow trout

Hybrid striped bass

Striped bass

Crappie

Walleye

Brown trout

When to come: the Horsetooth Reservoir calendar

Species activity by month

Water temperature through the year

Angler reports

Water log, last days

Before you go

License

Regulations

Access

About this water

Fishing Horsetooth Reservoir: the full guide

The reservoir

A walleye brood water

The rest of the fishery

Water levels, ramps and inspections

Common questions

Nearby waters

Where this page's numbers come from