Waters · Lakes · CO · Fri, Oct 30

Grand Lake water level today 8366.6 ft, falling

Bite index 6/10 — Biting — save your energy for the evening.

Also known as Grand Lake o' the Cherokees.

Worth a cast.

Built from solunar, pressure, level, wind. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.

6/10
Biting

Today's bite windows

12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
Major
3:51 AM–5:51 AM
Moon overhead
Minor
12:22 PM–1:22 PM
Moonset
Major
4:23 PM–6:23 PM
Moon underfoot
Minor
9:28 PM–10:28 PM
Moonrise

Sunrise 7:30 AM · sunset 6:02 PM · tomorrow's first major 4:53 AM–6:53 AM · windows on every water

Solunar · computed updated 8:44 AM

Conditions right now

Water temp estimated
≈40°F
7-day mean of air temperature, ±4.5°F typical
computed from NOAA KGNB updated 7:55 AM
Water level
8366.6ft
-0.03 ft in 24h
USBR Grand Lake reading for Oct 29
Pressure
30.3inHg
rising · +1.7 hPa/12h
NOAA KGNB updated 7:55 AM
Wind
5mph ESE
NOAA KGNB updated 7:55 AM
Moon
73% waning
Solunar · computed updated 8:44 AM

What this means

Largemouth bass, Crappie, Catfish
This gauge reports level but no water temperature, so depth calls stay open. Read the windows and the pressure trend instead.

Grand Lake level over the last 8 days

8366.6 ft down 0.03 ft in 24 hours

That sits 50% of the way up the band it has held over the last 9 days, between 8366.57 and 8366.63 ft. Over the week it is down0.01ft.

10-20 8366.57–8366.63 ft 10-29
USBR Grand Lake reading for Oct 29

The week ahead

Sat 6 Biting
Sun 6 Biting
Mon 7 Biting
Tue 7 Biting
Wed 6 Biting
Thu 6 Biting
Fri 6 Biting

Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.

Before you go

A Colorado fishing license covers this water — $44.87 a year for residents. CPW sets the rules and is the one that counts.

What it costs, and who is exempt →

Nearby waters today

Questions people ask about Grand Lake

Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Grand Lake.

Is it worth fishing Grand Lake today?
6 out of 10 — biting. Worth a cast. The strongest stretch is 3:51 AM–5:51 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
What time should you fish Grand Lake?
Today's major windows run 3:51 AM–5:51 AM and 4:23 PM–6:23 PM, with minor windows at 12:22 PM–1:22 PM and 9:28 PM–10:28 PM. Sunrise is 7:30 AM and sunset 6:02 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
What is the water temperature at Grand Lake?
No gauge on Grand Lake measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 40°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KGNB (Granby-Grand County Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.
What is the water level at Grand Lake right now?
8366.6 ft, the reading for October 29 from the Grand Lake gauge run by the USBR, which publishes one value a day. Over 24 hours it is down 0.03 ft.
Are water levels rising or falling at Grand Lake?
Holding steady. The lake is down 0.03 ft in 24 hours and down 0.01 ft over the week. Over the last 9 days it has held between 8366.57 and 8366.63 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.
Can you eat the fish you catch in Grand Lake?
That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where a baseline mercury guidance covers every water, with added PFOS advisories at Barr Lake, Runyon Lake and Chatfield Reservoir. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.
Do you need a licence to fish Grand Lake?
Yes. A Colorado fishing license covers this water, required from age 16. CPW sets the rules and is the one that counts.
What size fish can you keep in Colorado?
It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: trout, arctic char, grayling and mountain whitefish, kokanee salmon, walleye, saugeye and sauger, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.

Where these numbers come from

Colorado's largest natural lake, part of the Colorado-Big Thompson project; the Bureau of Reclamation reads it once a day. A different water from the Oklahoma reservoir of the same name that Wave 2 could not find a gauge for. No temperature sensor.

No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.