Colorado Parks and Wildlife is advising anglers about recent changes to the Gold Medal designations for sections of two rivers in the Northwest Region.
During a recent meeting in Denver, the CPW Commission accepted staff’s recommendations to assign Gold Medal status to a 24-mile stretch of the Colorado River, from the confluence with Canyon Creek, at the mouth of Gore Canyon, downstream to the confluence of Rock Creek, near the town of McCoy.
The commission also accepted staff’s recommendations to delist the Gold Medal status of a 19-mile stretch of the Blue River, from the Hamilton Creek Road Bridge crossing at the northern edge of Silverthorne to Green Mountain Reservoir. In addition to staff, commissioners heard from a local angler who agreed that the stretch of the Blue River should be delisted.
In Colorado, Gold Medal status is reserved for state waters that produce a minimum of 60-pounds of trout per acre and 12 trout measuring 14-inches or longer per acre. The delisted stretch of the Blue River has not met that criteria for the last 15 years, according to CPW biologists.
The sections of the Blue River from Dillon Dam to the Hamilton Creek Road bridge crossing and from Green Mountain Dam to the confluence with the Colorado River, all exceed the minimum criteria and will retain Gold Medal status.
Currently, Colorado assigns Gold Medal status to 3 lakes including North Delaney Butte, Spinney Mountain Reservoir and Steamboat Lake, totaling 3,206 surface acres.
Additionally, there are 329 stream miles considered Gold Medal waters in the state, out of a total of 9000 miles.
For more information, visit: cpw.state.co.us.
source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife