Fishing in Colorado
Kokanee fishing in Colorado
Ordinary kokanee angling, the narrow snagging exception, statewide limits, fish identification, and the named-water rules that control the season.
The Colorado rule
Snagging is a named-water exception
Ordinary fishing
You may angle for kokanee under the statewide and named-water rules that apply to the place and date.
Snagging
You may snag only kokanee, only on a water listed for snagging, and only during the listed season. A general fishing opening is not a snagging opening.
The wrong fish
Any species other than kokanee that is snagged must be returned to the water immediately.
Limits
The statewide kokanee total is 10
Daily and possession
The statewide rule allows 10 kokanee in a day and 10 in possession, whether they are taken by ordinary angling, legal snagging, or legal archery.
Named-water changes
A water can set a smaller limit, combine kokanee with trout in one total, change the limit by date, or close part of a spawning reach.
Identification
Kokanee change color for the spawning run
Kokanee are landlocked sockeye salmon. They are usually silver with a blue-green back. During the fall spawning run they turn red, and males develop a hooked jaw. They die after spawning.
A lesser-known method
Archery follows the snagging opening
CPW allows archery and slingbows for kokanee only where the water is otherwise open to snagging. The brochure adds equipment rules, so this is not a shortcut around the named water and date.
Take this with you
Before a kokanee trip
- ✓ You found the exact water and date in the current Fishing Brochure.
- ✓ If snagging, the listing specifically says snagging is open.
- ✓ You know the water's kokanee limit and any combined trout limit.
- ✓ You can identify kokanee and will release any other snagged species immediately.
Official sources and review
Check the current rule before you act
These links go to the agencies that control this part of the trip. Use the exact page, license, listing, map, order, or confirmation for your situation.
Use this carefully: Kokanee snagging dates, open waters, closures, and limits can change by water and year. The current named-water listing controls, even when a past season or nearby reservoir worked differently.
Keep going
More about fishing in Colorado
Trout fishing
The statewide trout limit, named-water exceptions, brook trout, protected cutthroat, legal lines, and the rules to check before keeping a fish.
Walleye, saugeye, and sauger
The shared statewide limit, the eastern drainage exception, named-water size rules, identification, and ordinary fishing methods.
Northern pike and tiger muskie
The very different statewide limits, fish identification, legal methods, named-water rules, and live-fish restrictions.
Bass, catfish, and panfish
Statewide warm-water limits, shared species groups, western and eastern exceptions, named-water sizes, and fish identification.
Bait and live bait
Where ordinary bait is allowed, why chumming is illegal, and how elevation, the Continental Divide, source water, and receipts affect live baitfish.
Ice fishing
Fishing licenses, tip-ups, second rods, hole size, shelters, fires, exact-water rules, and a calm check on changing ice.
Licenses and limits
Who should check for a Colorado fishing license, how statewide limits work, and why the exact water listing matters before you keep a fish.
Where to fish
How to use the CPW Fishing Atlas, find public access, and check the bank, streambed, parking, and land-manager rules for a Colorado fishing spot.
Rules for the exact water
How to read Colorado's special fishing regulations for a named lake or river stretch, including methods, closures, limits, and release rules.
Boats and Clean, Drain, Dry
The Colorado checks for boat registration, aquatic nuisance species stamps, inspections, launches, and cleaning gear between waters.