Blanchard Reservoir in Delta County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Blanchard Reservoir lies in Delta County, Colorado. This is pine and birch ground. Small at around 8 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Nearest place of any size is Cedaredge, 9.6 miles away. Then Orchard City, 15 miles, and Paonia, 21 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end. The near end sees the visitors; the far end rarely does.

• Where to Fish on Blanchard Reservoir

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. The old creek line under the surface is the feature worth finding. Open biodiversity records for Delta County list rainbow trout, white sucker, flannelmouth sucker and bluehead sucker. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. On Blanchard Reservoir the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 56°F and January near 17°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Ice-out usually falls in mid May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid May and starts locking again about mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Anyone fishing Blanchard Reservoir regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. The closest car park is 0.9 miles away, so pack accordingly. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Local rules can differ across the county line, so check where you stand. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Pedro Reservoir is 0.4 miles distant. Treat access at Blanchard Reservoir as something to verify.