Rollins Lake

[corky569]

Anyone been lately? I'm thinking about heading up Monday morning. Too hot? Too deep?
Thanks in advance.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Rollins is at 2,300 feet elevation so the fish will go deep as soon as the runoff is finished.

These low elevation lakes are usually good Fall, Winter and Spring.

Summer is usually too hot for fly fishing but great for swimming and boating.

Clousers and Woolly Buggers on a sinking line is a popular way to go from a floating devise/boat.

[Scott V]

Rollins has been fishing real good lately. Especially the crappie.

[corky569]

I used an intermediate line last time. They were about 15 feet off shore, I'm just curious if they're much deeper this time of year.

[corky569]

Rollins has been fishing real good lately. Especially the crappie.

Can you point me to a good spot to launch a kayak? The last time I went I ended up at the campground, and had to pay 8 bucks? What technique/flies for crappie?

[JAWallace]

Fished Rollins about 3 weeks ago, caught a lot of smallies, I think 30-40 between two of us, but I think maybe 3 were legal. Look for shelves about 20-30' wide from the edges, then the dropoff, fish the dropoff. Some ledges are only 5-6' wide, those can work too, especially if the dropoff is in stages.

We didn't fish it, but we saw a few fish being caught in the marina area against the far side. Haven't fished for crappie there, but other places a simple wiggletail in black or olive, maybe with a #14-#16 nymph dropper if needed, can work well. You might have to go fairly deep now, >15' seems about right, so a fast sinking line might be the ticket. Technique can vary from next to dead to fast strips. Usually fairly slow strips with pauses have worked best for me for pannies.

Forget Rollins on the weekends, way too much boat traffic. Low sun periods/shade on the water is the best time. If you can't pay $8 for a launch, should you really be using facilities that make your trip easier and more efficient?

[corky569]

Fished Rollins about 3 weeks ago, caught a lot of smallies, I think 30-40 between two of us, but I think maybe 3 were legal. Look for shelves about 20-30' wide from the edges, then the dropoff, fish the dropoff. Some ledges are only 5-6' wide, those can work too, especially if the dropoff is in stages.

We didn't fish it, but we saw a few fish being caught in the marina area against the far side. Haven't fished for crappie there, but other places a simple wiggletail in black or olive, maybe with a #14-#16 nymph dropper if needed, can work well. You might have to go fairly deep now, >15' seems about right, so a fast sinking line might be the ticket. Technique can vary from next to dead to fast strips. Usually fairly slow strips with pauses have worked best for me for pannies.

Forget Rollins on the weekends, way too much boat traffic. Low sun periods/shade on the water is the best time. If you can't pay $8 for a launch, should you really be using facilities that make your trip easier and more efficient?

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind paying the 8 bucks, just wondering if there was a free place is all.

[JAWallace]

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind paying the 8 bucks, just wondering if there was a free place is all. I think there may be, probably near the campgrounds, but you might have to walk a bit from your vehicle. I've wondered the same thing, not so much about free but up in the river arms, and didn't get a clear answer from Google Earth. I'm sure someone here will know, or maybe just call the resort and ask.

[corky569]

Rollins has been fishing real good lately. Especially the crappie.

What's the story on the crappie? Structure? Depth? What flies?

[Scott V]

I launch out of Greenhorn Campground. Crappie are all over the place, I usually cast up to shore and strip back using a type 4 line. I use a size 8 black wiggle tail.

Just get out there and cast, there are a ton of fish in there.

[corky569]

I launch out of Greenhorn Campground. Crappie are all over the place, I usually cast up to shore and strip back using a type 4 line. I use a size 8 black wiggle tail.

Just get out there and cast, there are a ton of fish in there.

Thanks for that! That's where I launched last time.

[corky569]

I got there at around 5am, waited for them to open the gate until 6, no one came to open it so I decided to drag my kayak down and get started. I caught four decent sized Spots, three dink spots, and one dink Smallie. Didn't catch any Crappie at all. Maybe I was in the wrong spot?? Not a bad trip, it was good to get out. Thanks for the advice.

[Scott V]

The crappie seem to move around a lot at Rollins. Sometimes I find them, sometimes I don't. Glad you got into some spots, now you just need to find the smallies!!