Bear Creek Lake Park Trout Fishing Tournament Returns

LAKEWOOD, CO – Spend the day fishing for trout from a boat or the shore at Bear Creek Reservoir and you could go home with $1,350.

The 8th Annual Bear Creek Lake Park Trout Fishing Tournament takes place May 11 and prizes will be awarded for the fattest brown and rainbow trout caught.

Fifty two-person fishing teams will compete to reel in the biggest lunkers. The tournament will also feature giveaways from Sportsman’s Warehouse and Discount Fishing Tackle.

Registration costs $60 to compete, and the deadline to register is May 10. You must have a valid fishing license. All boats must undergo a mandatory boat inspection and must arrive with a valid "green seal" the day of the tournament.

Bring your own bait, but Lakewood Park Ranger Luke Wilson recommends trying "small worms and PowerBait" to lure in prize-winning trout, a press release said.

Check in is at 5:30 a.m.; the tournament kicks off at 6:30 a.m. and teams must enter fish to be weighed before 1:30 p.m.

Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place based on the weight of the fish. In 2018, first place was a 2.22-pound rainbow trout with a $1,350 prize. Second place was a 2.12-pound brown trout that won $900, and third place was $450 for a 1.70-pound rainbow trout.

Brown trout naturally reproduce in Bear Creek Reservoir and rainbows are stocked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Other species in the reservoir include walleye, saugeye, perch, smallmouth bass and bluegill.

Lakewood park rangers work hard to improve the fish habitat in the reservoir by looking out for "spawning habitat, refuge from predators and nutrition from insects and other marine life," the park's office said in a press release.

If you want to find out more, visit Lakewood.org/BCLP or call 303-697-6159.