Lipless Crankbait Fishing on Cherry Creek Reservoir
Cherry Creek Reservoir · Colorado · West
Cherry Creek Reservoir sits within Cherry Creek State Park at roughly 5,550 feet elevation, covering about 880 surface acres in the Denver metro. The lake is a flood-control impoundment with a relatively featureless main basin, but its shoreline offers riprap dam faces, shallow cove flats, submerged brush piles, and scattered dock structure that concentrate fish. Water clarity tends toward stained-to-clear depending on runoff cycles, and the largemouth population carries more size than most urban anglers expect.
A flat-sided, lip-less bait that sinks on a slack line and vibrates intensely on the retrieve. Versatile in depth (yo-yo it deep or burn it shallow) and highly effective in vegetation. The 'ripping' technique — letting it sink into grass then snapping it free — is one of the deadliest triggers in bass fishing.
Lipless Crankbait Setup for Cherry Creek Reservoir
| Rod | 7'–7'3" medium to medium-heavy casting rod, moderate-fast action |
| Reel | 7.1:1 baitcaster |
| Line | 14–17 lb fluorocarbon; braid if punching heavy grass |
| Weight | 1/2–3/4 oz (Rat-L-Trap, Strike King Red Eye Shad, Yo-Zuri Rattl'n Vibe) |
Seasonal Tactics on Cherry Creek Reservoir
Lake: Largemouth push into the shallow cove flats and riprap margins as water temperatures climb through the 55–65°F range, typically April into early May. Spawning activity concentrates fish in the 2–5 ft zone along protected northwest-facing banks where sun exposure warms water fastest.
Lipless Crankbait: Early spring in grass — rip through milfoil and hydrilla as it starts to green up. Chartreuse/shad colors.
Lake: Post-spawn fish scatter to deeper riprap edges and submerged structure along the dam face in 10–18 ft of water once surface temps exceed 75°F. Early-morning topwater on cove mouths and evening crankbait runs along rocky transitions are the most reliable warm-weather windows.
Lipless Crankbait: Burn over deep grass tops at first light. Let it deflect off the edge at end of cast.
Lake: Shad-chasing largemouth school aggressively in open cove mouths and along the eastern shoreline flats through September and October as baitfish compact before the cold. Reaction baits — lipless crankbaits and swimbaits — outperform finesse during the peak feeding windows of the shad migration.
Lipless Crankbait: Schooling fish near the surface — burn it or yo-yo it under the school. Chrome and shad patterns.
Lake: Cold temperatures slow activity significantly at this elevation, but fish don't go entirely dormant. Suspending jerkbaits and drop shots in 12–20 ft over the deeper riprap and channel edges account for the most consistent cold-weather bites, with the warmest midday hours offering the best window.
Lipless Crankbait: Best season. Slow yo-yo retrieve in 6–15 feet along grass edges. Gold/red and chrome are classic.
Best Conditions
Grass edges and flats, winter and early spring, cold water, windy days, schooling fish, any time bass are chasing shad
Swap treble hooks for 1/0 trebles with feathered rear hook. Adds action, improves hookup ratio on short-striking fish.
More Techniques for Cherry Creek Reservoir
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