Colorado Fishing Tournaments
CPW harvest contests, ice contests, bass and catch-rate events by month and by water.
Photo of Lake Granby: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0
Pick for lake troutPiscifun Carbon X ultralight spinning reel28% OFFSale $57.99 Colorado contests nearest to you
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Host and CPW pages give Colorado 2 dates still ahead, 2 of them on lakes and reservoirs, alongside 1 published result; each water with its own contest page links from the lists below.
Colorado contest dates by month
January 2027
| Date | Event | Water | Organizer | Check-in or town | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-01-29 | 3 Lakes Ice Fishing Contest (2027) | Lake Granby | Destination Granby | Granby | Grand County |
March 2027
| Date | Event | Water | Organizer | Check-in or town | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-03-06 | Evergreen Lake Ice Fishing Tournament (2027) | Evergreen Lake | Evergreen Park & Recreation District (Evergreen Lake House) | Evergreen Lake House, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Road | Jefferson County |
Organizer schedules, October 2026.
Colorado contests fished in 2026, month by month
January 2026
| Dates | Contest | Water | Host | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 to 2026-04-30 | Blue Mesa Lake Trout Tournament (2026) | Blue Mesa Reservoir | Colorado Parks and Wildlife | Completed |
| 2026-01-30 to 2026-01-31 | Ice Addiction – Blue Mesa Reservoir (2026) | Blue Mesa Reservoir | Tightline Outdoors | Completed |
February 2026
| Dates | Contest | Water | Host | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-20 to 2026-02-21 | Ice Addiction – Grand Lake (2026) | Grand Lake | Tightline Outdoors | Completed |
April 2026
| Dates | Contest | Water | Host | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-18 to 2026-08-19 | Catch Rate Tournament Series (2026) | Chatfield Reservoir | Tightline Outdoors | Completed |
| 2026-04-26 | Colorado High School State Championship (2026) | Pueblo Reservoir | Student Angler Federation (highschoolfishing.org) | Completed |
June 2026
| Dates | Contest | Water | Host | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-01 to 2026-09-30 | Spinney Pike Management Tournaments (2026) | Spinney Mountain Reservoir | Colorado Parks and Wildlife | Completed |
| 2026-06-01 to 2026-09-30 | Green Mountain Reservoir Pike Removal Tournament (2026) | Green Mountain Reservoir | Colorado Parks and Wildlife | Completed |
| 2026-06-13 | Arvada Kids Fishing Contest (2026) | Arvada Reservoir | City of Arvada | Completed |
| 2026-06-20 to 2026-06-28 | Elkhead Reservoir Fishing Classic (2026) | Elkhead Reservoir | Colorado Parks and Wildlife | Completed |
Dates as printed by each host or CPW page; season-long CPW contests are listed in the month they opened.
For the lake trout herePiscifun Carbon XT ultralight spinning reel25% OFFSale $59.99 Colorado contest waters
- Arvada Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
- Blue Mesa Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
- Chatfield Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
- Elkhead Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
- Evergreen Lake tournaments1 upcoming, 0 results
- Grand Lake tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
- Green Mountain Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
- Lake Granby tournaments1 upcoming, 0 results
- Pueblo Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 1 result
- Spinney Mountain Reservoir tournaments0 upcoming, 0 results
Contest tackle for Colorado
Ice jigs
Spoons and tube jigs
Ice rod combos
Short rods for hard water
Fluorocarbon line
For clear cold water
Augers and shelters
For walking onto the ice
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Photos to go with Colorado Fishing Tournaments
Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0
Photo: USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency, Public domain
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Photo: MichaelKirsh, CC BY-SA 4.0
A camera tour near the Colorado Fishing weigh-ins
Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Hustvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Don Graham from Redlands, CA, USA – God bless it!, CC BY-SA 2.0
.jpg){kind=link}
Colorado contests and tournaments, asked and answered
Which Colorado waters have the most contests on file?
Blue Mesa Reservoir, Pueblo Reservoir, Arvada Reservoir and Chatfield Reservoir lead the pages gathered here.
How many Colorado contests are still ahead?
2 future dates as of October 2026, 9 dated 2026 contests already held, and 1 dated printed winner.
Does CPW publish a list of Colorado tournaments?
No. CPW posts no list of contest approvals, so every date here comes from a host, a CPW news release or a CPW event page.
Why does CPW run its own fishing tournaments?
CPW uses harvest-incentive contests to thin lake trout and northern pike where they threaten kokanee and trout; 4 of the dated rows here are CPW events.
Do contests need CPW approval in Colorado?
The 2026 brochure requires CPW approval, a $40 fee and an application 60 days ahead for contests built on marked or tagged fish, and bars contests on streams, rivers and Gold Medal Waters.
Which Colorado host appears most often?
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with 4 contests.
What is the next Colorado contest on the calendar?
3 Lakes Ice Fishing Contest (2027), starting 2027-01-29.
How do I find a Colorado contest near me?
The button near the top sorts the six nearest upcoming contests by miles from where you are.
Can a Colorado club post its contest here?
Yes, with the Add a tournament button at the top of this page.
How Colorado handles fishing contests
CPW publishes no list of the contests it approves, so this calendar is pieced together from host pages, CPW news releases and CPW event pages, each linked in its row.
Several of the biggest Colorado contests are CPW's own: harvest-incentive tournaments that pay anglers to remove lake trout at Blue Mesa and northern pike at Spinney Mountain, Green Mountain and Elkhead.
The brochure rule on fishing contests, quoted: "Fishing contests cannot be advertised, promoted or conducted without CPW approval if the purpose is to take marked or tagged fish released in waters open to public fishing. Applications and a $40 nonrefundable fee must be made 60 days before the contest. Written approval must be obtained from landowners or agencies before applying. Contests are not permitted on streams, rivers, other flowing water or Gold Medal Waters, or commercial or private lakes licensed by CPW."
2026 Colorado Fishing brochure (CPW, season March 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027), p. 9 (fishing contests); CPW news releases linked in the tables; retrieved October 2026.
Know a tournament that is not listed?
Send it here with a link to the organizer’s event page or schedule. Weekly and monthly ones only need to go in once. If that page shows the name and the date (or the day of the week), it goes on this page right away. If not, we check it by hand within a week.
We keep what you send so we can check the event. Your email is never published.