These northern Colorado fishing areas closed

We'll be updating you as circumstances dictate on what's known about area fishing and the outdoors in general.  Horsetooth, Boyd, Carter and others are open, but there are longer, evolving lists of what's closed. The Boulder Canyon and Canyon Lakes ranger districts of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests are also closed temporarily, due to saturated soils and the need to facility emergency response.

Even though the water's pretty muddy and getting worse, I'd recommend the Marina and Heinrici inlets at Boyd, where water coming from Horseshoe is creating a current that attracts predator fish. Let us know how you're doing there or elsewhere.  Any word on conditions at Lon Hagler, Boedecker, Lonetree or elsewhere?  Know they're full and muddy; any fish biting?

 I'll be looking for links to agencies providing reports on other areas.  If you want to chime in on others, send me a note.  My thanks to club friend Dennis Smith, author of the Home Waters column, for help identifying closed area.  Bill. 

Here's a partial list of closings as of 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 20.

• Jackson Lake State Park
• Big Thompson Ponds State Wildlife Area 
• Watson SWA in LaPorte, adjacent to the state hatchery.  
• St. Vrain State Park 
• Frank SWA, Windsor
• Simpson Ponds SWA 

In Fort Collins, Arapho Bend, Dixon Lake, Coyote Ridge, Gateway, Maxwell, Pineridge, Reservoir Ridge and Soapstone Prairie natural areas are closed; most will reopen after muddy or flooded conditions improve.  The most recent word we had from Larimer County Parks and Open Space is that Pinewood and Flatiron are open, but camping had been closed temporarily.  Devil's Backbone remained closed. 

A map of closed national forest areas, along with other flood information, is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/flood2013. Generally, it includes all National Forest System lands in an area on the Boulder Ranger District north and east of State Highway 72 and continues east of Highway 7 to the Canyon Lakes Ranger District Boundary. On the Canyon Lakes Ranger District it includes the area east of Highway 7 to the Forest boundary, north of town of Estes Park, lands east of the Rocky Mountain National Park Boundary to Signal Mountain, lands east of the Comanche Peak Wilderness Boundary up to the Fish Creek Trailhead then lands east of the Pingree Park Road up to Highway 14. The closure continues north of Highway 14 to the junction with the Manhattan Road (County Road 69) and includes all NFS lands on the east side of the Manhattan Road, south of the Boy Scout Road (County Road 68 C) and Red Feather Lakes Road (County 74E) to the NFS boundary.