What’s the deal with Poudre Ponds? It remains empty, for now, but city officials say patience will pay off

Poudre Ponds fishery at N. 35th Avenue and north of 4th Street still resembles a sandbox (for now). The city hopes to use the nearby logs to create complex habitat so more fish species will be stocked when water goes back in. Photo by Dan England.

By Dan England

The Poudre Ponds resembles a sandbox more than Greeley’s prime fishing hole. But Justin Scharton, superintendent of the natural areas and trails division of Greeley’s Parks and Recreation department, and Chris Scully, the city’s natural areas and trails supervisor, had a message: Just be patient. 

“This is going to be a better and more robust fishery once it goes back up,” Scully said. 

The city drained the pond to fix a broken intake pump as well as install a pipe between what they are calling pond A, the active fishery, and pond B, a new area that won’t be open to the public for several years (as it’s still being mined). The improvements will also help stop water from leaking out of the pond and install erosion protection to help reduce damage during flooding, a common occurrence during the spring runoff, especially when there’s a plump snowpack.

Finally, they’re improving access to the main fishing pond for boaters as well as making improvements to the Poudre Trail that winds around the lake, including making it more accessible for those who use wheelchairs. The trailhead, in fact, should in scope resemble the so-called “Red Barn” spot off 71st Avenue, although it probably won’t be quite that extensive, Scully said. 

But the improvements that have Scully really excited are what he and his crew are doing to the fish habitat itself. In fact, he said, they are long overdue.

The pond was a good place to fish before, but it was more of a reclaimed gravel mine than a robust fishery, Scharton said. Scully’s crew plans to use concrete trash receptacles donated by the University of Northern Colorado, large tree logs and limbs he asked the city’s forestry department to save during their tree trimmings or removals and develop the slopes and rocks to create variations in terrain and texture and that allow a wider variety of fish to spawn, hide and hang out. Scully stockpiled all those items and lumber through the years while he patiently waited for the city to find a good reason to drain the pond.

‘”We’ve been waiting for 10 years to get to work on this,” Scully said. 

That gives Colorado Parks and Wildlife more options in choosing what fish to stock. The city doesn’t have much pull in determining what gets stocked in the pond, but everyone wants a more varied fishing hole. Biologists will probably stock it this summer with fish such as trout, a fun fish to catch, to give the anglers something to do while the other species establish themselves. That will take a while, if not a few years, but once it does, it should last a long time, until a drought hits or there’s a reason to drain it again. 

Poudre Ponds has a different feel, even a culture, as the only real place specifically designed for more serious anglers (although it’s a good spot for casuals as well).

“You can technically fish in other places around Greeley,” Scharton said. “But this is the place where people will fish after work. It’s a different mindset, a different environment. We want different user experiences for our residents, and one of the ways to do that is to provide a high-quality place to fish. We have a long way to go with that.”