Poudre Ponds reopens for anglers, paddleboarders, kayakers and more

Photo courtesy of the City of Greeley.

By Dan England

Poudre Ponds opened years ago as a unique place where anglers could catch a variety of fish. But since the lake was refilled a couple weeks ago, the city is seeing other uses. 

“I’ve seen a ton of standup paddle boarders and belly boats and kayaks,” said Justin Scharton, superintendent of the City of Greeley’s Natural Areas and Trails division. “People really want to get out on the water.” 

Boating is, by far, the most popular use right now, but that will probably change, in maybe as soon as a year. Poudre Ponds just needs some time to establish a healthy, varied fish population, Scharton said. 

“The fishing will stink for a year or so before it starts bolstering back up,” he said and chuckled. 

The area, alas, didn’t live up to its billing after it opened more than a decade ago at O Street and 35th Avenue from a reclaimed mining site. Habitat was limited. CPW could stock trout and a few other species, but that wasn’t what the agency had in mind. 

The city drained it last September after encouraging anglers to fill their coolers with no catch limits. Anglers did so with mixed emotions, as they enjoyed the area. But the city had to drain the pond down to the dirt to make unplanned repairs to a broken intake valve. Repairs took nearly a year, longer than expected, but that was because of supply chains and other COVID-related issues affecting nearly everything else, Scharton said. 

The city wasn’t happy about draining the pond, but they viewed it as an opportunity to improve the lake. They put in more than 50 structures, including branches and other woody material and some concrete as well to vary the habitat, giving the state more options for different species of fish when it comes time to restock it. 

“The limited habitat also limited their options,” Scharton said. “Now they are really excited about the opportunity. It’s much more of a holistic habitat than a big bathtub where fish just wander around until they are caught by anglers.”

In fact, some of the fish may even spawn now that they have cover from the structures, giving the pond a way to be self-sustaining. 

Temperatures are too hot to stock trout — that may also explain the increase in paddleboarders and others — but the state will eventually stock the lake with it and other popular fish. 

Wildlife have already noticed, with more birds stopping by and using the structures and branches as resting spots, including cormorants known for spreading their wings after sitting for a spell. 

“The waterfowl are loving it out there,” he said.