{"id":97240,"date":"2018-10-31T20:15:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T02:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lake-nighthorse-to-close-for-season\/"},"modified":"2018-10-31T20:15:30","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T02:15:30","slug":"lake-nighthorse-to-close-for-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lake-nighthorse-to-close-for-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Nighthorse to close for season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=af002331-8bca-43e5-a15a-6ddfb706801d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=af002331-8bca-43e5-a15a-6ddfb706801d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=800 800w, https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=af002331-8bca-43e5-a15a-6ddfb706801d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=1200 1200w, https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=af002331-8bca-43e5-a15a-6ddfb706801d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=1800 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 2000px\" width=\"1600\" height=\"847\" alt=\"Lake Nighthorse, southwest of Durango, will close for winter Nov. 14.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Lake Nighthorse, southwest of Durango, will close for winter Nov. 14.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Lake Nighthorse will close for the season Nov. 14 and reopen sometime in April.<\/p>\n<p>Durango Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Metz said visits to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durangogov.org\/lakenighthorse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lake<\/a> and revenue projections are below expectations, but full numbers for the season will be not be compiled until the lake closes.<\/p>\n<p>The 416 Fire, which closed the lake for nine days in June, and a two-week period when the boat ramp was reconstructed, hurt visitor numbers for the lake\u2019s first year open to recreation, Metz said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the month of June, there were days when the smoke was so heavy people were not recreating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Lake Nighthorse is required by its environmental impact statement to close during the winter to protect wildlife habitat.<\/p>\n<p>For the next three Fridays, <a href=\"http:\/\/cpw.state.co.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/a> will give away kokanee salmon at Lake Nighthorse beginning at 3 p.m. The giveaways will be Nov. 2, Nov. 9 and Nov. 16.<\/p>\n<p>Metz said the lake will open specially for the kokanee salmon giveaway Nov. 16, which occurs after the lake\u2019s seasonal closure.<\/p>\n<p>Metz said the $8 vehicle fee for the lake will be waived for people going specifically to the salmon giveaway.<\/p>\n<p>Salmon giveaways will be at the boat ramp at Nighthorse Reservoir, 1795 County Road 210, and anyone who wants salmon must present a valid 2018 Colorado fishing license.<\/p>\n<p>People should bring a cooler or other container \u2013 most kokanee are 10 to 13 inches long.<\/p>\n<p>The number of fish given to each person will depend on the supply and demand for the salmon.<\/p>\n<p>Parks and Wildlife spokesman Joe Lewandowski said snagging salmon may be tempting, but it is illegal. He also said anglers should remain 50 yards away from the spawning platform.<\/p>\n<p>Demand for salmon is expected to be heavy, and Lewandowski suggested people arrive early.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:parmijo@durangoherald.com\">parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>giveaways will be offered next 3 Fridays<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[885,2216,4259,976],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-97240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-fishing","tag-lake-nighthorse","tag-newsletter-sign-up","tag-outdoor-recreation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97240"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=97240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}