Thursday, March 14, 2024

Looking for a few new anglers

 \MEMBERS: If you have a friend or relative who should be out fishing, please forward this to them and encourage them to come to one of our meetings. Bill


By Bill Prater


If you’re of a certain age - retirement age that is - and wondering what to do with all that free time, I have a great alternative to mowing grass and knitting: You know what I mean: Join the Loveland Fishing Club and go fishing.  


Not counting the eventual arrival of spring, you couldn’t find a better time than now to either get out your dusty old fishing gear or buy some new stuff. And just join the club for breakfast on Fridays in Loveland or Fort Collins and talk about what we’ll catch when it gets a bit warmer. Whether you’ve fished all your life or not sure what to use for bait, you can likely find other folks with shared interest.

We’re coming up on the 4th anniversary of a time we’d all like to forget, when Covid-19 forced social groups like a fishing club into dormancy. The stuff’s still around, but we’ve learned to live with it, as well as the flu, pneumonia and RSV. We’re back hanging out together, maybe not hugging each other as much, but enjoying one another’s company. 


Interested? Here’s a link to the Loveland Fishing Club blog, https://lovelandfishingclub.blogspot.com; or e-mail me at lovelandfishing@gmail.com. 


From an initial dozen or so charter members, the club grew to about a hundred men and women by 2020. Those numbers shrank by half during Covid, but they’re growing again. We’re actively recruiting new members, especially ones who like to volunteer for things like taking kids and old folks fishing.

You’ve hopefully heard of the Loveland Kids Fishing Derby, one of the biggest free fishing events in Colorado  for kids 15 and under. And we’re also pretty sure that the Loveland Fishing Club Senior Derby, focused on providing a day of fishing and outdoor fun for residents of assisted living centers, is the only one of its type in the country. It’s open to all seniors, but our special guests are residents of a dozen or more retirement centers in Loveland and surrounding towns. Whether they can walk to the water on their own or get there with a walker or wheelchair, we help them fish and join them in a picnic.  

 You don’t have to be an old timer to wear our coveted fishing caps. But you should know that most of our fishing and other activities take place during the week, including the general meetings at Chilson Center, at 2 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month.  

The idea for the Loveland Fishing Club hatched in the fertile mind of  our first President, Tom Miller, who belatedly completed a second term in 2023. Tom brought the idea for a senior fishing club with him from Southern California, where he had been a senior manager of the California parks system until retirement a long, long time ago..

The intent was simple: get together once or twice a week and fish, with little regard for competition, a particular species or fishing style. Along the way, we’d share angling knowledge, carpooling expenses and medical advice. 

We’re always looking for and encouraging newbies to serve on our board and in other volunteer positions. Come join us.



Monday, March 4, 2024

Pro angler Steve Shelton speaking at March meeting Tuesday

Loveland resident and Cabela's walleye pro will be the Loveland Fishing Club's guest speaker at the 2 p.m. March 19th meeting at Chilson Center. He'll talk on fishing Boyd Lake and other area waters. 

In advance of this month's meeting, the LFC Board will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 18th. All members are welcome. 










Friday, March 1, 2024

It's nearly spring! Boyd Lake, other state park ramps opening soon

 

Just got this from Colorado Parks and Wildlife about state park boat ramps and aquatic nuisance inspections. No word yet from Horsetooth or Carter Lakes but they didn't open in years past until April 1. 

DENVER, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northeast Region announces boating opening dates in seven state parks for the 2024 season. Before launching in Colorado waters, boaters will need to ensure their boat is registered, purchase an aquatic nuisance species (ANS) stamp and follow all ANS inspection requirements. Inspections can be done at a state park or CPW administrative offices during weekdays.

Opening dates:

  • Barr Lake: Monday, April 1 at 8 a.m.

  • Boyd Lake: Monday, March 11 at 8 a.m.

  • Chatfield: Monday, March 11 at 6 a.m.

  • Cherry Creek: Friday, March 1 at 8 a.m.

  • Eleven Mile and Spinney: Opening date to be announced

  • Jackson Lake: Saturday, March 2 at 8 a.m.

  • North Sterling: Monday, March 11 at 8 a.m.

  • St Vrain: Friday, March 1 at 8 a.m. (editor's note: must be boat ramp at Blue Heron)

All boats are also required to have one Coast Guard-approved life jacket for each person on board. Life jackets can save lives when they fit properly and are worn when recreating on the water. Boaters are also encouraged to take a boating safety course with CPW to learn navigation safety and what to do in case of an accident.

Ray Park has passed away at age 87

 Ray Park, Loveland Fishing Club past club president and creator of the Loveland Fishing Club Senior Derby, has passed away. Cremation is planned, but no further information was available. He is survived by his wife Sue. 

Ray, who served as President in 2011, conceived of the senior derby as a way to create a fishing opportunity for residents of every assisted living center resident in Loveland, a memorable day outdoors for people who may not have had an opportunity to fish for many years. That dream led to one of the club’s most well-recognized contributions to the Loveland community, one that continues each September.. Even as his own health failed, Ray continued to take an active role in the event at Flatiron Reservoir.

Ray Park, center, sits near the campfire with

guests at the 2014 Senior Derby.




Tuesday, February 27, 2024

It's even in color: Looking back a couple decades: the club's first outing to Lon Hagler

 Tom Miller, our club's first President, dug back in his archives and came up with this group shot of nine of the club's charter members on a successful first outing to Lon Hagler Reservoir.

From the left is Bob Ray, naturally the one who seems to have caught fish; Dottie Bethel, Shirley Smilley, Skip Kral, George Kral, Pete Gibbons, Dick "Fish Head" Hunsaker (almost unrecognizable without his trademark fish head cap, Jim Clune and Tom Miller with his belly boat.



Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Rocky Mountain Flycasters Expo is Saturday, March 23 at the Ranch

 

A fund-raiser for Rocky Mountain Flycasters Chapter of Trout Unlimited began a few years ago with a few tables of fly tying demonstrations, but this year it’s evolved into the “RMF Trout Fishing Expo,” a one-day exhibit with speakers, 30 or so exhibitors, door prizes, a raffle and more. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 at the FNBO Exhibition Building, at the Ranch Event Complex. 

Encouraging Fishing Club members at Tuesday’s meeting to attend was Terry Gibbons, who wears two fishing caps, one as an LFC member and another as vice president of the Fort Collins Trout Unlimited chapter. Terry says tickets are $25 at the door, $15 if purchased in advance at this website: http://Rmftu.org/expo2024. 

You can also bid online for raffle items. The cost for veterans, students and first responders is $10, and ages 10 and under are free.  

Money raised at the annual event goes to help fund a variety of conservation efforts in the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds. 


Terry Gibbons, vice president, Rocky Mountain Flycasters


Tuesday, February 20, 2024

LFC Master Angler awards over the past decade...

 

This is 10th year for the contest to catch the largest fish of any species. The following summarizes that decade of competition, what kind of fish, and where they came from: 

2023: Danny Barker tallied a 21-inch largemouth bass from Boyd Lake, measuring 1.167 percent of Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife’s criteria for Master Angler (MA). In second place, Bob Dierkes, with a hefty 19.5-inch largemouth from Bass Pond. Third place in 2023 was our only tie to date, 19-inch largemouths, Darrell Knight’s from Sandpiper, Bill’s from Berthoud Town Pond.

2022: Norm Engelbrecht won with a 28-inch walleye from Boyd Lake, measured at 1.0769 percent of MA criteria. Bill Prater’s 24.25-inch rainbow from South Delaney Buttes was second. 

2021: Danny Barker yanked a huge 18.5 inch yellow perch from Boyd Lake, 1.5 percent of MA, biggest fish we’ve recorded; Bill Prater’s 21-inch largemouth from Bass Pond was second followed by the late Charlie Higgs’ 34-inch catfish from Sandpiper. 

2020: Bill Prater pulled a handsome 26-inch rainbow out of Dragon Fly, 1.0833 of MA criteria, apparently a brood fish unexpectedly stocked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In that wretched first year of Covid, we had no other entries.

2019: Danny Barker again turned to Boyd Lake for a winning 19.75-inch white bass, 1.1618 percent of MA. Dennis Kelsey’s 20.5-inch largemouth from Dragonfly was second and Bill Prater’s 34-inch channel catfish from Pella Crossing was third. 

2018: Bill Prater’s 24-inch cuttbow trout from South Delaney, 1.0909 percent of MA, took first place. Danny Barker’s 27.5-inch Boyd walleye was second and Wayne Baranczyk’s 12-inch grayling out of Joe Wright Reservoir was third. 

In 2017, Danny Barker’s 20.75-inch Boyd Lake largemouth was first, 1.1528 percent of MA. 2016: Dave Boyle yanked a 17.5-inch smallmouth bass from Horsetooth Reservoir for second. 

2016: Dave Boyle’s 23.5-inch brown trout out of Boyd Lake was 1.0682 percent of MA, good for first place. Second was Norm Engelbrecht’s 27-inch Jumbo Reservoir walleye, followed by Bill Prater’s 14-inch Sandpiper crappie.  

2015: Kathleen Barker blew the covers off the 2015 contest with an enormous 18.75-inch crappie from Ish Lake. It measured out at 1.3393 of Master Angler criteria. Footnote: The state record for a white crappie in Colorado stands at 18.25 inches!) 

2014: The late Tom Garland won the inaugural contest with a 19.5 inch largemouth bass from Bass Pond in Rivers Edge, 1.0833 of MA criteria. Second was Mike Schaber with an 18.5-inch largemouth, Dave Boyle was third with a 17.25-inch smallmouth from Horsetooth. 

# # #

2023 LFC Master Angler awards revealed

 The 2023 Loveland Fishing Club Angler of the Year is newly minted President Danny Barker, who this summer pulled a 21-inch largemouth bass from Boyd Lake. Competition chair Jim Roode did the calculations, and the beast measured 1.167 percent of the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife’s criteria for a Master Angler (MA) citation, based on length.  

In second place was Bob Dierkes, with a hefty 19.5-inch largemouth from Bass Pond. Third place in 2023 also went to largemouth anglers - in a tie between Darrell Knight and Bill Prater. Darrell’s Sandpiper Pond bass and Bill’s from the Berthoud Town Pond were both a half inch shy of Bob's mark. (Footnote: the club competition is now limited to fish taken from water available to all club members. We say this because Jim Barbarok caught a whopping 16-inch yellow perch but it came from ... a private pond. 

Below, Danny Barker, first; Bob Dierkes, second; and in a tie for third, Darrell Knight and Bill Prater.