Loveland Fishing Club Blog

  Garmin Striker Cast GPS—Castable Sonar Garmin Striker Cast GPS | Fishing Wire (thefishingwire.com)   For the many anglers around the country who fish from shore, piers or docks, it’s always a bit of a mystery how deep the water is within casting range, what structures are on the bottom, and where the fish are in relation to that structure. Without a sonar/GPS screen to tip you off, you’re fishing blind. Garmin’s Striker Cast GPS puts fish-finding technology into the hands of these anglers, at a very affordable price. It provides quality sonar and GPS on any smart phone. The whole system is encased in a hard plastic housing about the size of a tennis ball. The unit turns on when it’s immersed in water, and links via Bluetooth to your smart-phone once you download the Striker Cast app. You attach the device to your fishing line, cast it out to the water you want to check and presto, a sonar screen appears on the phone. The Striker Cast is about the size of a tennis ball. It ca...

  Nearly 60 years ago, I got my fondest wish for my 14th birthday, a fiberglass fly rod. I hadn’t a clue how to fish with it, though; neither did Mom or Dad.  Across the street, fortunately, lived a quiet widower named Mr. Watson. After he spotted me clumsily trying to make a cast, I came to learn he was a terrific warm water fly fisherman, at a time and in a place (metro east St. Louis) where the sport was pretty much unknown. Not a relative, at the time not even a close acquaintance, he launched me on a path toward becoming the modest, legendary angler I am today. While we all struggle to find something to be thankful for in 2020, I have no trouble being thankful for my friend Mr. Watson. To make a long story short, not easy for me, Mr. Watson took me to a local bait store, bought me a handful of homemade, blackened cork spiders with long rubber band legs, and asked: “Could you be ready to go fishing about 3:30 tomorrow morning?” With Mom’s help, it turns out I could. Off he...

 Our friend Rich, Raffle Chairman and mainstay of the Loveland Fishing Club for many years, has gone into hospice treatment at his home in Loveland. Our thoughts are with him and wife Sheila this Thanksgiving week. Richard has had limited fishing time recently because of health problems, but he's been an active club member for more than a decade, helping make the club's raffle a big success and serving as one of the original organizers of our Senior Fishing Derby. Norm Englebrecht, who visited with him this week, says he'd enjoy getting a note or card. His address is 2690 W. 36th St. Loveland 80538.  Rich and a friend he found in Boyd Lake.

  LOVELAND, Colo . - Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Consolidated Home Supply Ditch and Reservoir Company have signed a contract for a 10-year lease renewal that will allow CPW to continue to manage Boedecker Reservoir as a State Wildlife Area.  "Colorado Parks and Wildlife has worked together in partnership with the Consolidated Home Supply Ditch and Reservoir Company,” said CPW Area Wildlife Manager Jason Duetsch. “Over the past several months we've developed a renewed lease that is a win for lovers of public access to local waters. We are excited to continue to offer fishing, hunting and wakeless boating opportunities to our customers and hope they have a chance to visit this beautiful property in the future."  The fishery management at Boedecker Reservoir is for warm-water angling.  Amenities at Boedecker include a boat ramp, primitive restrooms, ice fishing during the winter and wakeless boating during the spring, summer and fall. Past stocking efforts...

  Hello everyone, We are trying to see how many club members we can add to a Zoom list.  Please e-mail Past President Jim Visger at  visgermnj@aol.com  and answer the following three questions "Yes" or "No"  1.    Do you have access to a smart phone and do you get your emails there? Yes  No 2.    Do you have access to a computer with camera and audio? Yes  No 3.    Do you have access to a I-Pad and do you receive your emails there? Yes  No The information will be used to set up a list of members who can use Zoom for club meetings.  Once we have a current list of Zoom-capable members, either Peggy Gwinnup or Jim will e-mail you with further information and an invitation to a Zoom meeting. That initial meeting is tentatively set for 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10.

  Brad Bryant enjoying some fall fishing at a Denver Metro lake. Brad caught this awesome bass using a jig.  Midges Thanksgiving provides an excellent mark of when anglers need to set their sights on winter fishing. For many, they gear up for the ice fishing season, while other anglers are thinking about winter fly fishing. Winter fly fishing is dramatically different than hitting the river in the spring, summer, or early fall. The bitter cold, ice clad banks, and mounding snow are enough to make me think twice before heading out. For those anglers that are able to bare the elements, they will be rewarded with beautiful landscapes, little angler pressure, and hungry fish. One of the best ways to be successful catching winter trout is fishing midges. Midges are small mosquito like insects that hatch year-round. Fishing with midge patterns is fairly straight forward. There are three life stages that midge patterns imitate, larvae, pupa, and adult. Larvae patterns are small, si...

 https://www.thefishingwire.com/features/cfffdb94-e89d-4689-acd2-b40594db4a4f By Alex McCrickard, DWR Aquatic Education Coordinator Photos by Meghan Marchetti/DWR Have you watched some of the videos from aquatic biologists at the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and seen a boat outfitted with long, wand-like poles with dangling cables? Have you ever showed up to a river or stream and witnessed a crew of biologists with large backpacks and long rods extending into the water? This unusual-looking activity is called electrofishing, and it’s modern science in action. As Virginia’s state fish and wildlife agency, DWR is responsible for the management of our fish and wildlife resources for the benefit of the public. Our agency staff work hard to conserve and protect our freshwater fisheries across the Commonwealth. The best way to monitor the health of fish populations is to catch a number of fish from one area at one time. While our aquatics biologists are all excellent anglers, t...

Wayne Baranczak is sporting a nifty new beanie these days made by a couple of local businesswomen, Beverly and Christine. The mother-daughter duo has created a variety of beanies with embroidered designs including this "Gone Fishin'" logo. They're $29.95 on the  https://beanieworldbiz.com  website but you can get $10 off if you type in the discount code FishingLover when you order. 

 A year has come and gone since we elected Doug Money as the club's vice president. Now it's time for him to prepare for the presidency, and for the club to choose a new VP. This has been a strange year for the club like the rest of the world, so you probably haven't had the chance to really think about seeking a leadership position yourself. Well, now is the time. Assuming 2021 will be a little less scary than 2020, find it a great way to get really involved in the club, and help us plan for the future. Whether you're an old timer who's been with the club since the beginning in late 2003, or an old timer who's just joined, we need you consider running for office. Frankly, unable to meet regularly with other club members, we do not have a vice president candidate in mind.   Election will be Dec. 1 The election is planned for Dec. 1, with the new board taking over in January. "We're not quite sure what will be involved in the job in the coming year, but ...

 No sugar coating it:  the two largest wildfires in Colorado history will have a fairly horrifying impact on northern Colorado wildlife, aquatic life and forests. For an excellent discussion of the expected impact on the Poudre River watershed, check out a new Colorado Parks and Wildlife podcast on "Wildfire impacts on Wildlife." The podcast can be found on the CPW website; click  here.   The 30-minute podcast covers a broad discussion of the pros and cons of wildlife. (You'll find the main discussion of fisheries comes from northeast region senior aquatic biologist Jeff Spohn, starting about 11 minutes into the podcast). Jeff was heavily involved in assessment and restoration efforts on the South Platte after the Hayman Fire. Based partly on that experience, he says, essentially, that loss of fish will be extensive, and the worst damage to fisheries will come with ash and other debris being washed into waterways with the next big rain or snowfall.   The Cameron...

 Most of us have probably kept in touch with relatives and friends using Google Meeting or Zoom! videoconferencing. Club President Jim Baxter is looking for someone with enough experience with one or the other to get us together for board and club meetings. If you have the skills and the interest, please contact Jim at 970-689-3923.

 Between a pandemic and out-of-control wildfires, we didn't accomplish much as a club this year, so the board has decided to waive dues in 2021 for all returning members. New members will pay the usual $25 for an individual membership, $30 for a couple. "It was the right thing to do, and hopefully we'll get back into club activities in earnest here shortly," says Club President Jim Baxter.