Loveland Fishing Club Blog

December 19, 2021 News Item:  A psychologist testifying for Ghislaine Maxwell at her federal sex trafficking trial has told the jury people can have "false memories.” of … events. Dr Elizabeth Loftus told the court in New York that people "can be subjected to post-event suggestion.” The professor testified that memory “doesn't work like a recording device. We are actually constructing our memories while we retrieve memories." Admittedly none of this is particularly fishing related. But it does offer strong circumstantial evidence that many Covid Era fishing stories heard at LFC events probably would not hold up in court. We won’t mention names here, other than to say that Norm and Rick are reportedly ice fishing in Wyoming sometime Christmas week. You may be tempted to ask how Norm did. If so, all I can say is, listen to his response with a proper spirit of the holidays. (And then ask Gail.) Meanwhile, don't bother asking Wayne where he caught his bass last w...

 My apologies for some of the language in this video, taken in early December at Lake John in 2019, in that giddy time before Covid-19, when high country lakes still had the decency to ice over. Merry Christmas. Video of Norm’s big brown

As tradition dictates, no formal agenda for the December.  We'll run over the possibilities for club officers, head for the cookies and coffee, and  have our annual gift exchange. No problem if you forget or choose not to participate in the gift exchange; just don't pick up a gift. Remember, if you want to participate, get something (new) for about 10 bucks, and wrap it up but don't put your name on it.  We have a kind of raffle to decide who gets to pick first.  

  Red Feather Lakes, CO. After the discovery of a nasty parasite infection at Red Feathers’ West Lake last summer, I’d hesitate before drilling a hole this winter in the popular northern Colorado pond. But the situation doesn’t appear nearly as severe at the adjacent, larger, Dowdy Lake. In fact, Dowdy should “still be a solid ice fishing option, according to Kyle Battige, Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologist and anglers’ friend.    For those unfamiliar with the situation at these two popular destinations northwest of Fort Collins, anglers in late July first reported sick and dying fish at 38-acre West Lake. Pathologists at CPW’s aquatic health laboratory identified the culprit as anchor worm , a really nasty parasite that causes severe inflammation resulting in open bleeding sores on fish. The females of the damned things permanently attach themselves to fish, leading to stress and cell damage and secondary infections, and mortality. And the immature stages of ...

  Okay, so this photo of a happy Barb Ding, Dennis Kelsey and Norm Englebrecht was taken back at Douglas Reservoir on the second day of the New Year in 2015, when it was clearly a bit cooler than it's been around here lately. Still, if they're out this warm Thanksgiving Day, they'll still be wishing everyone a Happy Holiday.  Stay warm, friends, and stay safe. 

 We know. Put your e-mail out in public these days and you'll start hearing about the police wanting to confiscate your Microsoft account, or asking about your social security number. Makes it hard for us to communicate. You should have a copy of the club directory, maintained by Barbara Ding. But you can now send a note to the club using the following new e-mail account:  fishingclubloveland@gmail.com   Click on it and try it now, so I can see how it works. And tuck it away in your address book.  If you're not writing from your Mama's basement, and don't talk about something besides fishing, we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Fish pictures and reasonaby truthful fishing reports encouraged; nothing too dirty and nothing political.  Just remember we're retired, nap a lot, and may be out fishing. 

 Bring your poles to breakfast at Perkins, and we’ll head afterward to flatiron reservoir. There’s an entry fee, so if you don’t have an annual pass we can ride over together. Should be there about 9 a.m.

If you insist that a posting like this be somehow related to fishing, maybe I will tell you at breakfast how we caught those carp. I would also like to say that, Halloween excepted, I was a pretty good kid.  Bill  The "NextDoor" internet groups here in Colorado have been awash with complaints that rotten 21st Century kids took all the Halloween candy left untended in bowls on  porches. This semi-alarming news forces an admission from this 73-year-old retired trick or treater:  a concession that I - and my future minister brother Paulie - were pretty darned rotten during the Halloween seasons of the ‘50s. (I say seasons because the holiday in Granite City, IL back then wasn’t limited to a single night. You hit up neighbors a day or two before Halloween to get a proper sugar high, then returned to ones that gave the best treats. Anyway, tired of youthful homeowners berating today’s youth (and secure in my knowledge that statutes of limitations have long passed), I che...

 By Bill Prater Regardless of what warm-natured folks are doing, now is not the time to put away the rod and reel and hope for an early spring. Okay, you may stand a fair chance of getting skunked, I guess. But late fall through winter  is also a great time for some of the year’s most memorable days on the water. Most of those annoying folks who crowded next to you in June and July are now watching football and Netflix horror shows, turning their attention to hunting, or hoping for early ice. So until the lakes and ponds at lower elevations freeze over until spring, they can be all yours and mine. Fish do generally bunch up this time of year. Unless you scout out great locations in September or October, they can be hard to locate. For me, that means I stand a better chance in smaller lakes and ponds and smaller than the bigger ones. I moved to Colorado in the early ‘80s after learning to fish the southern fringes of the Midwest. I’m embarrassed to say, it took me years out her...

 Friday seemed like a good day to be chasing stocker-size trout on Dragonfly Pond. But it proved to be an even better time for Charlie Higgs to be battling a trophy-size, 34-inch channel catfish.  Who knew that lunker was lurking near the fishing dock, probably gobbling trout? Certainly not Charlie, who would have probably tied his nightcrawler onto something a little stouter than 6-pound line. Nor fishing buddies Christina Weiss and Rick Golz, tasked with trying without much success to capture the bruiser with a  pair of  inadequate trout nets.  Rick reports Charlie "fought the beast for 20 minutes before he got it up from the bottom and we could see it was a cat. It took another five minutes to get it to the dock, where Christina and I tried to get both ends of the fish into two small trout nets without success before I finally picked it up by the gills and Charlie had the biggest cat he'd ever caught. "The pinched barb on a tiny hook was barely in its mouth w...

 An untimely cold front and high winds kinda messed up the fishing for kids at Saturday's "Fishing Future" clinic at River's Edge Natural Area, but a good time was had by all. About a dozen Loveland Fishing Club members staffed tables introducing youngsters and their families to the sport of fishing, and later helped them in search of fish at Dragonfly and Sandpaper ponds. The event was organized by Fishing Future and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Thanks to all who helped out. (Interesting sidenote: CPW dropped about 2,000 trout into the two ponds a couple days before the clinic, and most of them are still waiting for someone's bait). Photos by Rick Golz

 The following is background information about the role of volunteers at Saturday's event. Plan to be there by 9:30 a.m.  Greetings and thank you SO MUCH for being willing to volunteer with the Loveland Fishing's Future Chapter event on Saturday!  I sincerely appreciate it!  If you could arrive at 9:30am please on Saturday that would allow enough time to get you situated.  Come in the Main Entrance off of First Street into the paved parking area.  We will be set up near that parking lot.    There will be stations set up.  During the first hour of the event, I would love to have at least one volunteer at each station to give a short 10 minute demonstration/lesson about the topic for that table.  The station topics are listed below.  If you have a preference for which table you are at, we can accommodate!  Just tell me which table you want.  If you don't have a preference, I will put you where we need you.  You don't ha...

Chris Nelson was peacefully rowing his boat on one of the Delaney Butte lakes last month when this fat rainbow attacked. Chris won the ensuing fight, estimated the beast's size at about  5+ pounds and 22+ inches, and released it to swim another day. Photo by Dave Johnson  

After polling club members with the note below sent Sept. 22, the decision's been made postpone the annual club tournament until 2022. The exact date will be announced later, according to President Doug Money. Things have been pretty goofy as the pandemic lingers; this is one of them. We traditionally have the derby at Flatiron Reservoir, with winners determined by the biggest string of four fish, the legal limit. If you'd like to try something different, let Doug know.  Your input needed: Should we have a club fishing  derby   this year? One lovely Loveland Fishing Club tradition  scrubbed in 2020 because of Covid-19  was the annual  derby  at Flatiron Reservoir to determine the club's finest angler: four hours  of frantic fishing followed by a celebratory picnic.  For more than a dozen years, the winner  has had their name placed on a traveling trophy that is supposed to remain in the champion's  home for a year.  Club histor...

 FYI, Dan Swanson has posted the following on his Facebook page. Colorado Bass Nation is seeking volunteers (20 or more) this weekend to install habitat structures at Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland, CO. Volunteers need not be members. I believe your park pass for the day is being comped. We'll meet at 10:00am (location to follow). Please bring a screw gun (if you have one), work gloves, sunscreen and wear work clothes. Questions? Contact George Mauries, 303-819-1171, or Bill Wilson with Centennial Bass.  Boyd Habitat Project Saturday Sept 18th 10:00 am -  Bill Wilson Centennial Bass Club of Northern Colorado bassinbill@gmail.com 970-218-2895

 Long stretches of the Yampa and Colorado rivers are among the streams currently closed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as the result of this lingering heat and drought. In its weekly fishing report, the agency noted the CPW director may "  authorize emergency closure of fishing waters in the state when it is determined that environmental conditions in these waters are such that fishing could result in unacceptable levels of fish mortality. Additionally, CPW may initiate a voluntary fishing closure where the agency asks anglers to find alternative places to fish until conditions improve. When such determination has been made, public notice will be given, including posting at the relevant water.  The criteria for any potential action may include:  Daily maximum water temperatures > 71°F  Stream flows ≤ 50% of the daily average flow  Fish condition visibly deteriorating  Daily dissolved oxygen < 6 parts per million  Natural or man-caused enviro...

 Darned if we're going to tell you about it here, though; you'll just have to ask Dennis Kelsey how he landed this fat 18-inch largemouth on a Loveland area pond on Aug. 24. I'll give you a hint:  no, ask him yourself. Or maybe Don Knudsen, who watched the fight and then took this photo.

  Those who know me well know this: For the 17 years or so I’ve been with the Loveland Fishing Club, I have been in dogged, some say mindless, pursuit of a Colorado Master Angler bluegill. They are gorgeous, tough little devils, but don’t grow well here in the land of fluctuating water levels and near-total lack of hard cover. Which perhaps explains why I and a few other lonely missionaries keep chasing a very few big ones, while others mindlessly pursue skinny but tastier walleye. My version of Don Quixote ended abruptly Wednesday morning on an unnamed, snake- and mosquito-infested pond not too far from Loveland. That’s when I (and my secret Gulp minnow) battled and subdued an obese, 10 ½ inch male that had been naively feasting on a ball of bait fish. That’s a full 5 percent over the minimum to qualify for a Colorado Master Angler patch for the species. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the pond, Wayne B muttered said something about catching a couple 4- or 5-pound largemouths that had b...

By   COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE   |   September 1, 2021 at 8:16 a.m. RED FEATHER LAKES, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials at its aquatic animal health laboratory have identified an anchor worm infestation as the cause of dead and dying fish at West and Dowdy lakes in western Larimer County. Anchor worm is a parasite that can cause severe inflammation resulting in open bleeding sores on fish. Adult females are permanently fixed to a fish, resulting in the observed sores. It can lead to stress, osmotic imbalance and to secondary infection. The free swimming immature stages of the anchor worm can feed on gill tissue, causing considerable damage that can impact respiration and osmoregulation, in addition to being an irritant. Anchor worms are not new to both West Lake and neighboring Dowdy Lake. They can become problematic to the fish populations every several years according to CPW Area Wildlife Manager Jason Surface. “We want anglers to be aware of ...

 Wading way through record high heat and record large crowds of tourists, Cindy and Walt this summer completed one of fishing's coveted awards, Wyoming Game and Fish Department's "Cuttslam," landing the final of four Wyoming species of native cutthroat trout. Walt can't remember exactly what stream produced his handsome Yellowstone cutthroat. Cindy can, but she's not telling. Judge for yourself, but it sure looks like Cindy's was the bigger of the pair.

By Bill Prater Newbies! Don’t do this. Or if you must do this, wear a life jacket. Today’s column is less a column and more of an appeal for advice from one of angling’s least trusted sources: the lunatic fringe of the float tube community. This requires explanation. I am an aging example of a fishing fraternity that looks forward to late, late fall and early early spring - glorious, ice-age like times when the most cautious of trout throw caution to the wind. Even better, the more milquetoast, numerous members of the angling community turn to football and chasing moose and stuff. Trouble is, it’s also when Colorado/Wyoming’s usually balmy winds morph into damned  hurricanes. Over the years, I have acquired a level of success casting ultralights into the teeth of those gales. Don’t ask me how, exactly. But over years of cursing wind knots, I have stumbled upon combinations of eye and wrist coordination that allow me to fish amid the whitecaps.  Trouble is, I’m getting old! Wad...

By Bill Prater  One of the many great things about ultralight fishing gear is, it doesn’t matter whether your intended catch is a whopper or a smaller over-achiever.  If you match your gear to the size of your intended target, you’ll get more enjoyment out of most fish encounters, get lots more bites,  and won’t have to fall asleep waiting for the bite of an occasional whopper of one specific species. You’ll have a legitimate shot at darned near every type (and size)  of fish that swims in places like water-starved eastern Colorado. Here in our little part of the fishing world, chain stores tempt us with an enormous selection of heavyweight rods, reels and baits.  I contend you needn’t be tempted by a 4/0 hook fixed to giant yellow baby duck, foot-long plastic worm or imitation rat. A 1- to 2-inch soft plastic minnow or bug  imitation (aided where legal with a thoughtfully chosen scent), will attract darned near every species that swims in the streams and i...

  Richard's son Jason is passing along word that a memorial for our long-time friend and fishing companion will be held at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church Memorial Garden, 2000 Stover Street in Fort Collins. Jason says they'll be having refreshments and "my Mom (Sheilah) was wanting those who knew my father to come by and celebrate his life." 

The fully catered annual picnic begins at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday with the meal being served at 4 p.m. The meal will be followed by a raffle, and traditionally the picnic offers the best prizes of the year! People will likely begin showing up at the Railroad Park pavilion around 3 p.m., and we'll wind up around 5 p.m. 

Warren W. Wolf, 82, of Fort Collins died Thursday, Aug. 12. Memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at http://allnuttftcollins.com Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at  www.allnuttftcollins.com

 Dan's been fishing up on the Blue around Breckenridge for a few days. Take a look at what he caught using spinners that he makes for himself. Some good meals here. Thursday Thursday, Aug 5th

 Thanks to all who helped Monday at the Loveland Girl Scouts outing at Lon Hagler. Several scouts caught fish, but President Doug Money says the "big attention getter though was a nearly 3" crawfish one girl caught." It's great to be back on the water with little friends.

Fairgrounds Park is great, but hey, Chilson has air conditioning. After more than a year's closing due to you know what, the center has reopened for business. So dust off your fishing cap and badge, and meet us at Chilson at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 20. And bring some cash. John Gwinnup's been squirreling away great stuff for the raffle. 

 Once again the Loveland Girl Scouts will be holding a day camp at Lon Hagler reservoir, and once again they're asking the club to help them with a day of fishing. Save this date: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, July 12. There will be a signup sheet at Friday breakfast.

  Barb Ding, who's guarded the club's treasures for the past eight years, will be passing on those duties on Jan. 1. That leaves plenty of time for a new volunteer to step up and learn from the best. Interested? See Barb or President Doug Money at breakfast or the next club meeting.   In the meantime, let Barb know how much you appreciated her work on our behalf.

 T’was a record hot at Boyd Lake state park Tuesday, but that didn’t keep Loveland Fishing Club volunteers help our Girl Scout buddies with a morning of fishing. Here are a few photos of the event.

  By Bill Prater (The following treatise on fishing etiquette  appears on the  http://fishexplorer.com  website) The trouble with writing an occasional fish story is, most readers won’t even agree on what kind of fish to catch, much less what to do with it afterward. (Eat that carp? or Let It Live to Bite Another Day?) Dig further into the nuances of our sport - for example whether or not to tell the unembellished truth - and you can shatter more friendships than a show of hands at a political rally. I’m not absolutely sure what I think about folks who choose to share intimate details about exactly where and how a fish was caught, especially when another person may be naively expect “the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth.”  Seems like a religious question to me, best left to my minister brother. I do, however, feel compelled to share the limits of my own candor in a public forum. To me, the crucial question is, Just how frank and open should on...