Loveland Fishing Club Blog

  By Bill Prater This is the time of year when youngsters' thoughts turn to other youngsters, and old timers sit around and fret over when and where to go fishing when it’s just a tad bit warmer. Soon enough the ice will disappear from our northern Colorado ponds, creating decent, if sporadic, open water opportunities. Here are the situations I’m thinking about as early season opportunities:  try for trout first, then prespawn bass, then crappie and bluegill. Walleye? ask Norm or Dan; I limit myself to the walleye special on Sunday afternoons at Henry’s in downtown Loveland. As an old boy from the Midwest, I admit I overlooked trout for the longest time, for which I apologize to the Gods of Fishing. It took me a while, but eventually I came to realize the slimy devils really help extend the season - by keeping it strong right up until freeze up in the fall, and by always being first to stir in early, early spring. When, exactly, they move back into shallower water in lak...

By Bill Prater The Loveland Fishing Club has suffered alongside everyone else during the pandemic, and neglected some things members routinely did together. With Spring at our doorstep, it is now time to refocus on what retired, like-minded anglers do best: help one another fish. Below you’ll find a link to a history of the club I put together back in April 2021. You'll see that some of us have been amicably fishing together since 2003, (and when we argue, it’s usually over something like, where to have breakfast) With the social distance brought on by pandemic, though, some newer members are having difficulty finding their place in the club. Let’s talk about that.  We'd sure like to hear from you - and don't wait for the next monthly meeting. We are cautious about sharing members’ phone numbers and e-mails. If you’d like help locating kindred spirits, or want to voice an opinion, drop a note to fishingclubloveland@gmail.com   It is probably a fair criticism of the club to ...

Jim and Damaris Barborak report they have been "hitting the ice at Boyd and St. Vrain State Park regularly the past two weeks" and so far Damaris is leading in the couple's big fish contest with this 17-inch rainbow. Jim also says "unlike most folks I am glad that we are going to get another dose of really cold weather after this balmy weekend, to extend the ice fishing season in the Front Range. I'm ready for an early thaw, myself, but we really do need to pound the ice. Jim and others are looking for fishing companions; if you're interested drop a note to fishingclubloveland@gmail.com   I

 We don't typically talk about sales and such on the blog, but Elkhorn Fly Shop is a great friend of the Loveland Fishing Club, and having a 40 percent off sale on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here's the link.

 There’s been discussion of whether to continue the club’s weekly breakfast at Perkins. So at Tuesday’s general meeting it was decided, rather than put the question to an immediate vote, some members of the club will sample the fare at the International House of Pancakes in Centerra, at or about the usual 7 a.m. starting time. If you want to participate, just show up, look for familiar faces, and eat. Then let the rest of us know what you think.

 FYI, with the lifting of mask requirements by Larimer County, masks are recommended at Chilson Senior Center but not required.  Club member Dan Chrouser will be speaking to the club about building his own spinning gear. The meeting begins at 2 p.m.

  FYI, it appears the folks at Google Earth recently updated its satellite photos of northern Colorado; looks like most of the composite photos were taken in late June 20021.  If you're not using Google Earth to gain a new perspective on the fishing waters around here, well, that's on you. For the rest of us, it's a chance to scope out best likely spots to wet a line on unfamiliar lakes, ponds and streams.  I wrote about Google Earth in more detail a couple years ago, just as the Pandemic was starting to keep us homebound,  https://www.fishexplorer.com/co/blog.asp?action=det&bid=3699 You can download a free copy of Google Earth Pro to your desktop computer. Versions with less functionality are available for laptops and cell phones. (Once you're familiar with the application, you can do other neat things like go back in time to earlier photos, that may have been taken when water levels were lower.  Here's the link:  https://www.google.com/earth/versions/...

Sitting at home waiting for the temperatures around here to get a bit warmer than 10 degrees, I found myself wondering when the construction work on the North Michigan dam would be complete and the lake restocked. Between drought, fire and crowds of Pandemic-driven anglers everywhere, we sorely need access to every available body of water. Anyway, the lake west of Fort Collins has been drained for quite a while now for dam repairs. Found the following on the Colorado State Park website:  North Michigan Reservoir Dam construction update. Our construction is complete on the dam and the Reservoir is slowly filling. The construction crew will be doing some clean-up in spring 2022, but should not impact camping.  We hope to have enough water from snow runoff at some point to have the Reservoir restocked this summer, however, there are very low water levels on the reservoir at this time. Call us in May about water levels and acceptable water activities. 970-723-8366  ...