Gird your loins and grab your rods. It's time to go Ice-Out fishing!

 
Normally we would not be discussing this for another six weeks or so. But like the mosquitoes around Boyd Lake, Ice-Out this year is ridiculously early at the Delaney Lakes and Lake John. In other words, it is time for the time-honored Loveland Fishing Club tradition that separates the women from the girls, the men from boys.

Those of you previously unaware of the Delaneys are in for a treat - and possibly a touch of frostbite. Normally those clear North Park lakes are ice-capped until around the first of May; Club members debate the precise time when the ice cracks open and big, scrappy browns, rainbows and cutbows start cruising the shallows. Unfortunately it's also a time when northern Colorado can feel like southern Wyoming: with high winds and occasional plummeting temperatures competing with the prospect of a personal best fish.

We generally watch the fishing reports from North Park Anglers in Walden for news about the arrival of spring in the high country. Here's what they reported Thursday about the three Delaney Buttes lakes, and nearby Lake John and Cowdrey Lake:

     The lakes are icing off.  There is plenty of open water to fish on all the local lakes, and the fishing has been             pretty good.  Leeches, Chironomids, Water Boatmen, and Crayfish patterns."

Okay, that's likely the baits our President and other fly rodders will be recommending too. Those who follow  Spinning lean toward ultralght gear, jigheads in the 1/16th to 1/32nd oz. range, and 1- and 2/12-inch Gulp Minnows. Some of us will be fishing from float tubes and hoping the gale and maybe the hail will hold off for few hours. Others do quite well from the bank. Wading can be productive, too, but dress warmly. Come to think of it, dress warmly anyway. Some of us have been known to drive all the way to the Delaneys around May Day, found it was 10 degrees outside, and headed back to Walden for an early lunch. It all works out. 
We should probably be heading there right now. But let's all think about it a few days and patch the holes in our long underwear. 

For now, if you're interested, just let me know, with a note to billjohnp@gmail.com We'll put together a list of interested folks and plot what to do next.
We're likely looking at the next week or week and a half. It's about a 2 1/2-hour drive to the lakes; you can get up early and go for the day, but at least a few of us will be staying overnight at a motel in Walden. Carpooling and room sharing are encouraged.