LFC July meeting is Tuesday, July 15; Boat Day is the 17th

 

Danny Barker reminds us that the Loveland Fishing Club's July Boat Day on Boyd Lake is coming up fast, and he's looking for more boat captains and potential riders. "Let's make a strong showing," he says.

To sign up, call Danny as soon as possible at 930-302-8965, or e-mail him at DanBarker2337@gmail.com. Anglers meet at the boat ramp at 7:30 a.m., fish until about noon and then join the potluck picnic. Water and meat will be provided; the rest depends on what participants bring to the party.

You can get tuned up for the day's fishing by listening to our guest speaker, walleye pro Steve Shelton, at Tuesday's 2 p.m. meeting at the Chilson Center. 

Loveland walleye pro speaking to club Tuesday, July 15th

Loveland resident and Cabela's walleye pro will be the Loveland Fishing Club's guest speaker at the 2 p.m. meeting at Chilson Senior 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, July 14th. All members are welcome. 

 

When the Barkers headed out of town recently, they had their eyes set on a familiar destination: Lake Okoboji, one of the Great Lakes of northwest Iowa. Prowling a home- and dock-lined canal, both landed memorable bass.

Danny recorded his at a whopping 6.4 pounds, but left us to guess at the size of Kathy's. You can be the judge on whose is biggest... 

Fly fishing trip in the works for the North Platte. Interested?

 Jim Roode, who's happily fished the Northgate Canyon area of the North Platte for many years, is plotting an overnight trip there as soon as water levels reach an optimum level.

Want to go? Jim says he'll be camping at a public access area parking spot. If interested, contact Jim at jimroode@yahoo.com. 

The river levels are understandably high right now, and Jim will set an exact date when they recede, which may be quite soon with the current heat wave. Here's a link to information on the Northgate Canyon area, north of Walden near the Wyoming border.

https://www.inaraft.com/colorado-river-maps/north-platte-river-map/

Jim B lands Master Angler Sunfish

 

Fishing a private pond in Larimer County, Jim Barborak recently hooked and landed a 10-inch green sunfish, a giant of its species and 100 percent of the requirement for a Colorado Parks and Wildlife Master Angler award. It's not a contender for the club's annual Big Fish contest, limited to fish taken from water available to all club members. If you land a big one, tell Bob McHale all about it. 

Here tis:​

Possibly the only lousy advice I've ever gotten from Chad LaChance

 

By Bill Prater

I was headed home from Chicago Friday when I saw that legendary angler's painful video about his cancer diagnosis. The distressing news prompted me into an adventure I’d thought about off and on for the past 10 or 15 years:

In other words, ever since I’d watched Chad's Fishful Thinker program about the legendary I-80 fishing lakes dotting the interstate’s route across Nebraska. I’m pretty sure I recall him saying, “I just picked one at random” before hopping onto that little 12-foot jon boat of his and predictably catching one big bass after another, along with a wad of crappie and bluegill.

Anyway, come Saturday morning I paused on the drive home to try replicating Chad’s long-ago day on I-80 roadside water. I picked a little lake at random – War Axe State Recreation Area, a few miles east of Kearney. It was just as he’d described – a crystal clear lake all to myself,  filled with healthy coontail, cabbage and other fish-attracting weeds. Predictably, I even began the morning with Chad’s most regularly recommended lure - a 2 ½-inch shad color Gulp Minnow on a micro jig. Trouble was, though my float-tubing technique was as flawless as my bait, I then flipped the length of that pond and back and located only one lonely yellow perch.

Even worse, after heading back to the ramp, I paused to study the sign I should have read first: “Lake Renovation. Closed to Fishing until further notice.”

Though I had faithfully followed Chad’s recommendation, I guess I should have been less random in that choice of I-80 lakes. In fairness, if the fellow were dispensing advice now, it would probably be, “Next time, read the sign.”

Also in fairness, an hour or so later I did make an equally random stop about 50 miles down I-80, Birdwood SRA, down a gravel road west of North Platte. And in almost no time, following Fishful Thinker guidance to the letter, I landed and released half a dozen decent bass, a couple fat crappie and a trout. So even though my interpretation of Chad’s advice led to an I-80 fiasco, turns out he was right as always. I have to add, that good man’s flawless teaching and guidance have improved the skills and joy of angling for darned near every fisher man, woman and child in this state. Even the ones who don’t always read signs. ​

June Boat Day is on Boyd, Thursday, June 22, two days after the general meeting

 

Lately even when it's pouring rain with occasional hail, the fishing's around here has reportedly been downright scary good. So if you haven't signed up yet, get going.

This month's Boat Day outing, the first of the season, will be from about 7:30 to noon on Thursday, May 22 at Boyd Lake (two days after the June general meeting, followed by a potluck lunch. If you'd like to participate, contact this month's Boat Day organizer, Tom Miller, 970-669-3585; ranger1936@icloud.com

He'll match up boat captains with anglers needing a ride. 

All club members are welcome, but space is limited based on the number of available boats. The club provides some protein, and everyone is asked to bring a dish to share, and whatever you want to drink. 

Funeral services for Dick Hunsaker will be June 14 at St. John the Evangelist

 

Funeral services for Richard M. "Fish Head" Hunsaker, 89, one of the club's founding members, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 14, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1730 W. 12th St. A reception will follow in St. John's Hall.

Burial for Fish Head, who died last year in Ogden, Utah and was cremated, will be at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver. (Fish Head was known for his love of fishing and infamous hat.)

Dick graduated from South High School in Salt Lake City.  Dick met the love of his life, Claudia, while they were attending the University of Utah, where he received his Bachelor’s degree.  Claudia preceded him in death.  She and Dick were married June 13, 1956 in Salt Lake City, Utah while Dick was serving an active duty tour for the United States Army. Their journeys took them through Utah, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, eventually retiring in Loveland, Colorado.  

During his career he had many varied interests to include Law Enforcement in multiple states, Real Estate, Phillips 66, and retiring from Marion Merrell Dow Company in 1994. 

For Dick's complete obituary, click here.

Here's a link to a photo album for the 2025 Loveland Kids Fishing Derby

 You can view, copy and share photos from this Google Photo Album; we plan to add additional photos over the next few days. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9BxYzf3pB8U63NEG8

Great Day of Fishing at the 2025 Kids Derby

 Great day of Fishing at the 2025 Kids Derby

The first-time anglers ruled the day Saturday at the North Lake Duck Pond, with a 4-year-old and 3-year old capturing prizes for biggest and smallest trout. But everyone seemed to be hauling in fish on a perfect sunny day.

Herons and cormorants gathered on the Duck Pond island and flew overhead as hundreds of youngsters crowded the banks and kept volunteers from Colorado Youth Outdoors and Outdoor Buddies busy cleaning and cooking trout donated to the event by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Loveland Fishing Club kept busy registering anglers, handing out fishing gear and bait and later measuring their catches and presenting fishing gear prizes at the free raffle on the half hour. 

Winner of the fishing pole and tackle box for largest catch of the day was 3-year-old Weston Pharris of Loveland with a whopping 14-inch rainbow. Winner of the prize for smallest trout of the day was 4-year-old Lilah of Loveland.

Weston Pharris, 3

Lilah, 4