Loveland Fishing Club Blog

 For years now the Loveland Fishing Club and CYO have worked together to support youngsters, and CYO's Maverick Shoot, its biggest fundraiser of the year, will be Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2.  Volunteers from our club annually help make the trap shoot at Sylvan Dale Ranch it a big success.  Club member Bob McHale, who does a lot of volunteering at Colorado Youth Outdoors says this is "a big Big event that brings shooters from around the nation. As a volunteer, your duties are to help with the Shooting stations. We have six opportunities for individuals to volunteer on Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 8:00-5:00 and 20 on Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. To volunteer, contact Courtney Strouse at cstrouse@coloradoyo.org  You can also contact Clinton Parker at 1-805-705-8225. It's a fun day at a beautiful facility just west of Loveland off U.S. 34. And lunch is provided.      

This month's general meeting will be at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20. This month's social fishing day will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 22. Location to be announced on Tuesday. We're all invited to Don Knudsen's 90th birthday party! The old boy will be celebrating the milestone between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. at Mahaffey Park on May 2.

On the left, Dragonfly and Sandpiper Ponds downloaded from Google Earth. On the right, same download, Bass Pond, enhanced using Gemini Nano Banana.    By Bill Prater  You’re likely right to be concerned about where technology is taking this world, anglers and hunters along with everyone else. But meanwhile, there’s a new software tool called “Gemini Nano Banana” that can wring the last useful details out of your Google Earth satellite images. I tried it out while using Gemini to restore old family photos, and found it also works magic on images taken from space.  Trust me on this. And just forget about some other futuristic electronics like “forward facing sonar,” which lets you spy on fish through a high definition camera, like a pervert in a public restroom. Not that those things don’t work – we all know artificial intelligence is changing the nature of tournament fishing, and helping even novices empty some lakes and ponds of their biggest fish. Too much...

First, a short history lesson.    The informal title of Loveland's Toughest Angler has been conferred intermittently for two decades now, with no particular rules or a democratic vote, just the whim of the club's editor: Me. To qualify, you just have to impress the editor by unexpectedly tossing aside common sense or, over time, consistently perform memorable fishing feats of skill or guts. For no particular reason beyond showing yourself and your buddies that you still can. And will. Before we get to this year's winner, let's do a quick review of the club's history of questionable behavior. I recall that the title was initially bestowed on former member Frank Zupanc, known for solitary, crazy angling adventures in a notoriously leaky belly boat. Those feats were made even more adventurous and memorable by that broken neck of his. And don't forget Jim Clune, whose reputation for questionable good sense was cemented by his 2013 risky black powder moose hunt with ...

So it's early in the season, and so maybe this 17 1/2-inch largemouth isn't the biggest fish you'll see this year. But it's bigger than anything else turned in to Bob McHale so far in 2026. So the only way to tone down my rhetoric is to get your butts on the water and fish. The contest runs from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, with the winner being the largest fish of any species recognized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, based on percent of Master Angler criteria. At  17.5 inches , this fat mama was approximately 97.22% of the way to the minimum requirement. (A less truthful angler might have rounded it off to 100 percent) To move ahead of me in the Angler of the Year contest, you just have the come up with a carp that is at least 97 and a quarter! Remember, to be eligible, your fish must be taken from Colorado waters where all club members could potentially fish. So Jim Barbarok can pound sand when he shows off that giant catfish from his China trip. Get a photograph of your ent...

Baffling Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists and fellow Loveland Fishing Club members, John Gwinnup boated an invasive Northern Snakehead fish Monday from Horsetooth Reservoir. It was the first known sighting of the slimy predator west of the Missisippi River. The ravenous fish's range has expanded alarmingly since being discovered in the Florida Everglades in the 1990s, devastating native species and startling unprepared paddleboarders. Gwinnup, a founding member of the club and our Member at Large, injured his shoulder while landing the beast in the upper reaches of Satanka Cover using a 3-inch Berkley Gulp! Emerald Shiner minnow. He also incurred cuts to his right arm and thumb (see below). Aided by fishing buddy Pat Mikulak, John had the nearly severed digit sewn back in place at a Fort Collins Urgent Care clinic. Surgery on his shoulder is set for April 16. The two anglers were able to rejoin other club float tube members later in the afternoon; however high winds forced an...