April newsletter:  In the news

By Bill Prater

• Fishing Calendar updated for April (click here)
• Carter, Horsetooth open for boating April 1 (no fooling)
• City technology park appears to include new fishing access near Jayhawk Ponds 
• Patience, Spring is Coming  

Those of you who know fishing probably know a fair number of club members who are arguably better than me at actually catching anything. 

Milt teaching introductory fly flying April 16

Learn fishing safety, ethics, techniques, where to fish and more from Club Member Milt Mays, in a one-day course at Chilson Center.  Bring your own pole, as he'll lead the class in actual casting during the class, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 16.  The fee is $15, and enrollment is limited.  Sign up at Chilson's.

The dock's back in at Lonetree - and Boyd's open to boating too

The Lonetree Reservoir dock partly financed by Loveland Fishing Club donations is ready for boat traffic, thanks to some helping hands from club volunteers and Division of Wildlife District Manager Aimee Ryel.

Where'd Bob Scott learn to drive a tractor?  Well, we have to admit, he's pretty good with the darned thing, after watching him haul to ramp down to the boat dock for seasonal installation.

Meanwhile, Boyd Lake's ice free and zebra mussel inspectors are on duty during daylight hours.  No word yet on Carter or Horsetooth, which are controlled by Larimer County.

Bob Scott with DOW tractor and boat ramp

March Newsletter: Who's Loveland's Toughest Angler? And more

Bill Prater

The legendary Loveland Fishing Club is comprised of fisher men and women with a median age well into the '70s, maxing out at just over 90, with a tendency to test ourselves against the elements. With March winds howling, it's time once again to ponder, "Who's Loveland's toughest angler?"

My own claim to the title of toughest came during a February journey to the Sandhills of northwest Nebraska, where I'd forgotten my heaviest coat but bravely kept whimpering to a minimum on a day where the temperature never rose above zero.
Others arguably have a more legitimate claim. 

There's Shirley Smillie, for example, who just celebrated 80, who kind of stunned everyone a few seasons ago when she turned out for a legendary minus-23 degree ice fishing trip to Lake Grandby, followed by an equally memorable midsummer catfishing trip to Kansas a few weeks after a lengthy hospital stay for heart problems.  Followed in turn by her hauling in a 45- or so pound spoonbill catfish on an early spring outing to eastern Oklahoma.