Hold this date: Kids Fishing Derby is Saturday, June 3

The Loveland Police Fishing Derby is set for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 3 at the North Lake Park Duck Pond, and we'll need every available club member to volunteer.  The club handles registration, fish measuring, tackle as needed, and hourly raffles for the kids, along with prizes for biggest and smallest trout.

Little Dan and the Big Boyd Bass

Okay, while the rest of us stayed home Wednesday watching "Dancing with the Stars" reruns, Dan Barker was at Boyd Lake, subduing in this 20.5 inch, 5.4 pound largemouth.  That's well above the minimum  18 inches for a Colorado Master Angler award, and I'm assuming puts him in a solid early lead for Loveland Fishing Club Angler of the Year!  Not a bad day's work.

Photo by Kathleen Barker

Here's the latest on possible loss of Lonetree fishing

Reporter Pamela Johnson of the Loveland Reporter Herald says the lease agreement on recreational water rights is in limbo, but there may be a one-year extension to allow for further talks.

Here's a link to her article in today's Reporter Herald:

Boat Day Thursday cancelled

The forecast for Thursday is lousy, so we're reluctantly scrubbing the planned Boyd Lake Boat Day.  Dave Boyle will reschedule as weather permits.

Expanded boating hours start May 1 at Horsetooth, Carter

Horsetooth 
South Bay: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., 7 days a week
Inlet Bay: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., 7 days a week
Satanka: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., 7 days a week

Carter
North Ramp: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., 7 days a week
South Shore: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., 7 days a week
North Pines: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday

For information about annual and daily entrance permits, boat inspections and reservoir conditions for fishing, visit www.larimer.org/naturalresources.

Boat Day is 8 a.m. Thursday, Boyd Lake

Meet near the boat launch.  

Here's the pairing for the day.  Organizer Dave Boyle says if you're not on the list but would like to join in, we should be able to work something out.  

        Boat                                            Passengers

Tom Miller                              Charlie Higgs, John Lewis
Dan Barker                              Kathleen Barker, Jim Roode
John Gwinnup                    Jim Visger, Leland Carpenter
Pat Mikolak                             John Grady
Fred Riehm                              Ray Petersberg
Norm Englebrech                 Jim Clune
Merl Boden                              Jim Anderson
George Mayes                    Richard Radies

More on aquatic nuisance inspections and lake closings

Copied this from our friends at FishExplorer.com, an e-mail from the state park ranger at Chatfield State Park.  This is all tied in somehow with the license increase legislation; still looks to be in limbo on exactly what lakes may be closed and when.  bill

I know this thread is a powder keg but I'm hoping to I can be of some help...

First off I want to clarify that I am a Parks Officer at Chatfield State Park and I am the one who oversees the ANS (aquatic nuisance species) program here at the park. I work with the people who head up the program statewide. 

Secondly yes there are some waters that are going to be closed to boating other than exempt (handlaunched/kayaks/etc.). Thankfully this number is as low as it is because back in January during our supervisors meeting there was only funding for 1) the Denver office with a near 70% budget cut meaning only enough to fund the lab and the program coordinators and a few seasonal employees. 2) Lake Pueblo State Park 3) Chatfield State Park 4) Cherry Creek State Park and 5) Boyd Lake State Park with significant budget cuts... (some county managed lakes were still funded by those counties aka horsetooth and carter).

There was an outcry from everyone there because we knew this would greatly limit the resources for our user base (including us because we still like to recreate too.) Thankfully our program coordinators are very passionate about what they do and have been able to secure funding for THIS season for all the great lakes and reservoirs that we enjoy. 

It's not a perfect system I'm aware and we are always attempting to improve our customer service while maintaining the remarkable negative for Quagga/Zebra mussel status we have. 

I understand there are people that think this is a broken system and I can see why they think that, but at the end of the day the people that own the water bodies (rarely CPW) have final say on what goes on there. Sadly this means if there was no inspection station at the water body than it would be closed to boating regardless due to the substantial financial risk that they would be undertaking.

Hopefully I was able to extend an olive branch and not throw dynamite to the fire, but if you feel the need to contact someone about this contact me and I will be able to forward you up the chain with some extra oompf. I promise to never ignore your emails, I may not get to them right away but I will eventually.

Ranger Green 
jesse.green@state.co.us

Another great trip

There we stood, six of the Loveland Fishing Club’s finest, angling for big trout in a legendary North Park lake under superb late March conditions:  a brutally cold 25 mph wind from the west, half the lake still capped by rotten ice, and giant snowbanks blocking 90 percent of the shoreline.  The fishing would pick up dramatically on day two, but by late Thursday I hadn’t landed a single fish.  Desperate measures seemed reasonable.

So when I climbed to the top of a steep, 35’ bluff and cast out beyond an inaccessible, snow-packed shoreline far below, I hadn’t really considered what would happen if something actually bit.  I quickly found that out when two seriously obese cutthroats headed straight for my little Gulp minnow, and the closest one took a bite!  In the clear, icy water we watched that fat fish fight for its freedom, going aerial, darting east and then west – the one direction that would eventually take her safely past the bluffs into muddy but fishable shallows where Jim Clune during all this had been minding his own business.

Eventually the cutthroat made its way all the way to shore, and to Jim, who'd gamely waded into the frigid water with a landing net and short leather boots. She made a last-second break for freedom as Jim lunged -- while I kept thinking about that scary heart attack of his a few years ago, not to mention that hip replacement surgery.  But it all ended well, in a kind of great muddy blur, with both the trout and Jim covered with ice and muck, followed by a quick Walt Graul photo and then release of an indignant but unharmed lunker (a chunky 18 1/2 inches if you cared to measure.)  

From left, a mud-covered Jim and the trout, held by a dry, clean Bill.  Photo by Walt Graul

 

This was just the kind of unforgettable, icy, “what are we doing here?” drama you hope for on outings with the Loveland Fishing Club.  It reminds me of a long-ago January ice fishing outing to Lake Grandby, where I grimly sat on a bucket next to the late Dave Harem, who pondered the 23-below zero temperatures and gale-force winds before telling me:  “Bill, I think the reason we do things like this is to show ourselves we still can.”

So, here's to another great fishing trip, with the kind of terrific companions who seem to improve with age.  Jim, thanks again for wrestling that fish.  And Jean, I hope he didn’t wear those boots into the house when he got back to Loveland.