Girl Scouts at Swift Ponds

This year's annual Girl Scout fishing days at Swift Ponds are off to a great start.  About 120 young anglers enjoyed a great day of fishing Tuesday, with plenty of volunteers and plenty of fish to hold their attention.  A second day is set for Tuesday, June 20, beginning at 9 a.m.  Please join us.

This kid ought to be in our club. Most of the girls had good luck; this one had good skills.  With Tom Miller and a Girl Scout leader, showing off the three nice-sized largemouths she landed at Swift Ponds.  

Horsetooth smallmouth

Okay, so 15 seconds after Walt release this big girl I remembered to ask, "So, you want to measure her?"  Great day on the lake anyway.  Forget your darned walleyes.  Smallmouth fishing is hot.  

Photo by Bill Prater

FishFest set for 8 a.m. to noon June 25 at Horsetooth

This from Chad LaChance, Fishful Thinker:

Hi Bill...thanks for reaching out! Please do let the Loveland Fishing Club know of FishFest and we hope a bunch of you show up! It is a charity event so we're hoping to sell all 200 lunches and a bunch of raffle tix with all proceeds going to Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County. There will be angler education in sonar/gps, knot tying, casting (fly and conv), and more. We ask folks to preregister if possible so we can keep a head count for event sponsors. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fishful-thinkers-fishfest-2017-registration-34986001071?aff=eac2Thanks again! CL

FishFest 17 planned June 25 at Horsetooth

This sounds like fun.  Anyone interested?  Chad LaChance and the rest of the Fishful Thinker crew are planning a "FishFest '17" on Sunday, June 25 from 8 a.m. to noon at the South Bay Pavilion at Horsetooth.  It's planned as a good event for kids, so bring along your grandkids if you've got them (or great-grandkids for you really old coots).  You need to register, and there's a maximum of 200 attendees.  More information can be found here. 

Planning session on Senior Derby set for Sept. 13

From Ray Park:  The time is upon us to discuss the upcoming Senior Fishing Derby. Because we have had to change our location this year to River's Edge Natural Area, we have made many changes in our program. These changes need to be discussed as to how they might affect your group. By now you most likely have known the Derby will be September 13, starting at 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM .

We will have a meeting at the Chilson Center on June 27, starting at 1:30 in the Party Room which is by the pool. We will have time to discuss all questions that might be out there concerning these changes. This will be open to all members that might wish to voice ideas 

Memorial open house Saturday for club member Ron Halverson

A memorial open house in Ron's honor will be held at the Berthoud Community Center at 248 Welch Ave in Berthoud, CO on Saturday, June 10, 2017 from 11:00am-4:00pm. Please go to www.viegutfuneralhome.com for on-line condolences. 

Memorial contributions may be made to the Colorado Sheet Metal Worker's Family Assistance Fund at P.O. Box 27910 Denver, CO 80227, Fisher House at 111 Rockville Pike #420 Rockville, MD 20850 or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105

Club leading family fishing clinic at Boyd

The following news release was published Sunday in the Loveland Reporter Herald.  Tom Miller, Dennis Kelsey and Bill Prater will again be leading the clinic.  If you'd like to help, just be at the Heinricy outlet parking lot area about 8:30 a.m.

Join a park naturalist and the Loveland Fishing Club for a Family Fishing Clinic at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 10 at Boyd Lake State Park, in the south Heinricy parking lot.

Learn about Colorado fish and how to make a catch.  Loaner poles and gear will be available with reservation.  Live bait, hoos and bobbers will be provided.

Ages 16-plus are required to have a fishing license.  Register early as the free clinic is limited to 20 people.
For details, call 669-1739

Another Great Kids Fishing Derby

More than 400 young anglers and their families lined the banks of the North Lake Duck Pond Saturday, and put a pretty heavy dent in the trout population.

Prizes of fishing tackle boxes and spin cast rod and reels were awarded throughout the day for raffle winners, made possible through donations from Cabelas, Jax and Sportsmen's Warehouse.

The big winners for the day included the largest trout, a 14-inch rainbow caught by Keira Byl; the smallest was an 8 1/2 rainbow hauled in by Nika Green.  About 900 trout were stocked in the pond on Friday by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the unlucky trout who fell to kids' fishing were cleaned and cooked for those kids by volunteers from Colorado Youth Outdoors.

The Loveland Fishing Club continued its heavy support of the annual event, managing the prize program, loaning poles and providing the anglers with bait.

To view and choose from photos taken during the event, click here.  To download, right click on a photo.

LFC Derby organizer Keith Gentry,
with big fish winner Keira Byle.

Nika Green shows of the smallest catch of the day...