More on Norm's ice fishing adventures

December 19, 2021 News Item:  A psychologist testifying for Ghislaine Maxwell at her federal sex trafficking trial has told the jury people can have "false memories.” of … events. Dr Elizabeth Loftus told the court in New York that people "can be subjected to post-event suggestion.” The professor testified that memory “doesn't work like a recording device. We are actually constructing our memories while we retrieve memories."

Admittedly none of this is particularly fishing related. But it does offer strong circumstantial evidence that many Covid Era fishing stories heard at LFC events probably would not hold up in court. We won’t mention names here, other than to say that Norm and Rick are reportedly ice fishing in Wyoming sometime Christmas week. You may be tempted to ask how Norm did. If so, all I can say is, listen to his response with a proper spirit of the holidays. (And then ask Gail.) Meanwhile, don't bother asking Wayne where he caught his bass last week.

Merry Christmas!

What we were doing on December 5, 2019

 My apologies for some of the language in this video, taken in early December at Lake John in 2019, in that giddy time before Covid-19, when high country lakes still had the decency to ice over. Merry Christmas.Video of Norm’s big brown

(RESENDING TO FIX DATE): Mark your calendar! Holiday meeting is the first day of winter, 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21

As tradition dictates, no formal agenda for the December.  We'll run over the possibilities for club officers, head for the cookies and coffee, and  have our annual gift exchange.

No problem if you forget or choose not to participate in the gift exchange; just don't pick up a gift. Remember, if you want to participate, get something (new) for about 10 bucks, and wrap it up but don't put your name on it.  We have a kind of raffle to decide who gets to pick first.

 

The good news: Dowdy should be fishable this winter. West Lake, not so much

 Red Feather Lakes, CO. After the discovery of a nasty parasite infection at Red Feathers’ West Lake last summer, I’d hesitate before drilling a hole this winter in the popular northern Colorado pond. But the situation doesn’t appear nearly as severe at the adjacent, larger, Dowdy Lake. In fact, Dowdy should “still be a solid ice fishing option, according to Kyle Battige, Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologist and anglers’ friend. 

 For those unfamiliar with the situation at these two popular destinations northwest of Fort Collins, anglers in late July first reported sick and dying fish at 38-acre West Lake. Pathologists at CPW’s aquatic health laboratory identified the culprit as anchor worm, a really nasty parasite that causes severe inflammation resulting in open bleeding sores on fish. The females of the damned things permanently attach themselves to fish, leading to stress and cell damage and secondary infections, and mortality. And the immature stages of the anchor worm feed on gill tissue. 

 

It is a problem that reoccurs periodically in some slack waters including the two U.S. Forest Service lakes. CPW also says people can eat infected fish after removing the worms and cooking completely. (Though after seeing some of those poor trout first hand, I for one am not that hungry.)

Battige says anchor worm "can lead to mortality (but) it is not necessarily the ultimate end point for all fish. We have had anchor worm issues in the past and not seen the mortality issues that we did this year at West Lake." He adds, there’s “no good solution to eradicating anchor worm from the system,” but we’ll start with decreased stocking density.” 

 

He says Dowdy didn’t experience the infestations and related issues that popped up at West. In fact, the state was able to stock Dowdy with additional trout at the end of August, rounding out planned stocking for the season, but canceled remaining plants at West.

 

“We need to firm up decisions on management moving forward,” he says, “but there is not a good solution to eradicating anchor worm from the system. So my thoughts right now are to decrease stocking density at both lakes and see if that helps. But again, that isn’t the final decision necessarily.”

 

So, I wouldn’t recommend a West Lake ice fishing trip soon. But Battige says Dowdy “did not see the related die off that West Lake did, and should still be a solid ice fishing option.”

Anchor worms at work 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

Okay, so this photo of a happy Barb Ding, Dennis Kelsey and Norm Englebrecht was taken back at Douglas Reservoir on the second day of the New Year in 2015, when it was clearly a bit cooler than it's been around here lately. Still, if they're out this warm Thanksgiving Day, they'll still be wishing everyone a Happy Holiday. 

Stay warm, friends, and stay safe. 

New Way to contact the club!

 We know. Put your e-mail out in public these days and you'll start hearing about the police wanting to confiscate your Microsoft account, or asking about your social security number. Makes it hard for us to communicate. You should have a copy of the club directory, maintained by Barbara Ding. But you can now send a note to the club using the following new e-mail account: 

fishingclubloveland@gmail.com 

Click on it and try it now, so I can see how it works. And tuck it away in your address book. 

If you're not writing from your Mama's basement, and don't talk about something besides fishing, we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Fish pictures and reasonaby truthful fishing reports encouraged; nothing too dirty and nothing political. 

Just remember we're retired, nap a lot, and may be out fishing. 

Flatiron Fishing Friday! After breakfast

 Bring your poles to breakfast at Perkins, and we’ll head afterward to flatiron reservoir. There’s an entry fee, so if you don’t have an annual pass we can ride over together. Should be there about 9 a.m.

A tolerant curmudgeon recalls Halloween in the '50s

If you insist that a posting like this be somehow related to fishing, maybe I will tell you at breakfast how we caught those carp. I would also like to say that, Halloween excepted, I was a pretty good kid.  Bill 

The "NextDoor" internet groups here in Colorado have been awash with complaints that rotten 21st Century kids took all the Halloween candy left untended in bowls on  porches. This semi-alarming news forces an admission from this 73-year-old retired trick or treater:  a concession that I - and my future minister brother Paulie - were pretty darned rotten during the Halloween seasons of the ‘50s. (I say seasons because the holiday in Granite City, IL back then wasn’t limited to a single night. You hit up neighbors a day or two before Halloween to get a proper sugar high, then returned to ones that gave the best treats.

Anyway, tired of youthful homeowners berating today’s youth (and secure in my knowledge that statutes of limitations have long passed), I cheerfully concede the following:

1. Did you steal some of little Denny Walk’s candy, and pilfer the Halloween bags of the Blanton girls looking for Snickers bars? 

A. Well yeah, but we left them all the Milky Ways.

2. Did you soap the inside of Larry Jackson’s car windows, while the two of you were on your way to apply festive red paint to the porch lights at St. Elizabeth School nunnery? 

A. Well yeah. Never did admit that to Larry, though, until just now.

3. Did you soap windows all up and down Warnock Avenue, then sit on the roof of your own home with a garden hose and spray other kids trying to do the same thing? 

A. Yeah, that was me all right. But I think Paulie and Jim Parker were up there with me.

4. Will you finally 'fess up to helping Jim and the future Rev. Paul hide those freshly dead carp in mail boxes and under porches up and down Warnock?

A. Yeah. Heh Heh. That was a warm autumn, too.

5. And finally, did you guys really set fire to bags of fresh dog poop on neighbors’ porches? 

A. Oh yeah, that was us all right. That Halloween trick just never got old, watching the neighbors cuss the flames.  In fairness, we always made sure to knock on the door or ring the doorbell, and watch from the shadows to make sure someone safely stomped out that stuff.

Point is, sheesh, leave today’s kids alone. As penance for my own youthful tricks, for years as a young adult I left pumpkins unguarded on the front porch. I eventually gave up after they rotted before ever being smashed. And I concede that most kids these days are generally not nearly as rotten as we were in the '50s. I doubt they even know what soaping a windows means.

Time to get out there and fish

 By Bill Prater

Regardless of what warm-natured folks are doing, now is not the time to put away the rod and reel and hope for an early spring. Okay, you may stand a fair chance of getting skunked, I guess. But late fall through winter  is also a great time for some of the year’s most memorable days on the water. Most of those annoying folks who crowded next to you in June and July are now watching football and Netflix horror shows, turning their attention to hunting, or hoping for early ice. So until the lakes and ponds at lower elevations freeze over until spring, they can be all yours and mine.

Fish do generally bunch up this time of year. Unless you scout out great locations in September or October, they can be hard to locate. For me, that means I stand a better chance in smaller lakes and ponds and smaller than the bigger ones.

I moved to Colorado in the early ‘80s after learning to fish the southern fringes of the Midwest. I’m embarrassed to say, it took me years out here to learn a few useful, basic facts about the differences between warm water fish species back there and here in Colorado. And it took me even longer to start to figure out trout.

I did learn early on that the most productive times for early warm water fishing in these parts generally begin later than they do in Southern Illinois and Missouri, and slow down earlier in the fall. What I didn’t realize, for reasons that escape me now, is that meanwhile trout of all sizes start hitting their prime when temperatures drop into the 50s, 40s and 30s. It is a terrific trout trait that extends right through ice-out, and helps explain why so many Coloradoans stand for hours on frozen lakes, hopefully dunking waxies into a hole in the ice.

I do appreciate trout metabolism

You can, of course, catch open water bass, crappie, bluegill and others this time of year; for me, at least, those species can be harder to locate and even slower to bite. Trout metabolisms and appetites, meanwhile, speed up to compensate for the sluggish ways of their warm water cousins.

As for catching any kind of fish, just get out there somewhere, and see what bites. I recommend hauling out your lightest line and gear, moving around a lot, and drastically downsizing baits. Also, some wise anglers will pontificate that you can’t reel a lure in fast enough to outrun a trout. That’s true, I guess, but during icy weather they seem grateful when lunch swims by more slowly. 

In telling you to get out in the cold, I concede I am not recommending common sense. But I will urge you to remember that misery and even hypothermia are possibilities, and you should prepare accordingly. Myself, and the yahoos who join me, try to use our float tubes all 12 months of the year. But we pretty much never go without a buddy and never without reasonable clothing and a reasonable maximum to our time on the water. (The increased urge to pee in cold water usually takes care of that.) 

Sketchy ice that is too thin to be useful is the bane of most winter-time Front Range anglers. While smaller bodies of water usually ice up, Chinook winds usually scour them open for at least brief periods even in January and February. Just be alert for warming trends, wear long johns, and scout for open stretches of water where you can cast your line with confidence.

Charlie Higgs' tale of a whale that didn't get away

 Friday seemed like a good day to be chasing stocker-size trout on Dragonfly Pond. But it proved to be an even better time for Charlie Higgs to be battling a trophy-size, 34-inch channel catfish. 

Who knew that lunker was lurking near the fishing dock, probably gobbling trout? Certainly not Charlie, who would have probably tied his nightcrawler onto something a little stouter than 6-pound line. Nor fishing buddies Christina Weiss and Rick Golz, tasked with trying without much success to capture the bruiser with a  pair of  inadequate trout nets. 

Rick reports Charlie "fought the beast for 20 minutes before he got it up from the bottom and we could see it was a cat. It took another five minutes to get it to the dock, where Christina and I tried to get both ends of the fish into two small trout nets without success before I finally picked it up by the gills and Charlie had the biggest cat he'd ever caught.

"The pinched barb on a tiny hook was barely in its mouth when I took it out." 

Charlie briefly thought about making his catch into a whole lot of sandwiches, but then freed the beast to bite another day.

By the way, the qualifying minimum length for a Colorado Master Angler channel cat is 30 inches.

Photos by Rick Golz

Good start Saturday for new northern Colorado chapter of "Fishing Future"

 An untimely cold front and high winds kinda messed up the fishing for kids at Saturday's "Fishing Future" clinic at River's Edge Natural Area, but a good time was had by all.

About a dozen Loveland Fishing Club members staffed tables introducing youngsters and their families to the sport of fishing, and later helped them in search of fish at Dragonfly and Sandpaper ponds. The event was organized by Fishing Future and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Thanks to all who helped out.

(Interesting sidenote: CPW dropped about 2,000 trout into the two ponds a couple days before the clinic, and most of them are still waiting for someone's bait).

Photos by Rick Golz

Background information for Saturday's Fishing's Future event at River's Edge

 The following is background information about the role of volunteers at Saturday's event. Plan to be there by 9:30 a.m. 

Greetings and thank you SO MUCH for being willing to volunteer with the Loveland Fishing's Future Chapter event on Saturday!  I sincerely appreciate it! 

If you could arrive at 9:30am please on Saturday that would allow enough time to get you situated.  Come in the Main Entrance off of First Street into the paved parking area.  We will be set up near that parking lot. 

 

There will be stations set up.  During the first hour of the event, I would love to have at least one volunteer at each station to give a short 10 minute demonstration/lesson about the topic for that table.  The station topics are listed below.  If you have a preference for which table you are at, we can accommodate!  Just tell me which table you want.  If you don't have a preference, I will put you where we need you.  You don't have to bring anything (except probably a hat, water bottle and wear sunscreen) but if you WANT to bring anything to add to your demonstration table you are more than welcome to!  For example, at the station where you talk about lures and bait, I have a print off of several examples of lures and types of bait, as well as a few examples.  But if you have several of your own examples that you prefer to use, please share your expertise!  

At each station, there will be a set of directions telling you what to talk about.  I originally made these directions for high school students, so they may be a bit obvious.  But again, please share your expertise and don't feel like you have to stick to the script.  For example: if you are at the casting demonstration station and you have a better casting method than what the script says, please demonstrate that instead!  You are experts and the more you feel free to share your expertise the better!  The only parameters are that you need to please cover the topics that are assigned to your station so that we ensure that all topics are covered, and each rotation is only 10 minutes. 

We will be doing the actual fishing in Dragonfly and Sandpiper Ponds during the second hour of the event.  During this time, please help by assisting participants with putting bait on their poles and removing fish.  All catches must be released unless the participant already has their fishing license.  

Station 1: An introduction to Fishing's Future and to Fishing. We ask kids questions about fishing and get them excited. We also explain that fishing is fun even if we don't catch anything. We talk about safety and rules and help the nervous students realize that the outdoors (grass and bugs) aren't scary.

 

Station 2:. Participants learn about different types of bait, how to put a Bobber, weight and hook on a line, and how to tie a knot. We also go over hook safety. 

 

Station 3: participants learn the correct and safe way to carry a fishing pole and cast. They also learn how to properly reel in without damaging the pole. 

 

Station 4: Students learn about different species of fish and what fish they might catch that day. They are told about fishing licenses and that there are different regulations and limits on fish and where to find the rules. Participants have a link to buy a fishing license.

 

Station 5: Students learn how to correctly and ethically hold and handle a fish, remove a hook, and how to gently place the fish back in the water and revive it with "fish CPR" if necessary. Students also learn how to properly measure a fish to abide by regulations. They also learn about the different invasive species and the precautions to take to not transport any to a new body of water

 

Station 6: The last station is where participants are given a fishing pole and bait. Volunteers prepare and bait each pole and then rebait and fix poles that get broken. 

Chris shows how it's done on Delaney

Chris Nelson was peacefully rowing his boat on one of the Delaney Butte lakes last month when this fat rainbow attacked. Chris won the ensuing fight, estimated the beast's size at about 5+ pounds and 22+ inches, and released it to swim another day.

Photo by Dave Johnson

 

Take the winter to practice for the next Loveland Fishing Club Derby

After polling club members with the note below sent Sept. 22, the decision's been made postpone the annual club tournament until 2022. The exact date will be announced later, according to President Doug Money. Things have been pretty goofy as the pandemic lingers; this is one of them. We traditionally have the derby at Flatiron Reservoir, with winners determined by the biggest string of four fish, the legal limit. If you'd like to try something different, let Doug know. 

Your input needed: Should we have a club fishing derby this year?

One lovely Loveland Fishing Club tradition  scrubbed in 2020 because of Covid-19 

was the annual derby at Flatiron Reservoir to determine the club's finest angler: four hours 

of frantic fishing followed by a celebratory picnic.  For more than a dozen years, the winner 

has had their name placed on a traveling trophy that is supposed to remain in the champion's 

home for a year. 

Club historians, admirers and sore losers may recall that your's truly won the most recent 

tournament in 2019, and the trophy has been proudly on display on my desk ever since!

So. Should yours truly, Bill, smugly keep that trophy to himself for an unprecedented third year in a row? 

We could just let this go for another season; perhaps kick off the season with a tournament next spring. 

Or  should we schedule a tournament before the first snowfall? Before the board decides, 

please offer your opinion or suggestion. Reply to this note or drop a line to President Doug Money, douglasmoney@gmail.com

Meanwhile, the trophy sits on my desk, while I smile contentedly to myself, and 

Rick Golz probably mutters to himself about how close he came to winning, way back in 2019.

Bass Nation seeking volunteers at Boyd

 FYI, Dan Swanson has posted the following on his Facebook page. Colorado Bass Nation is seeking volunteers (20 or more) this weekend to install habitat structures at Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland, CO. Volunteers need not be members. I believe your park pass for the day is being comped. We'll meet at 10:00am (location to follow). Please bring a screw gun (if you have one), work gloves, sunscreen and wear work clothes. Questions? Contact George Mauries, 303-819-1171, or Bill Wilson with Centennial Bass. 

Boyd Habitat Project

Saturday Sept 18th

10:00 am - 

Bill Wilson

Centennial Bass Club of Northern Colorado

bassinbill@gmail.com

970-218-2895

 Long stretches of the Yampa and Colorado rivers are among the streams currently closed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as the result of this lingering heat and drought. In its weekly fishing report, the agency noted the CPW director may " authorize emergency closure of fishing waters in the state when it is determined that environmental conditions in these waters are such that fishing could result in unacceptable levels of fish mortality. Additionally, CPW may initiate a voluntary fishing closure where the agency asks anglers to find alternative places to fish until conditions improve. When such determination has been made, public notice will be given, including posting at the relevant water. 

The criteria for any potential action may include: 

• Daily maximum water temperatures > 71°F 
• Stream flows ≤ 50% of the daily average flow 
• Fish condition visibly deteriorating 
• Daily dissolved oxygen < 6 parts per million 
• Natural or man-caused environmental event has occurred

Here's a link to the list of voluntary and mandatory closures, subject to change: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTCyNM4dgkEYGLpKTmcZnKjmveF1uSQeUnH0X6uaykYai3o4Z4dPql5nv4NRhKNIc5HQ7s5HAxr86hI/pub

Dennis has a secret technique for big largemouth

 Darned if we're going to tell you about it here, though; you'll just have to ask Dennis Kelsey how he landed this fat 18-inch largemouth on a Loveland area pond on Aug. 24.

I'll give you a hint:  no, ask him yourself. Or maybe Don Knudsen, who watched the fight and then took this photo.

You can call me “Bluegill Bill”

 Those who know me well know this: For the 17 years or so I’ve been with the Loveland Fishing Club, I have been in dogged, some say mindless, pursuit of a Colorado Master Angler bluegill. They are gorgeous, tough little devils, but don’t grow well here in the land of fluctuating water levels and near-total lack of hard cover. Which perhaps explains why I and a few other lonely missionaries keep chasing a very few big ones, while others mindlessly pursue skinny but tastier walleye.

My version of Don Quixote ended abruptly Wednesday morning on an unnamed, snake- and mosquito-infested pond not too far from Loveland. That’s when I (and my secret Gulp minnow) battled and subdued an obese, 10 ½ inch male that had been naively feasting on a ball of bait fish. That’s a full 5 percent over the minimum to qualify for a Colorado Master Angler patch for the species.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the pond, Wayne B muttered said something about

catching a couple 4- or 5-pound largemouths that had been feasting on another school of minnows.

All I can say about that is, his float tube was pretty far away. All I can say for certain is, there were a couple of greenish looking fish flopping around in his landing net.  I still haven’t seen any photos. But here’s mine:

Anchor worm infestation killing Dowdy, West Lake fish

By COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE | September 1, 2021 at 8:16 a.m.

RED FEATHER LAKES, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials at its aquatic animal health laboratory have identified an anchor worm infestation as the cause of dead and dying fish at West and Dowdy lakes in western Larimer County.

Anchor worm is a parasite that can cause severe inflammation resulting in open bleeding sores on fish. Adult females are permanently fixed to a fish, resulting in the observed sores. It can lead to stress, osmotic imbalance and to secondary infection. The free swimming immature stages of the anchor worm can feed on gill tissue, causing considerable damage that can impact respiration and osmoregulation, in addition to being an irritant.

Anchor worms are not new to both West Lake and neighboring Dowdy Lake. They can become problematic to the fish populations every several years according to CPW Area Wildlife Manager Jason Surface.

“We want anglers to be aware of this situation in these two lakes,” Surface said. “These could be spread around if anglers are not aware of that potential, and they should consider decontaminating waders and other equipment when traveling from these waters to other locations. People can eat the fish after removing the worms and cooking the fish.”

Anglers should look for the parasites green, red or white in color attached to the body or fins of the fish and in the gills. CPW officials noticed them on both trout and suckers.

All remaining stockings at West Lake have been cancelled for the season.

“It is reasonable to conclude such an infestation of anchor worm alone is capable of causing the observed morbidity and mortality,” said John Drennan, State Fish Pathologist for CPW.

CPW is working through its process to determine the best options to halt any spread of the anchor worms and how to best recover the fisheries.

Crowded conditions favor the transmission of the parasite, and those two lakes have high densities of fish. The fishery at West lake consists of brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout and suckers while Dowdy Lake has the same species composition in addition to cutbows.

“Slow-moving water also favors infestations and those places have minimal flow,” Drennan said. “If you get rid of the anchor worm, you don’t have any problem unless it gets introduced again.”

Dowdy and West Lake are stocked annually with both catchable (~10 inches) and sub-catchable (5-7 inch fish). The lakes, sitting above 8,000 feet in Red Feather Lakes, receive high angling pressure year-round.

Dowdy Lake State Wildlife Area has a campground and waterfowl hunting is also permitted in-season. The West Lake State Wildlife Area also has a campground, but recreational activities are limited to angling and camping. Boating is prohibited at West Lake SWA except for float tubes or craft propelled by hand, wind or electric motor.

For Cindy and Walt Graul, a pair of trout fishing grand slams

 Wading way through record high heat and record large crowds of tourists, Cindy and Walt this summer completed one of fishing's coveted awards, Wyoming Game and Fish Department's "Cuttslam," landing the final of four Wyoming species of native cutthroat trout.

Walt can't remember exactly what stream produced his handsome Yellowstone cutthroat. Cindy can, but she's not telling. Judge for yourself, but it sure looks like Cindy's was the bigger of the pair.

Newbies! Don't do this

By Bill Prater

Newbies! Don’t do this. Or if you must do this, wear a life jacket.

Today’s column is less a column and more of an appeal for advice from one of angling’s least trusted sources: the lunatic fringe of the float tube community.

This requires explanation. I am an aging example of a fishing fraternity that looks forward to late, late fall and early early spring - glorious, ice-age like times when the most cautious of trout throw caution to the wind. Even better, the more milquetoast, numerous members of the angling community turn to football and chasing moose and stuff. Trouble is, it’s also when Colorado/Wyoming’s usually balmy winds morph into damned  hurricanes.

Over the years, I have acquired a level of success casting ultralights into the teeth of those gales. Don’t ask me how, exactly. But over years of cursing wind knots, I have stumbled upon combinations of eye and wrist coordination that allow me to fish amid the whitecaps. 

Trouble is, I’m getting old! Wading into ice-cube filled water was questionable behavior even in my ‘60s. Now bones creak whenever autumn winds shove ice water down the front and back of my waders.  Plus, with every passing season I am less steady on my feet and judgment.

So, with fall approaching, I’ve been thinking. One alternative is to simply wade out and cast from an upwind shoreline. Trouble is, that’s for wusses. And I suspect, but can’t verify, that biggest fish are more likely way downwind.

So here’s an alternative: Rather than wading in and hoping for the best, let’s flip, flip, flip, flip our float tubes out to the edge of a downwind honey hole. And then anchor! We can then cast with deadly precision to monsters lurking close to shore. Our lines are straight. We now detect every subtle bite. And  we cast as far as Chad LaChance (who is no doubt hunting deer at this point, or watching TV.)

Trouble is - and here’s where I need your help - out in the whitecaps, how the hell do we safely anchor? I have an adorable, Navy-style miniature anchor that weighs maybe 2 pounds. Under milder conditions, it holds my Fat Cat over a sandy bottom barely long enough to reach for my coffee. Logically, if one were to swap that tiny anchor for a big old potato sack full of rocks, what happens next? Are you snugly anchored? Or was Linda right after all, and the wind is gonna flip myy belly boat over and leave me upside down flailing like an Olympics artistic swim team? 

Let me know whether you’ve tried this, and whether it works better than I fear. The brutal, but tempting conditions of late fall are almost upon us. I can hardly wait.

So let’s argue: When it comes to fishing, does size really matter?

By Bill Prater 

One of the many great things about ultralight fishing gear is, it doesn’t matter whether your intended catch is a whopper or a smaller over-achiever. If you match your gear to the size of your intended target, you’ll get more enjoyment out of most fish encounters, get lots more bites, and won’t have to fall asleep waiting for the bite of an occasional whopper of one specific species. You’ll have a legitimate shot at darned near every type (and size)  of fish that swims in places like water-starved eastern Colorado.

Here in our little part of the fishing world, chain stores tempt us with an enormous selection of heavyweight rods, reels and baits. I contend you needn’t be tempted by a 4/0 hook fixed to giant yellow baby duck, foot-long plastic worm or imitation rat. A 1- to 2-inch soft plastic minnow or bug imitation (aided where legal with a thoughtfully chosen scent), will attract darned near every species that swims in the streams and irrigation ponds and lakes around here. 

Granted, this sage advice won’t hold water if you’re going after a giant lake trout in the high country with legends like Bernie Keefe, or if you’re a member of that secretive society of nighttime cat fishermen that prowl our shores after midnight. And darned if I can say (or really give a darn one way or another) whether it applies to walleye. But for most water and most fish I’m aware of, yes, size matters. Smaller is definitely better.  

If I were to give advice to a next generations of anglers, it would be this: “To succeed in one of the more important things in life, you don’t have to throw a lure the size of a full-grown bluegill or a stocker trout.” (Okay, sometimes that stocker trout thingie does make sense) 

Truth to tell, the older I get, the smaller the line, hook and bait I use. Granted, folks like tournament anglers who stick to the bigger stuff eventually catch big specimens of their species of choice. But crafty ultralight fishermen catch some too - while we’re also catching additional species, large and small. I’ve long been told - and once believed - that ultralight gear meant an eighth ounce or so of lead attached to a tiny hook, size 1 or size 2. Now I typically use an ultralight or medium light weight spinning rod to throw soft plastic, mostly on a 1/16th ounce jig, and much smaller if I can get away with it in this damned Colorado wind. Trout Magnet, for example, sells a terrific 1/64 oz jighead, on a size 8 hook, that works well with a 1-inch Gulp Minnow or a tiny grub sold almost exclusively as bait for crappie. 

None of this probably makes sense on the enormous fishing holes in places like Florida or Texas. Fish grow bigger and faster there, in a different climate where fish don’t have to compete for water rights with irrigation companies. Truth to tell, warm water species and trout swimming around places like eastern Colorado don’t often grow as fast or as large as we’d like. That simply means we should match our gear to our fish. And give more consideration to catch and release and selective harvest, though that’s a subject for a different day. 

Want to argue? In the words of Charles Barkley in his book about basketball and life, “I may be wrong, but I doubt it.”

Memorial services planned August 26 for the late Richard Radies

 

Richard's son Jason is passing along word that a memorial for our long-time friend and fishing companion will be held at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church Memorial Garden, 2000 Stover Street in Fort Collins.

Jason says they'll be having refreshments and "my Mom (Sheilah) was wanting those who knew my father to come by and celebrate his life." 

Picnic/August meeting starts at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16

The fully catered annual picnic begins at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday with the meal being served at 4 p.m.

The meal will be followed by a raffle, and traditionally the picnic offers the best prizes of the year!

People will likely begin showing up at the Railroad Park pavilion around 3 p.m., and we'll wind up around 5 p.m. 

Long-time club member Warren Wolf has passed away

Warren W. Wolf, 82, of Fort Collins died Thursday, Aug. 12. Memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at http://allnuttftcollins.com

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.allnuttftcollins.com

Dan Chrouser caught these fish with his hand made spinners!

 Dan's been fishing up on the Blue around Breckenridge for a few days. Take a look at what he caught using spinners that he makes for himself. Some good meals here.

Thursday

Thursday, Aug 5th

A good day with the Girl Scouts at Lon Hagler

 Thanks to all who helped Monday at the Loveland Girl Scouts outing at Lon Hagler. Several scouts caught fish, but President Doug Money says the "big attention getter though was a nearly 3" crawfish one girl caught." It's great to be back on the water with little friends.

Back to familiar surroundings! LFC's July 20 general meeting will be at Chilson Senior Center

Fairgrounds Park is great, but hey, Chilson has air conditioning.

After more than a year's closing due to you know what, the center has reopened for business.

So dust off your fishing cap and badge, and meet us at Chilson at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 20.

And bring some cash. John Gwinnup's been squirreling away great stuff for the raffle. 

More Girl Scouts to take fishing! July 12 at Lon Hagler

 Once again the Loveland Girl Scouts will be holding a day camp at Lon Hagler reservoir, and once again they're asking the club to help them with a day of fishing.

Save this date: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, July 12.

There will be a signup sheet at Friday breakfast.

Barb Ding stepping aside as club treasurer. New treasurer needed!

 

Barb Ding, who's guarded the club's treasures for the past eight years, will be passing on those duties on Jan. 1. That leaves plenty of time for a new volunteer to step up and learn from the best.

Interested? See Barb or President Doug Money at breakfast or the next club meeting.  

In the meantime, let Barb know how much you appreciated her work on our behalf.

Girl Scout fishing

 T’was a record hot at Boyd Lake state park Tuesday, but that didn’t keep Loveland Fishing Club volunteers help our Girl Scout buddies with a morning of fishing. Here are a few photos of the event.

When (and if ) you should lie about fishing

 By Bill Prater

(The following treatise on fishing etiquette appears on the http://fishexplorer.com website)

The trouble with writing an occasional fish story is, most readers won’t even agree on what kind of fish to catch, much less what to do with it afterward. (Eat that carp? or Let It Live to Bite Another Day?) Dig further into the nuances of our sport - for example whether or not to tell the unembellished truth - and you can shatter more friendships than a show of hands at a political rally.

I’m not absolutely sure what I think about folks who choose to share intimate details about exactly where and how a fish was caught, especially when another person may be naively expect “the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth.” Seems like a religious question to me, best left to my minister brother. I do, however, feel compelled to share the limits of my own candor in a public forum. To me, the crucial question is, Just how frank and open should one be in a crowded room, social media, print media, or a popular website like this one? 

 

The founding father of this nifty website of ours, Fish Explorer Executive Editor Matt Snider, says he came up with the basic premise “when I got my first boat and couldn't find a list of lakes showing where I could launch it. I wanted to fly fish for wipers and hunt tiger muskie, but couldn't find a map showing which lakes had them. And if I was going to travel hours to get to a lake, I had very few options if any to determine whether the lake was full enough to launch, or warm enough to find active fish.”

 

The end result of all that heavy thinking was the 2006 launch of Fish Explorer, and its core concept of mapping lakes, cross-referencing fish species and updating other anglers about current lake and stream conditions. Things like water level, water temperature and general conditions like visibility. It is an absolute jewel of a resource, at its best when advising you, before you waste time and gas, on time-sensitive conditions like fluctuating water levels or the approaching end of the ice fishing season on a given body of water. 

 

Fair enough. In fact, thanks again, Matt!

 

Ask even me for water temperature, or current bait of choice, or how deep I caught fish, and you can pretty much count on a pretty honest answer. The trickier bit - and you see it on just about every social media group about fishing - comes when someone asks:  “Where’s a good spot on West Murray Pond where I can catch a big crappie this time of year?” This is the angling equivalent of asking a homely guy exactly how they landed a first date with the prettiest girl in school, or what they accomplished on that date.

 

This subject would never come up in water-wealthy places like Florida or Minnesota, “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.” But I would argue that the public waters we share in Colorado are too tiny for that kind of candor with anyone but a spouse or maybe a favorite sister. I am annoyed by overly chatty apps like Fishbrain, for example, that seem to expect everyone to share GPS coordinates for a favorite bluegill spawning bed. 

 

Here’s a better alternative: When asking for advice about a body of water, limit yourself to questions you might be willing to answer in front of an unseen, larger audience. Aim for the level of detail other Fish Explorer contributors share in a well-crafted Lake or Stream Update. Or ones like these:  “Are there crappie in this lake?” “How deep were you fishing?” “Can you get in there with a belly boat?” If a new friend really wants to help, they might respond, ““Hey, drop me an e-mail.” Or, “I’m free Wednesday. Let’s go fishing.”

You can be circumspect and still be a good contributing citizen of the angling community. Matt Snider floods us with reliable information, in a reasonable, common sense fashion. And other Western angling legends like Norm Engelbrecht and John Gwinnup may not divulge their favorite fishing holes, but won’t hesitate to share information that can be applied with confidence to fishing trips anywhere. While I and other Loveland Fishing Club companions are not fishing saints like them, even we are living proof that not all fishermen are liars, all the time.