The forecast for spring fishing: Just get ready

 

By Bill Prater

This is the time of year when youngsters' thoughts turn to other youngsters, and old timers sit around and fret over when and where to go fishing when it’s just a tad bit warmer.

Soon enough the ice will disappear from our northern Colorado ponds, creating decent, if sporadic, open water opportunities. Here are the situations I’m thinking about as early season opportunities:  try for trout first, then prespawn bass, then crappie and bluegill. Walleye? ask Norm or Dan; I limit myself to the walleye special on Sunday afternoons at Henry’s in downtown Loveland.

As an old boy from the Midwest, I admit I overlooked trout for the longest time, for which I apologize to the Gods of Fishing. It took me a while, but eventually I came to realize the slimy devils really help extend the season - by keeping it strong right up until freeze up in the fall, and by always being first to stir in early, early spring. When, exactly, they move back into shallower water in lakes and ponds varies from year to year. But our friends with Colorado Parks and Wildlife help the early season along with stockings that should begin soon in lakes and ponds along the Front Range. (The first stocking of spring 2021 took place at Boyd on March 12, and as early as March 6 in 2020 at Flatiron and Pinewood.) 

Meanwhile, Matt Snider, Fish Explorer.com executive editor, just posted this informative write up that includes early season prospects for stream fishing. As he notes:  “While ice fishing may be on the minds of many, fly fishers please dust off your gear.  Some of the best fishing of the year is coming quickly on freestones. Early spring pre-runoff river fishing is right around the corner.  In a few weeks we'll be in mid-to-late March, prime time!” 

One intriguing, unexpected slack water place to go for trout this spring may be Horsetooth Reservoir. After a lengthy absence, the state resumed stocking the big reservoir with trout last spring and summer, which could produce nice catches in 2022.

Ponds, particularly shallow ones, are the earliest bodies of water to warm in spring. So think first of places like St. Vrain State Park and the Rivers Edge ponds. And the Berthoud Reservoir that opened to public fishing in 2021 has a dock that extends from shore into reasonably deep water; that may be worth a try for early largemouth. Meanwhile, Dixon is also an especially good place to try early in the year, as its notorious weed growth comes fast and heavy as spring proceeds toward summer.

Among the larger bodies of water, a lot of early season success or failure depends on spring runoff. Watch for when the taps turn on above reservoirs like Flatiron, Pinewood, Lon Hagler and Boedecker, spots closest to the Big Thompson and Cache Le Poudre. They fill first before the water finally begins to flow east to places like Loveland, Union and Boyd. 

Spring fishing in the high country can be terrific at ice-off, but the weather can be miserable. Ice out at higher elevations usually comes from late April to as late as June. Best to check with a ranger or the lake updates from other anglers in http://fishexplorer.com Listen for the nuttier members of the club beginning to speculate on when the ice cap will break in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, and make the decision to join us.

Good luck, and good fishing.

An angler identified by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as Terry Owens
 landed this 25-inch, 8-pound cutbow at Carter Lake recently. 

A note for Newbies (and forgetful veterans): how to get involved with other anglers

By Bill Prater

The Loveland Fishing Club has suffered alongside everyone else during the pandemic, and neglected some things members routinely did together. With Spring at our doorstep, it is now time to refocus on what retired, like-minded anglers do best: help one another fish.

Below you’ll find a link to a history of the club I put together back in April 2021. You'll see that some of us have been amicably fishing together since 2003, (and when we argue, it’s usually over something like, where to have breakfast) With the social distance brought on by pandemic, though, some newer members are having difficulty finding their place in the club. Let’s talk about that. 

We'd sure like to hear from you - and don't wait for the next monthly meeting. We are cautious about sharing members’ phone numbers and e-mails. If you’d like help locating kindred spirits, or want to voice an opinion, drop a note to fishingclubloveland@gmail.com 

It is probably a fair criticism of the club to say we’re “cliquish” - we do tend to hang together with buddies at club breakfasts, Chilson meetings and the like. Hey, we all joined looking for companions, and we'd all benefit from more members getting actively involved in the club.

If you really want to get acquainted, consider volunteering. These days most of us have been reluctant to be involved in much of anything - but this club could sure use a new secretary and a new vice president. And while Barb Ding’s been a dynamite treasurer, she would welcome a successor. And if you’re tired of hearing about Bill’s incredible skill as an angler, it may just be because he's been your editor and webmaster since 2004. 

• The important thing is, don't wait for someone else to start a get-acquainted conversation. Others in the club can be astonishingly candid - some would say outright naive - in sharing their fishing knowledge (Norm Englebrecht springs to mind.) But with few exceptions, most of us are unlikely to offer advice unless asked. No one likes to be known as the know-it-all.
• Are you really good at fly fishing, or trolling for walleye, or chasing bass, and just want to compare the size of your fish? This club has more than one of you.
• Did you fish hard as a kid - but hardly fished at all for the past half century? Want advice on how to get back in the sport? Plenty in the club feel the same way. 
• Are you not as enthused about fishing per se as your spouse - but want to work with kids or senior citizens? Two of our biggest volunteer projects each year don’t even require you to bait a hook: 
• The Loveland Kids Fishing Derby, which the club rescued from near-extinction more than a decade ago 
• The club’s Senior Derby - which we’re pretty sure is the only event anywhere focused on providing a day of fishing and the outdoors for an entire community’s assisted living center residents.

Here’s that promised history of the club: https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6742163305098207298/2706552742336496638

Folks, it is time we band together more often, and create new memories. Again, send a note of any length to fishingclubloveland@gmail.com on any topic remotely related to the club (But remember, the only naked pictures we welcome involve fish)

Wasn't sure Boyd still had rainbows like this

Jim and Damaris Barborak report they have been "hitting the ice at Boyd and St. Vrain State Park regularly the past two weeks" and so far Damaris is leading in the couple's big fish contest with this 17-inch rainbow. Jim also says "unlike most folks I am glad that we are going to get another dose of really cold weather after this balmy weekend, to extend the ice fishing season in the Front Range.

I'm ready for an early thaw, myself, but we really do need to pound the ice. Jim and others are looking for fishing companions; if you're interested drop a note to fishingclubloveland@gmail.com

 

I

Customer appreciation sale at Elkhorn Saturday

 We don't typically talk about sales and such on the blog, but Elkhorn Fly Shop is a great friend of the Loveland Fishing Club, and having a 40 percent off sale on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here's the link.

Some of us going to IHOP Friday for breakfast

 There’s been discussion of whether to continue the club’s weekly breakfast at Perkins.

So at Tuesday’s general meeting it was decided, rather than put the question to an immediate vote, some members of the club will sample the fare at the International House of Pancakes in Centerra, at or about the usual 7 a.m. starting time. If you want to participate, just show up, look for familiar faces, and eat. Then let the rest of us know what you think.

Masks optional at Tuesday’s meeting

 FYI, with the lifting of mask requirements by Larimer County, masks are recommended at Chilson Senior Center but not required. 

Club member Dan Chrouser will be speaking to the club about building his own spinning gear. The meeting begins at 2 p.m.

Updated satellite photos available on Google Earth

 

FYI, it appears the folks at Google Earth recently updated its satellite photos of northern Colorado; looks like most of the composite photos were taken in late June 20021. 

If you're not using Google Earth to gain a new perspective on the fishing waters around here, well, that's on you. For the rest of us, it's a chance to scope out best likely spots to wet a line on unfamiliar lakes, ponds and streams. 

I wrote about Google Earth in more detail a couple years ago, just as the Pandemic was starting to keep us homebound, https://www.fishexplorer.com/co/blog.asp?action=det&bid=3699

You can download a free copy of Google Earth Pro to your desktop computer. Versions with less functionality are available for laptops and cell phones. (Once you're familiar with the application, you can do other neat things like go back in time to earlier photos, that may have been taken when water levels were lower. 

Here's the link: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/ To enlarge the image, try clicking on it a few times.

Click on this link for an example, the latest composite photo of Lon Hagler, west of Loveland. If you look closely you can spot things like weed beds, shoreline breaks, the inlet channel carrying water from the Big Thompson.

Waiting for spring, hoping for North Michigan Reservoir to rebound

Sitting at home waiting for the temperatures around here to get a bit warmer than 10 degrees, I found myself wondering when the construction work on the North Michigan dam would be complete and the lake restocked. Between drought, fire and crowds of Pandemic-driven anglers everywhere, we sorely need access to every available body of water. Anyway, the lake west of Fort Collins has been drained for quite a while now for dam repairs. Found the following on the Colorado State Park website: 

North Michigan Reservoir Dam construction update.

• Our construction is complete on the dam and the Reservoir is slowly filling. The construction crew will be doing some clean-up in spring 2022, but should not impact camping. 
• We hope to have enough water from snow runoff at some point to have the Reservoir restocked this summer, however, there are very low water levels on the reservoir at this time.
• Call us in May about water levels and acceptable water activities. 970-723-8366