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.