The truth about lying about fishing

By Bill Prater

In the spirit of the holidays, humor me as I reminisce about taking my nephew fishing at a pond near his home. We talked about many manly subjects. Like, “the plural of fish is fish. So if you caught just one, and someone asks how you did, you say, “Wow, did we catch fish!” When we got back home, an auntie asked Sam what his uncle had taught him. The lad – now an attorney , I should add – answered, “He told me how to lie about fishing.”

  Truth is, I am the envy of wives and fishing friends for my truthfulness about the size and quantity of fish caught. They do point out that they can’t disprove anything, because I release everything I catch. But I am also known to tolerate Loveland Fishing Club buddies who cheerfully lie about any damned thing, every Friday morning breakfast. So, am I culpable here? Does tolerance for the truthiness of others mean anything anyway, in an era when lighthearted lying has been transformed into professional career paths?

  Aw, I don’t know. Some people talk about disgraced ex-congressman George Santos like he was a horrible person. But the truth is, others keep insisting he was just a little stinker who told colorful white lies. You do have to wonder, though, if you’d fib about your mom dying in a collapsing building on 9/11 what would you do in a fishing tournament? 

Speaking of tournaments, it sounds like those two disgraced Lake Erie walleye fishermen paid a higher penalty than old George. Both lost their fishing licenses for three years, and one even forfeited his boat. I must admit, I’d prefer watching those walleye fishermen on the news, to see how they got away for so long with stuffing fish with lead weights.   

Truth is, changing morals and technologies have helped transform just about everything lately, including the sport of fishing. These days, for a few hundred – okay, a few thousand – okay, several thousand dollars -- you can buy a remarkable high-definition fishing television – one that scans water in all directions and then screams out the number and size of every member of every species trying to hide down there. Remember when Fezzik the giant in the movie, “Princess Bride” was told his way of fighting was to bash in a guy’s head with a rock?” Fezzik responded, “My way is not very sportsmanlike.”  I like that. Maybe all the moral guidance we anglers need is to ask ourselves whether what we’re doing is sportsmanlike.  
I really don’t want to start an argument about how, when or where to fish. Truth is, I’m a geezer who doesn’t like everything he sees taking place with our sport, and just wants to outwit a few fish of my own. And maybe brag about (and even catch) a few more than Tom or Wayne or Darrell. 

My “new” boat is 23 years old now, and I prefer my belly boat, slow but sneaky. And my ice fishing “fish finder” is an ancient Vexilar FL/8 flasher that just flashes, the same way it has for two decades. You can likely catch more fish with newer stuff; be my guest. I don’t keep 'em anyway. And my fishing buddies are getting pretty old and set in their ways too. If I hand them a questionable fishing report, they’ll likely forget the details anyway, before the next Friday morning breakfast.

Happy New Year everyone.

Happy holidays folks

 

Possibly the last open water fishing for awhile

  

The temperature was right at freezing Monday morning when Darrell Knight hit the Recycle Pond with his Fat Cat float tube. Half an hour later Bill arrived to find the Florida transplant had bounced and kicked his way about halfway from shore to open water. Ten minutes later, Bill launched to find the fishing about as cold as the water. The pair and late-arriving Wayne caught a few trout and one sheepish little catfish before calling it a day. Ice fishing is surely not too far in the future.

And our last? and most recent Holiday Photo entry was ... Vicki Tesar!

 That's one big bluegill on the end of little Vicki's pole, a fish she recalls yanking from a lake in Minnesota, where the darned things grow bigger for some reason. That's it! All the photos members have shared this holiday season. If you have another you'd like to see here on the blog, send it to billjohnp@gmail.com. Happy holidays everyone. See you 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Last mystery Holiday Photo in hand!

All right club members, not a one of you could figure out that the handsome young lad below was our own Dan Chouser, taken around 1943 when he was about 4 years old and fishing Lake Winona, IN.

Meanwhile, I think I wrote that Dan's was our last entry for the year, but I forgot I hadn't posted the entry below. Let me know who you think this cutie is, and I'll do the reveal in a reminder that the Annual Holiday Party is this Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m.

Don't forget, there's an optional gift exchange. If you want to take part, pick out something thoughtful and fishy for around 9 or 10 bucks, wrap it up but don't put your name on. And don't eat too much before the meeting; we'll be having cookies and stuff. 

Thursday's Holiday Photo entry! And another reveal

 Alert reader and angler Bob Dierkes successfully identified this club member as our own Current President (And our First, back in 2003) Tom Miller. Knowing that, you can also guess this young fisherman ate every darned fish on this World War II era string. 

Meanwhile, below is Thursday's submission, the last unless someone else digs through their old albums. We'll give you a hint:  the now middle-aged youngster reports this was taken when they were about 4 years old and fishing at Lake Winona, Indiana. 

A new entry. Yesterday's revealed. And a confession.

 Darned if I can figure out how, but at least two grizzled club members (Jim Roode and Bob Dierkes) dentified the young angler on the right as legendary Oklahoma noodler Dennis Kelsey! I don't think I've ever seen a member of the Loveland Fishing Club quite so skinny, or carry so many big fish.

Meanwhile, a confession: recall that posting of Wisconsin transplant Rick Golz, who looked like a youthful twin of himself? Well, turns out that was Rick himself on the left, with his eldest son Jeff on the right. The real kid does look related...

And finally, below is Tuesday's posting in the LFC Holiday Photo contest. I'll give you a hint:  this was taken in the very early days of photography. 

Sunday's Holiday Young Angler photo solved; But here's another!

 

Okay, so a couple club members guessed yesterday's post had to be Barb Ding, and another chimed in with Vicki Tesar. Wrong. And wrong. That was the youthful, obviously successful angler Kathleen Barker, fishing in her younger days with a man who didn't go by the name "Danny." 

Meanwhile, if you can figure out the identity of today's Mystery Angler, you must be going more on fishing reputation than youthful looks. Our hero notes the "picture is from 1948. In those days, the best way of catching fish was hand fishing, or "noodling" as we called it; or with a trotline. Fishing gear was primitive - but we caught fish!" Hard to argue with these... 

Another Myster Holiday Photo! And previous post revealed!

 

 Okay, anyone who didn't guess that was Rick Golz and his Daddy in our most recent LFC Holiday Photo is probably very new to the club ... and ought to get a new eyeglass prescription. That young fisherman looks suspiciously like he was cloned. But  sharp-eyed and prompt Bob Dierkes was the first to point out the lad was Wisconsin native Rick. We do wonder why he was wearing a Twins cap.

Meanwhile,  below is our latest entry. You'll also have to guess which of the two anglers in this photo is the club member, and who's just the fishing buddy helping to hold up that nice mixed bag of fish. 

If you've not submitted an entry, send to  billjohnp@gmail.com. You may also be immortalized in our slide show at the Tuesday, Dec. 19th Holiday Party. 

Friday's Holiday Photo entry! And we tell you who was posted Thursday!

 All right, anglers, so far you've done kind of lousy job identifying younger versions of Loveland Fishing Club members. Thursday's entry (shown at right) was ... 6-year-old Bob Dierkes, hoisting an impressive string of suckers with the help of 5-year-old brother Jerry.

And if you can't figure out today's entry, you might want to take up a sport that requires better eyesight and judgment.

Shown below with his father and an impressive string of trout is Friday's Poster Child, shown in the days before strict daily limits. 

We've got a few more tucked away or promised, but if you haven't submitted an entry yet, send to me at billjohnp@gmail.com. Or bring to the Chilson Center Open House between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, or the Club Holiday Party Tuesday, Dec. 19.

(And don't forget to bring a Secret Santa present for the gift exchange on the 19th. Should be around 9 or 10 bucks, new, and wrapped) (but don't put your name on it. Otherwise it's not much of a secret.)

We'll give you a hint: Once he's grown, this handsome lad sure
 looks like his Dad 

 

 

Yet another young angler! And we also name the star of yesterday's post

 Okay, we've had several guesses about the identity of Wednesday's Holiday Angler. Someone came up with Mark Orswell, another swore this had to be baby-faced Bob Dierkes. Nope. And Nope. It was none other than past President Fred Riehm. He says it was taken about 1970, fishing Clear Creek in the mountains of Verde Valley, Arizona. 

Meanwhile, we're still awaiting photos of other members demonstrating their angling skills at a young age. I naively asked for "pre-puberty" photos. Clever correspondent Leland Carpenter pointed out what should have been obvious to this 75-year-old fisherman:  most of our Moms and Dads didn't have a camera three-quarters of a century ago. So, just dig through your dustiest albums, and send us what you've got. 

Meanwhile, below is Thursday's entry in our Loveland Fishing Club Holiday Photo Contest. I'll generously give you a hint:  that's our club member on the left, age 6; and brother age 5.

Nice fishes. So who is it?

Okay, that was Doug Money in the photo in the article below. Now who's this?

 Okay, it's a bit blurry, but blame Mom or Dad, not the unnamed as yet Loveland Fishing Club member below. Those do look like fish in his hand. 

Okay, guess who this is, with all that thick black hair!

We'll let you guess awhile. Here's the latest donation of an old-time fishing photo from a Loveland Fishing Club stalwart. Taken, I'd guess, around 1970? I didn't know they made largemouth that big back then. 

Now, let's see yours.
 

Another older-time chips in! Holiday Photo contest heats up

 Time to go through your scrapbooks and come up fishing photos, the older the better! Here's a clean-shaven Darrell Knight, at right, shown with his uncle Wayne and a big old Southern catfish Darrell recalls weighting about 27 pounds. (Hey, who's going to question the size after about 30 years?) 

Back in the day, who was the club's finest angler? Holiday Contest begins now!

Your fishing club editor came across this rare photograph of a very young Bill Prater showing off a few of many fine fish he caught at Horseshoe Lake, IL, back in the day. It was taken around 1960 while staying with Grandma and Grandpa in their little cabin, back before I drove, worked for a living or started chasing lovely Linda Lee.

So! I just showed you mine; show me yours! If you have a pre-puberty photo of yourself fishing, share with the rest of us by sending a copy to:  billjohnp@gmail.com If you don't have a way to make a digital copy, bring what you have to the Tuesday, Dec. 19 holiday party. 

Club recruiting members at Dec. 9 Chilson Open House

 If you have a friend who should be part of the club, encourage them to check out the Loveland Fishing Club table at the Senior Center Open House, between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9. 

The club will have handouts and members on hand to talk to visitors. You can also help by joining us; put on your LFC hat and mingle. It's a good chance to boost our numbers, down somewhat in this post-Covid time. 

Here's the Chilson handout about the Open House: 

• Date:12/09/2023 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. 
• Location:Chilson Recreation/Senior Center
  700 E Fourth Street
  Loveland, Colorado 80537
• Introduction:We have Something for Everyone!
  Come find out why the community LOVES the Chilson Recreation & Senior Center.

Add to my Calendar

Something for Everyone!
Come find out why the community LOVES the Chilson Recreation & Senior Center.
Membership discounts – save 15% on a 6 Month membership (available during the open house only).
Take a tour, get information about fitness, personal training, youth & adult enrichment and so much more!
Fitness & Athletics
Try out a fitness class & join in the FUN.
• Zumba® 12:15–12:35P with Courtney, Fitness/Dance Studio
• Sweat, Pump & Crunch 12:45–1:10P with DeeDee, Fitness/Dance Studio
• SoulFusion 1:30–1:50P with Cindi, Maple/Spruce Rm
• Pickleball 12–2P Grab a paddle and see what the hype is all about. Large Gym
• Cardio/Free Weights & Circuit Machines Available for use!

And check out our FDA-approved LED Therapy Bed and meet our personal trainers.
Youth & Adult Enrichment
See what we have to offer this season.
• ABDC School Days Out & Summer Camp – Program info and games
• Small Fries Preschool – The only Level 5 preschool in NoCo! Activities and class tours
• Pottery – Adult and youth classes
• Swimming Pool – Swim lessons, lifeguard classes and job info
• Senior Center – Felting and crochet class demos, info on senior day trips and all the monthly activities and resources at the Senior Center
Plus!
Pictures with Mr. & Mrs. Claus 12–2P, Senior Center Lobby (FREE)
Scavenger Hunt with great prizes | Balloons & snacks

 Find out more about the AMAZING Chilson Recreation & Senior Center

Club holiday party is 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19!

Now's the time to wear something festive, be nice to one another, and don't forget the (optional) Christmas Party gift exchange.

There's no planned agenda, beyond a festive recollection of fish caught so far in 2023. If you want to participate in the gift exchange, wrap up something new, for around 10 bucks, and don't put your name on it. 

We'll have coffee and cookies, and anything else you might want to share with the rest of the club. (I for one will never turn down a chocolate chip cookie. Or fudge.) 

Have a youngster who'd like to try goose hunting?

 Long-time Loveland Fishing Club member Jim Roode is also an avid hunter who volunteers with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to take youngsters goose hunting from Eastern Colorado pits. The game warden who books these hunts has over-committed this fall and on Saturday, Dec. 9th has only three hunters lined up for what is usually a four youth hunt. It creates a unique opportunity.

Jim says if any club member has a child or grandchild under age 18 who would like to hunt geese, to contact him as soon as possible. He can be reached at jimroode@yahoo.com or with a call to 970-667-4666.

Parks and Wildlife can lend a shotgun if needed, but the youngster must have a CPW Hunter Education card.

 The child's relative or mentor must accompany the child but won't be hunting.

Douglas Reservoir State Wildlife Area "closed temporarily"

Nov. 10, 2023: LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. – The Douglas Reservoir State Wildlife Area will be closed  temporarily until a new lease is signed between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the property owners. Negotiations have been ongoing for months, but the renewed lease was not finalized before the previous agreement expired on October 31. Due to safety and liability concerns, CPW properties require active leases for recreation operations to resume. The SWA will reopen when the new lease is complete.

(Editor's note: it's not at all clear that this means an agreement has been reached in some fashion. This is how we lost Lone Tree Reservoir a few years ago) 

You really don't need a big bait to catch a big fish

By Bill Prater

(A bit more on ultralight fishing)  

One quirk of living to an overly ripe old age is, I can probably afford the 20 bucks needed to buy today’s big old, post-Covid bass plug. But I'll be damned if I’ll do it. And thanks to revolutionary new downsized techniques and a positive attitude toward multi-species fishing, I don’t need to.   

Here’s one fishing cliché that does not apply to Northern Colorado: “You need a big bait to catch a big fish.” (You may think of others, like: “Hey, isn’t it time to put away that warm water stuff and hope for a good hard freeze?”) But for now, let’s just talk about fishing with gear that may be smaller and lighter than what you may be comfortable with.  

Yes, we’re talking seriously ultralight. Or as enlightened folks now call it, “micro finesse.” Really, the new part is not really about using ultralight gear. It’s just using ultralight for more than catching panfish. The past few years have seen  introductions of remarkable new and lightweight baits, lines, rods and reels, together with the concept that the biggest predators feed most of the time from the same trough as their panfish cousins. 

Loveland Fishing Club founder and current President Tom Miller earned his fisheries degree in that long-gone era when fish were primarily seen as a cheap meal. In these days of catch and release, he still has a gruesome way to learn what that big bass or trout had for lunch: He’ll carve it up and study stomach contents. Tom reports the big fish eat nearly everything that fits in their mouth, but in lean times he can find little more than bugs mixed into an algae salad. The point is, most meals for most fish large and small are not giant shad, they’re tiny minnows, bugs and whatever else floats by. Hey, I’ve got lures like that.  

Anyway, I for one have pretty much had it with big gear and big baits. Medium-heavy rods are bad for my arthritis anyway. I probably should have a garage sale, but for now that kind of stuff is gathering dust in the Prater basement.   

Okay, it’s taken me most of a long lifetime, but I’ve come to realize that, outside the fly fishing department, sporting goods stores around here are stocked with roughly the same gear as the ones in Orlando, Florida. Aisle after aisle, you find hundreds of big baits geared for a single species, mostly largemouth bass and walleye, sometimes saltwater species. Ultralight is pretty much limited to the crappie fishing section, along with an aisle or two of Snoopy/Spiderman gear for kids.   

Big, specialized baits WILL attract big bass or walleye, of course, just not much else. If you’re fishing a tournament where the winner wants to winch in a few obese bass, without being distracted by other sizes and species, that 3-ounce, 8 inch Whopper Plopper works great. I personally prefer to land as many AND AS MANY TYPES of fish I can find, large and small. So, I find myself more and more sampling the water around here with the tiniest jigs and soft plastics available. Which means that, most of the time, I shop in the panfishing section of a store, or reluctantly buy my more specialized stuff online.  

Without getting into a discussion of brands, I’ll just say there are suppliers - one very large, at least one very small - of nearly indestructible, highly flexible baits made of the miracle plastic “Elaztech.” They’re soft as a baby’s butt and tougher than a $3 steak, and float until you hold them under water with a tiny bit of weight. You can buy a pack in the size and colors I relish for 4 dollars or less. Thread one onto a good quality jighead, size anywhere from 1/16th ounce down to 1/80th and fish with it until next fall. Are bluegills biting off the tails of your favorite imitation minnow? Switch to a smaller hook size, baited with something tougher. 

One caveat: the best of today’s plastics are so tough they won’t pair well with the typical lead-headed jig. The fat lead collar that holds softer plastics onto most hooks are barely penetrated by Elaztech. You need sturdy but extremely sharp and thin wire jig heads with a metal keeper collar, hook size of about #8 or #10. The best are virtually lead free, made of steel, tungsten or other alloy. I prefer mushroom style heads for most applications, but a minnow or aspirin shaped head is better if you’re using the same jig for a Gulp minnow. Which is a subject for another day. Meanwhile, the techniques you could be using for warm water species this fall work just as well for winter trout.

I appreciate your feedback.

These are a few of my favorite things

Dan demonstrates the value of late fall fishing

It's a bit out of focus, but Club Vice President Dan Barker clearly hit the jackpot earlier this month with a 21-inch largemouth bass hauled out of Boyd Lake.

Dan reports catching the beast off the grass line on the lake's southwest side, sing a white/chartreuse spinner bait with a white trailer. He weighed the old girl at 6 pounds, 1 oz. before releasing her for the rest of us to try to catch next spring. A Colorado Master Angler award for largemouth requires a fish at least 18 inches long.  

 

Jimmy Giles obituary

 Memorial service for James "Jimmy Giles," the Loveland Fishing Club's 2008 president, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 at First United Presbyterian Church, 400 E. 4th St. in Loveland. He passed away on Oct. 11. 

He was loved and cherished by many people including: his parents, Ila Giles (Lawson) and Homer Giles; his wife Charlotte; his sons, Timothy and Terry (Gretta); his grandchildren, Sierra, Marcus and Sean; and his sisters, Sharon and Evelyn (Don). 

Bohlender Funeral Chapel in Fort Collins is handling arrangements. 

 

Memorial service for James "Jimmy" Giles will be held Saturday, Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. at First United Presbyterian Church, 400 E. 4th St. in Loveland.

Jimmy taking a little girl fishing during an outing
at North Lake Duck Park in 2008.That's John Grady in
the background. 

McHale wins 2023 Club Derby

 

When the mud had settled Tuesday, Bob McHale wound up the club's 2023 Derby Champion at Flatiron Reservoir, with a string of four trout measuring 49 inches. Wayne Baranczyk was second, just behind with 46 3/4".

 Bob's name will be forever enshrined on the derby trophy, and he'll earn $50 to buy more bait. Wayne takes home a $25 prize. The fishing got better Tuesday as the day wore on, as water slowly refilled the reservoir.

It was a great day on the water, organized by Vicki Tesar, followed by a  banquet of leftover but still nutritious and tasty hotdogs from the Senior Derby. To view a few more photos of the event, go to the club blog, http://lovelandfishingclub.blogspot.com.

To see more photos of the derby, that you can also print and download, click the following link to the Google Photo Album:  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2Fv2N72dwKGmNA418

Bob McHale, left, with Wayne Baranczyk

Dennis Kelsey, with one of the prettiest views in northern Colorado

Club's annual Derby will be Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Flatiron!

Flatiron Reservoir is the new home to more than 3,300 freshly stocked rainbow trout, promising strong competition at this year's annual contest to determine who's our finest angler.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the reservoir, site of the club's Senior Derby last week, followed by a celebratory picnic.

Okay, fishing kinda sucked at the club's Senior Derby. But Derby Chair Vicki Tesar says the lake never received its promised fall stocking until this week. Fishing next week should be spectacular, or at least darned good.. The contest has been a club tradition since 2007, and last year's winner was Ken Kesterke, who earned his name on the club's traveling trophy plus $50. Second place went to Dennis Kelsey, who took home $25 along with bragging rights.

There is no entry fee, but we'll be expected to measure and witness each other's catches. If possible, bring a tape measure, a notecard or two, and a pencil. There is an admission fee to the Larimer County park, so if you don't have a permit look for Bill Prater or other carpoolers at the Jax parking lot west of Wilson and U.S. 34 no later than 8:30.

Here are the rules: 

• No wading or boating (not allowed on Flatiron anyway)
• One pole
• One hook or lure or fly
• The winner will have the biggest stringer of trout, up to the legal limit of four. You can keep what you catch or catch and release. Crawdads and suckers may be caught, even bragged about, but they won't count toward your total.
• All kept or released fish meant to enter the derby must be officially measured and witnessed by another club member - who needs to legibly write the length of each fish on a card along with their initials. This is why you should bring along a tape measure. Note the time of your first catch: it may be needed in the unlikely event of a tie. 

The first prize winner will have their name engraved on the traveling trophy, and gets to keep it until the next Club Derby. Your Mama would be proud. 
This story will also appear on the Loveland Fishing Club blog, http://lovelandfishingclub.blogspot.com

 

2022 winner Ken Kesterke, left, with second-place finisher Dennis Kelsey