Loveland Fishing Club Blog

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 pa...

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.    

  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. 

  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

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 Lari...

 Vicki Tesar this month set up what proved to be a popular visit to the Bellvue-Watson Colorado Parks and Wildlife hatcheries near LaPorte. Didn't make it, but interested? Contact Vicki by phone or e-mail. If there's sufficient interest she'll set up a date next month.  The hatcheries are among 19 in the state that breed, hatch, rear and stock more than 90 million fish each year.    The Bellvue-Watson Hatchery & Rearing Unit is a cold-water facility that raises rainbow trout, rainbow/cuttrhroat hybridgs, cutthroats, splake and brown trout. Watson raises about 300,000 catchable trout each year and Bellvue annually raises about 1.5 million sub-catchable trout.