I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m over this extreme yo-yo weather. The really warm days have melted off the lower elevation snow, below 7,500 feet. Dropping the South Platte snowpack down to 96%, with the Big T sitting at 115%, and the Poudre at 109%. Let’s hope the cooler weather over the next several days brings the snow they are talking about for the mountains.
This week I had an interesting experience out on Boyd, that shows the importance of not getting stuck in a rut and to keep experimenting. I had a guide trip and we were catching white bass on the north end on white swimbaits. Over 75% of out strikes were on that one particular color and style of lure. Wanting to try an area down south to see if we could get into bigger fish, we left the bite up north. When we got south we could not buy a bite on the lures that caught almost all the fish north and ended up getting them on green crankbaits. Both areas we were fishing similar depth, but something was different - maybe water clarity, the forage they were feeding on, I don’t know for sure but had we rigged all our rods with what worked up north we would have come south and thought nothing was biting. Most anglers can get stuck in a rut or are slow to change things up, I know I’m guilty of that from time to time. Next time you’re in an area where you are marking fish but the bite is slow to nonexistent take the time to change some things up before you move. Varying the speed/retrieve, the type lure, and even the color might get those fish you thought weren’t biting to start chomping.
Fishing is good and improving over much of the northern front range. The hottest bite continues to be Chatfield, walleye are being caught from the shallows down to 20 ft. using jigs, crankbaits, and minnows. The smallmouths are starting to turn on, fish them a little slower with more finesse presentation - ned rigs and drop shots. Cherry Creek is starting to turn on for walleye, look at the break lines and deep basin locations with cranks, paddletails, and blades. Boyd the white bass are really biting. There is a trolling bite going in 15-20 ft. and as the day warms up there is a bite happening in shallower water 8-12 ft. The largemouth are starting to push shallow as well with the warmer water temps. Horsetooth has been fishing really good for trout - in the areas near the dams, these can be caught both from shore and a boat. Walleyes are starting to show up on the points, spend time with your electronics looking for fish before wetting a line - not every point is holding walleyes. Smallmouth are being caught, just make sure to slow everything down. Lake Loveland is starting to get water, I haven’t fished it yet but normally when the ditch starts fish will congregate near the flow. Finally, St. Vrain Blue Heron Pond has been fishing good for walleye, especially from shore in the afternoon/evenings. Cast along the rocks with jigs and twisters or jerkbaits.
Update on lake conditions: Horsetooth is up 2 ft this past week; Sterling is running a full ditch; Prewitt has some water still flowing in; the ditch at Lake Loveland has turned on with flows of 50-100 cfs; on the flip side both Carter and Bear Creek have started to drop.
Streamflows:
Big Thompson - below Lake Estes 78 cfs, Above the canyon 143 cfs
Poudre - at the canyon mouth 177 cfs
South Platte - below Chatfield has dropped to 8 cfs
I want to thank the Loveland Fishing Club for inviting me out to give a seminar this week. What a great group of anglers that are very passionate about helping the fishing community and kids in the area! If you are looking for a fishing club in the Loveland area look them up and attend a meeting.
SCHEELS FISH FEST
This Saturday, April 22, at the Johnstown Scheels they are having FISH FEST - a day packed with seminars, giveaways, and great sales!! A wide variety of rods, crankbaits, jigs, plastics, tackle storage systems, and more will be on sale. Come on down, say hi, and pick up a few new fishing items!
CPW NEWS
CPW is seeking public input for proposed changes to the State Wildlife Area regulations. One of the main pushes is to focus the use of these areas on angling, hunting, and wildlife management as the purchase or lease of the properties was originally funded by license dollars. For more information and to leave a comment click on this link
Trout Stockings: West Lake - Red Feathers; Windsor Lake; Barr Lake; Rocky Mountain and Berkley Lakes off I-70; Chambers off Hwy 14; Cherry Creek; Severance Lake; and 2 ponds at Pella in Longmont.
FLP FISHING TIP: Location - Boedecker Lake Breakdown
Boedecker is a 300 acres no wake lake located on the west side of Loveland. The lake has a good population of crappie, white bass and walleye. The parking and boat ramp are on the NE side, marked P & BR on the image below. There is a new electric gate that opens 1/2 before sunrise and closes at sunset to get in, once you are in you will be able to leave at anytime.
When looking at Boedecker here are some of the areas I like to target marked on the picture.
Yellow lines are shore lines I like to cast with jigs or troll the outer edge of the breaks for all 3 species.
Green lines are areas with vegetation or bushes that hold crappies and a few white bass early in the season. Crappies can get really thick in these areas around spawning time. Cast/pitch jigs to spots right next to the cover.
Orange line is a channel that goes in front of the outlet. There is a couple bends in there that walleye and catfish will use as the water temps start to raise in mid June. Usualy fish this area with a bottom bounce and nightcrawler set up.
The Red circle is a hump that gets lots of walleye on it especially on days with enough wind to break up the surface. Pitch jigs or slip bobbers right on top for the fastest action.
The Blue square is an old gravel pit. Crappies will hold along the edges and in the corners during the winter and summer time.
My preferred jigs are 1/16-1/8 oz jigheads with 2-3” twisters or minnows. Seems like white, pink, and chartuese are the best colors.
Crankbaits I like size 4-5 shad style. Vary the amount of line out to figure out the depth of the active fish, planer boards help you cover a wider area.
Keep an eye open for schooling white bass busting the surface. When you see this white twisters and silver trout spinners or spoons fish quickly will produce strikes.
I will doing additional lake breakdowns for Horsetooth, Boyd, Union, Douglas, St. Vrain, and Sterling during my seminar Northern Colorado Hot Spots at Johnstown Scheels FISH FEST this Saturday 9:30 am.
FISHING FUNNIES
Great read - unfortunately won't be able to make it to the Scheels event but would love a breakdown of Union and Boyd if you're willing to share at any point!
Saw you yesterday at Scheels. Great presentation and thank you for sticking around afterward to answer additional questions.