Feb. 15 NoCo News
Tips for ice off fishing, survey reviews for Douglas, Lon Hagler and Boedecker
The crazy Colorado yo-yo spring weather has arrived! On Monday I was down at Chatfield and it was 62 degrees at 10 am with a 30 mph wind, now today the high is only 18. (The only guarantee in Colorado spring weather is there will be wind.) For those who like ice fishing, it means we still have some more time. For open-water anglers, there is a light at the end of the frozen water tunnel.
This week I made it out on the ice a few times. Hitting up St. Vrain and Chatfield. In both places, the ice was holding in that 7-8” range, with shorelines starting to get soft. Some shoreline spots at Chatfield even have 5-6' of open water. St. Vrain the bite is getting tougher, I had to move ponds to find a good bite. Ended up on sandpiper in about 4’ of water and had lots of trout and crappies cruising the area. Seemed like the fish wanted action to draw them in and then most bites were on a deadstick. At Chatfield I was down there chasing panfish, and found some action on the west end. These fish did want a little more action in the lures and the bite is tailing off by about 10ish
In other local bites, the walleye bite is continuing at Chatfield but has really moved to the twilight periods. The fish will also start moving toward spawning areas, we are only about a month away from the start of walleye spawning, if the area you’ve been fishing is losing the walleye numbers start working toward the spawning areas. Lon Hagler still has a pretty good trout and wiper bite going. Boyd has been tough most of the winter, I would check out Douglas or head up to Red Feathers if I’m wanting to fish the northern front range.
Lakes are still continuing to fill. Water is still going into Sterling and Prewitt. Starting to see more open water where the flow is hitting the ice at Prewitt. Chatfield has raised about 1/3’ this past week. Bear Creek is up 1’ in the last 2 weeks. While the big gainers still remain up north with Horsetooth having gained 1.5’ this week and Carter is up over 3’.
Another week of warmer weather has dropped the snowpack again. We are currently sitting at 108% of normal and 59% of the peak. Let’s hope the mountains get hammered with this storm today to keep us above average.
CPW NEWS
Just a quick reminder the NE Sportsperson’s Caucus mtg is tonight, Feb. 15th, starting at 6 pm in the Hunter Education Bldg at the CPW 6060 Broadway offices. If you’ve never been there the Hunter Ed bldg is in the far NE corner, behind the NE regional office.
Heads up, I am hearing rumors that CPW will be doing some of the port of entry ANS inspections again this summer. When I get more information on the details I will post it.
FISHERY SURVEY TRENDS - DOUGLAS, LON HAGLER, AND BOEDECKER
Douglas
Some of the highest numbers of crappie in northern Colorado
Crappies large numbers in the 8-10” range
Sauger population is on the rise.
Good numbers of 15”+ sauger. Chance at a state record.
Walleye while not as plentiful as sauger, there is quality 20”+ walleye here
Not many wipers, but the ones here are trophy sized
Lon Hagler (special regs on bass and catfish)
Good numbers of catfish 11-16”
Some true giant catfish 30”+
A solid number of 6-8” bluegill are present
The catfish, bluegill, and stocker trout can make this a fun lake to take kids to
The wiper/white bass population is growing. There is a strong 8-12” year class coming up and some 15-20” fish that are a blast to catch
Northern pike are present, with the addition of tiger musky stockings this is probably the best public lake for these big toothy critters along the northern front range
Boedecker (special regs on crappies)
Crappie numbers have been fairly steady, with a strong representation of 10-15” fish
White bass numbers are trending downward. The most prominent size is 9-12”. Note white bass can be very cyclical and rebound quickly.
In ‘20 walleye numbers showed a fair number of 15-18” and a few 25”+
FLP FISHING TIPS: Presentation - 3 Top Ice Off Presentations
With the spring weather, I’m starting to think about open-water fishing. Some of the first fishing of the year is ponds or shorelines that open up before the entire lakes. Here are 3 of my go-to presentations to catch fish during those conditions.
Jerkbaits - hard to beat a jerkbait when fishing for walleye, bass, or trout during ice off. You want to look for a suspending or slightly floating jerkbait when fishing from shore. Ones that sink will lead to many snags and lures being donated to the bottom of the lake. When selecting a jerkbait, you need to take into consideration the float/sink rate will change as the water temperature changes. Water is most dense at 39 degrees, so as the water temp rises the sink rate will increase and the rising rate will drop. To adjust those rates I like to use Storm Suspend Dots (seen in pic below) on the bottom of my lure to balance them out perfectly. When fishing a jerkbait right at ice out, think of it more as a pull bait. Cast out, give the reel a handful of turns to get the lure down to depth and then just give the lure a slow steady pull and then a pause. The pull should be just hard enough that you can feel the lure wobbling but you don’t want it darting side to side. As for the pause length, that varies day to day - I usually start with 2-3 seconds but have seen it where you need to wait so long you can call Jimmy Johns and the sub will be there before you should move the lure again. LOL (ok it feels that way to me, but it’s probably more like 20-30 sec.) I usually try to fish this parallel to shore when fishing a steeper bank or casting out at a 45. Some of my favorite jerkbaits for the early season are the original floating Rapala minnow (with suspend dots), the Husky Jerk, and RipStop. The smaller RipStop has a very enticing roll that trout really like
Jig and Twister - this is one of the best all-around presentations to try at ice out. It will catch bass, crappies, walleye, and trout. Use a 1/16-1/8 oz jighead, the lighter size forces you to slow down which is key in the spring. I like a 2” twister with a 1/16 oz jighead and a 3” with a 1/8 oz. As for retrieves, I usually start with a slow steady retrieve going just fast enough to keep the jig going horizontally in the water column. For bass and walleye, I target keeping that within a few feet of the bottom. For other fish, I use a countdown method, when the jig hits the water count down a given number and retrieve it slowly. If you don’t get bites on that try counting it down a little deeper. This really pays off for trout that may be suspended. The second retrieve I will use is a lift and drop. Cast the jig out and let it hit the bottom, reel in your slack, then raise your rod tip and let the jig fall back to the bottom. Then repeat the process. Most of your bites will come on the fall or right when you lift them up from the bottom. You can also tip your jig with half a crawler, at times this will get you more bites. My preferred jig is the VMC Moon Eye in white or UV colors. As for twisters I like to use white, chartreuse, and pumpkinseed/green pumpkin.
Spinnerbaits - great for bass right at ice out and a slight modification is great for trout, walleye, and crappie. Most of the year I like using heavier spinner baits and really moving them quickly, but in the spring go with lighter 3/8 oz size or even 1/4 oz. Pair that up with a Colorado blade, not just because we are located here, that Colorado blade throws out lots of thump and vibration even at slow speeds. I like to do a slow steady retrieve along the rocks, bumping them on occasion, or a slow roll. A slow roll is retrieving it at a slow speed within a foot or two of the bottom and then stopping the retrieve, letting it flutter down to just about the bottom, and starting your slow retrieve again. Now for the modification for trout, walleye, and crappies. Some of you may remember the old faithful BeetleSpin, one of my dad’s favorite lures. Well, you can buy the spinner arms separately and put your own jig on there. So I combine the #2 Jig and Twister with one of these arms. I like to put a 1/8 oz VMC MoonEye jig paired with a white 3” twister tail. The retrieve is the same as with a spinnerbait
Bonus - for panfish and trout try a wet fly. Works for fly anglers and traditional tackle can use a float above the fly about 3-4’ to make it work. Use a pull pause retrieve, moving it about 1’ for each pull.
FISHING FUNNIES