June 6 NoCo News
May's Best Lures, Free Fishing Weekend, Hot Bites
This past week has been a nice start to June, the weather brought a good amount of moisture, and the bites at most lakes and ponds are on fire! Just this morning, I heard we have received over 4 inches of rain in the last 2 weeks. That precipitation has made up for the lower-than-normal snowpack this winter, and allowed several lakes to get more spring water than had been expected.
This past week, I hit several lakes in NoCo. The wiper bite is good at many of the lakes, walleyes are moving toward shallow cover and main lake structure, bass have wrapped up spawning and moving to summer pattern (except the Horsetooth and Carter where the bass are in the middle of the spawn), panfish are starting to bed, and the trout bite remains strong in the ponds and lakes of NoCo. With the rain, the flows in many of the rivers and streams have jumped, and I would look to the upper ends of these waters for clearer water.
HOT BITES
Jackson Lake - the walleyes are starting to recover. A good number of walleyes in the 14” size range are present, with a few starting to get to legal size. There are also some quality wipers being caught. Look north of the boat ramp in the 12-14 foot depths, trolling jointed shad style cranks, or pitching jigs with paddletails along the west bank,
Horsetooth - water temps have pushed into the low 60s. Starting to see bluegill and smallmouth moving into the shallows. Smallmouth are hitting Ned Rigs with green pumpkin bodies, or jigs and paddletails. Trout are roaming the top 10 feet of the water column, try trolling with planer boards or casting shallow lures in the South Bay area. Walleye and wipers are following the schools of bait.
Chatfield - there is a good walleye bite along the road beds and in the shallow areas associated with weed beds. Try running livebait rigs along the road edges or above the weeds. Smallmouth are being caught along the rocks with weightless stick worms and light Ned Rigs.
Cherry Creek - the walleye bite is picking up, with some better-sized fish showing up. Look for the fish along the structure. Try using jigs and crawlers or bottom bouncers, dragging bait around. Some are being caught casting blade baits in the same areas.
Union - the lake is rising and close to 30 inches of water over the end of the boat ramp. Smaller boats should have no trouble launching, large boats should be able to start launching within the next week for sure. They haven’t put the dock into the water yet, so you will have to beach your boat if you need to get in and out while there. Look for walleyes in the shallows early in the day, pitching jigs and crankbaits. Then move out towards the basin using bottom bouncers and spinners for a mix of wipers and walleyes.
Ponds - smaller flies (size 12-16) 3-4 feet behind a float or bubble are producing trout and panfish. Use a pull and pause retrieve. Bass are being caught near shoreline cover and weeds. Try buzzbaits over top the weeds in the mornings and weedless stick worms near the shoreline cover.
CPW NEWS
TROUT STOCKING
North Front Range - Douglas, Pinewood, Horsetooth
Metro - Arvada, Centennial Lake
Mountains - Seymour, Slack and Weiss
FREE FISHING WEEKEND
This weekend, June 7-8, is Free Fishing Weekend. This means you can go out fishing without having a fishing license. It’s a great opportunity to take new anglers out and get them introduced to the sport we love. With this being Free Fishing Weekend, there will be more anglers out on the waters, so bring your patience.
ANS RULES REMINDER
Just a reminder, if you last were on a lake where you received a blue receipt on exit inspection, the only lake you can launch without a prelaunch inspection is the lake where you received the receipt. You can not drop a blue receipt and seal and launch before inspection at any other lake. I have heard of several cases of people doing the preinspection launch with a blue receipt, and they are getting tickets.
NE BIOLOGIST MEETING
As I mentioned last week, I attended a meeting with some of the staff in the NE region talking about fishing. There were several members of the fishing community who were invited to start the line of communication. I think it was a successful meeting in improving the dialogue between anglers to CPW staff. This will benefit anglers in getting information from CPW in a more timely manner and making sure the anglers’ voices and concerns are relayed to CPW staff. This was just the first meeting, and there are plans to work together and keep this going. As it starts to get more formalized, I will give you more information.
If you ever have a concern or question for the CPW, feel free to send me a message, and I can take it to CPW or give you the contact information for the individual who can help you.
BOAT RAMP ETIQUETTE
The past couple of weeks, I’ve seen and heard several things happening at the boat ramps from other boaters that get them frustrated. Here our a few tips to help make everyone’s experience at the lake more enjoyable.
Prep the boat before getting in line to launch or on the boat ramp.
Turn off your headlights when backing down the ramp during low-light hours.
Pull far enough away from the ramp before stopping, unloading, etc. as not to impede other boaters trying to utilize the ramp.
Slow down around the ramps; there are lots of people, especially kids and older adults, moving slowly and not always paying attention to their surroundings.
INLETS FLOWING
This wet weather and runoff have led to many of the lakes in NoCo to turn on the inlet ditches and work to fill up the lakes.
Lake Loveland - 550 cfs and filling fast.
Union is up 18 inches in the last 10 days
Jackson - 250 cfs
Prewitt - 100 cfs
North Sterling - 350 cfs
Jumbo 150 cfs
This should top off the I-76 lakes.
FLP FISHING TIP - MAY’S HOTTEST PRESENTATIONS
May was a good month for catching a wide variety of fish, in both quantity and quality. Here are the best presentations I found for the fish I targeted most during May.
WALLEYE
Numbers - 2.5” CrushCity Mayor in Green Pumpkin Disco on 1/4 oz VMC Moon Eye jighead in Black
Quality - CrushCity Mooch Minnow in Shad on a 1/4 oz VMC Redline Tungsten Swimbait Jig with the 3/0 hook (This combo produced 3 walleye over 25” in May)
WHITE BASS/WIPER - 1/4 oz VMC Moon Eye Jig in black with a 2.5” CrushCity Mayor in Green Pumpkin Disco or Sight Flash
LARGEMOUTH BASS - 3/8 oz Chatterbait in Electric Shad with a white or shad colored trailer and a CrushCity PigStick, in Bubblegum, weightless with a VMC Neko hook size 1
SMALLMOUTH BASS - a CrushCity NED BLT in Goby and Smoked Shad on a 1/8 oz VMC NED RIG JIG
FISHING FUNNY
