As Phil Robertson would say, it’s a Happy Happy Happy day for anglers with a boat. The first, NoCo State Park boat ramp opened today at 8 am. Thanks to the rangers and park staff at Cherry Creek for putting effort into getting the lake open as early as possible! Let’s do a quick rundown on boat ramps:
Cherry Creek is open as of March 1
Prewitt open
Lon Hagler open
St. Vrain State Park - Blue Heron is open as of March 1
Jackson opens March 2 at 8 am
Boyd Lake opens March 11 at 8 am
Chatfield opens March 11 at 6 am
North Sterling opens March 11 at 8 am
Barr Lake opens April 1 at 8 am
Horsetooth and Carter opening on April 1, last I heard
Boedecker boat ramp gate locked as of Feb. 29
Hot Bites:
The ponds are still fishing well and CPW has started stocking trout in many of them. I saw several people catch trout at Lon Hagler earlier this week when I was checking boat ramp status. Seemed like this anglers were fishing one rod on the bottom and a second rod they were casting a spoon.
The panfish are getting more active in the ponds. Look for rocky shorelines or coves with shallow water and muddy bottoms, both of these warm up quicker. I noticed today there is a big hatch of small midges form a couple ponds. I recommend having some smaller live bait to entice the panfish in case they down want to take artifilcals.
Walleyes should be moving to spawning areas. This early it’s typically the males coming up in the evenings first. Try fishing jerkbaits and 1/8 jigs with twisters to entice the night prowlers.
The inlet/marina cove at Horsetooth lost it’s ice this week. I usually do good fishing from shore for a couple weeks after ice out fishing for trout in this area. My best lures have been hair jigs or jigs with a twister - in whites and browns. There is a chance you’ll catch a few smallmouth and walleyes.
CPW NEWS
The Colorado Senate Ag Committee rejected 2 of the 3 recent appointments to the CPW commission, both have ties to animal rights groups. There is still a vote of the entire Senate to either accept or reject these appointments. If you are interested in being involved in the process, a letter to your state Senator this weekend would be recommended. Here is an article to give you more details on what happened in the Ag Committee. LINK FOR ARTICLE
CPW has started spring stockings of catchable trout.
Recent trout stockings: Sloans Lake and Centennial Park Lake
*REMINDER - The dam closure at Cherry Creek remain in effect. This is the rule from the CPW Fishing regulations:
“4. Fishing prohibited from dam and within 100 ft. of dam or walleye spawning nets Mar. 1– April 15, or until walleye spawning operations are complete.”
The dam closure at Chatfield will NOT be enforced since CPW will not be conducting walleye spawning operations at Chatfield this year. As a fishery biologist, I recommend those who chose to fish during the spawn to practice selective harvest. Regarding walleyes during spawn, if you catch a brood female take a picture and let that fish go. Those wanting to keep a few fish, focus on keeping males.
CPW will be spawning Pueblo and Cherry Creek this year and in the past few years, these two locations have fulfilled the desired number of eggs for stockings in Colorado and trading with other states.
2024-2025 Fishing licenses are now available for purchase. If you had a 2023-2024 license it is still good until the end of March. For those looking to buy a new licenses you can purchase an annual license now and it will be good until the end of March 2025.
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CHERRY CREEK 2024 LAKE BREAKDOWN
The general outlook for Cherry Creek is good for 2024.
Walleye - the numbers are still strong with an increase in the percentage of fish in the 15-20 inch range.
Crappies - good numbers. Most are in the 5-8 inch range, this is a strong year class that will make for some really good crappie fishing the next few years.
Largemouth Bass - these are a bonus fish in Creek. The numbers are not great but the population shows 40% of the fish over 15 inches.
Fishing Tips:
Early season look for walleyes to be in the basin during pre and post spawn periods. During the spawn fish will move up to the rocky shorelines. This does provide shoreline anglers an opportunity to catch both numbers and some good sized walleyes. There is a dam closure during walleye spawning operations. (See the CPW NEWS section above for the specific rule) Shore anglers should try suspending jerkbaits and jigs with twisters. Those in a boat should look at trolling the basin with leadcore.
As May arrives the livebait bite for walleyes kicks in. Try jigheads with half a crawler or leech, or try a bottom bouncer and crooked hook set up. This bite will usually runs into early July. Shore anglers can still catch walleyes during the low light periods along the rocky areas. This is the best time of the year to catch numbers of walleye.
From mid-July through the fall look to reaction baits such as blade baits and jigging raps, or speed trolling. Try fishing the breaklines during this period.
Crappies are usually good infront of the tower. Also look for schools suspended in the submerged trees. Small tube jigs or minnows work both work good.
I will be running guide trips on Cherry Creek this year, if you’re interested in getting additional information or to book at trip shoot me an email
Next week the lake creakdowns will be for the lakes that have boat ramps opening March 11 - Chatfield, Boyd, and North Sterling.
FISHING FUNNIES