Photos from the field

Through my adventures photos are taken that never seem to make it into specific fish posts. So much of my fishing goes unseen or heard. Even though these pictures may not be ready for prime time fishing posts, I have found a way to fit them in an excerpt called “Photos from the field.”

July has come with much rain. The runoff and high country snow has pushed my planning off quite a bit. Rather than hitting the prime time river sections I find myself picking a cast at this pond or that. Some months are easier than others and as always I am thankful for every cast.

Along came a spider

(Above: Walking the trail to an open space pond my eyes notice a black creature with eight furry legs about the size of a quarter. It was a jumping spider poised to attack. Its eyes were a glowing emerald green as it sat perched on a thick blade of grass. Curious, my feet stopped and I snapped a couple of photos. On the third picture my ears heard a faint raspy voice whisper, “Just a little closer…”)

Colorado Saguaro

(Above: Colorado is considered for the most part a mountain desert with an arid\high altitude climate. The common mullein often gains the appearance of a saguaro cactus even if only in silhouette form reminding me of a much drier form of terrain.)

Moving upstream

(Above: Taking a tour of the creek the other day looking for any scrap of slack of water to fish. Everything was moving fast and furious including a few really really big fish. I tossed a few things at them but they wouldn’t take.)

End of the rainbow

(Above: Chasing rainbows looking for the pot of gold is fruitless. However, due to real estate development and loss of habitat in mystical forests, Leprechaun’s have been forced to come up with alternatives for their pot of gold.)

Train keep on rolling…

(Above: After a few years of blogging I have seen writers\posters come and go. Some folks get bored after a while and posting drops off. Other bloggers may become frustrated with the realization that blogging didn’t result in big fat checks from Google. Know that I am going to do my best to keep my fishing blogilicious train rolling.)

Thank you so much for your views, comments and rates. This blog is fueled by your support. 

Good luck and good fishing.

My summertime love affair with spinnerbaits

As early season fades to summer the forage base changes along with it. The fish generally are keying on the prevalent baitfish and no longer looking for crawdads or other creature type baits. Sure a bass may take something in the moment of opportunity but smaller fish are typically on the main course in summer. This forces me to abandon my beloved senkos and jigs. My summertime affection shifts to the sexier skirted spinnerbait. I almost feel like I am cheating.

Elements that make the spinnerbait so irresistible start with the larger baitfish presentation that this lure provides. The skirt gives appetizing bulk to the lure along with fluid motion in the water. Skirting comes in many color types that resemble many different species of fish as well as other forage types. Matching the lure to the day’s hot conditions with the spinnerbait can make those old summer doldrums seem like a second honeymoon. The shiny blade adds even more action and even the illusion of multiple fish. They even come in different styles and sizes. Put all of these elements together in one lure and it almost doesn’t seem fair. A hungry fish doesn’t stand a chance when something like this swims by. Customization and assembly kits are also available in the spinnerbait section. Below is a great reference for purchasing and reviewing spinnerbait material. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/content/make_spinnerbaits.htm

Below are three basic spinnerbaits that accommodate only some of the forage selection on the largemouth bass menu. These are straight out of the tackle box and some have seen more use and love than others.

(Above: This is one of my baby bass presentations with the single blade. Dark and light greens with yellow and even white are great options when the bass are feeding on smaller bass. Green sunfish also falls into this category. The spinnerbait at the top photo is my favorite bass presentation.)

(Above: Here is decent sunfish pattern for mild stained water that shows what I consider a slight flaw in production that happens more so with knock off products. The skirting is upside down with the dark colors on the bottom and should be reversed. Adjust the skirt and she is ready to go dancing. This is a replacement and will see water soon.)

(Above: Booyah Counter Strike in shad pattern. The box may say shad but I consider this more of a crappie pattern. Better for clear water as opposed to stained. One of my better producers out of the harem.)

(Above: Spinnerbait bucket from the MKG Trade a Trip post. I was wallowing in dismal action that day while Don and MKG were lighting things up. Switching to the Counter Strike saved me from a long drive home with my tail between my legs.)

The best rod type for the spinnerbait is a medium strength rod with fast action on the tip for sensitivity preferably in the 6ft-6inch or 7ft length. The fast action helps present the spinnerbait through the water with the best performance. Too soft of a tip hampers the hookset and some fast action rods fall into that category. Brand names are not as important and I generally hand select my fast action rods to ensure the action is just right.

Not having the specific type of rod shouldn’t keep you away from the sexy skirt and shiny blade spinnerbait action. I use spinnerbaits on the same heavy action rods that I throw jigs and plastics with at times. You lose a little bit in the performance and you don’t quite feel the blade action but it still works.

Line choice is less important but still a factor in regards to the best spinnerbait performance. Experts say monofilament should be your first choice with braided lines for heavier cover. The best advice I can offer in regards to line choice is selecting a quality brand that covers the majority of all the fishing you do. Sure I may re-spool to accommodate some area conditions but for the most part use the same thing for 80% of my fishing. Experimentation is key and most anglers generally fall in love with one type of line or the other.

(Above: Beauty bucket and another spinnerbait bass from the MKG Run. Just trying to add some visual support as I struggle to put together another lure type write-up.)

Spinnerbaits typically come in 3/8 and 1/2oz with a hook size to match generally in the 3/0 range. I like to start most summer days with the 3/8oz to dial in the preferred color pattern and then switch up to the bigger sizes when I feel there is a consistent bite. This could be as little as 3 small fish within an hour but definitely more than just one fish. The bigger lure size tends to avoid smaller fish while attracting the larger bass that would swallow a Volkswagen if they could get their mouths around it. However I don’t completely discount the smaller size in July. Smaller baitfish are prevalent right now and a lot of predator fish will be exclusively targeting them. Fishing long periods of time with the larger bait may produce the big fish and it may not. In a perfect world, there would be two rods with the perfect color and blade pattern in both 3/8 and 1/2oz at my side constantly. Suffice to say the only time I go exclusively big pattern is when I only want the +18inch section of the bass population or being plagued by smaller fish. With so many other bass in the system a larger lure can avoid the annoyance of wasting too much time in “Dink City”.

Retrieve speed can mean everything. Most people like to “rip” spinnerbaits through the water but there are a lot more effective ways to throw a spinnerbait. Most spinnerbaits have more buoyancy than we realize and can tolerate slower retrieves. In fact I find better results by running the lure as slow as possible around and through structure points an weed edges. I started writing up more on this but then found a better web reference already typed up. The reason I don’t go all yackity smackity on the gear breakdowns is for two reasons: Nobody pays me for this stuff and someone has generally covered things far better than I can.

http://www.zeiners.com/tips/spinnerbaits.html

Another good web reference for spinnerbaits is listed below at one of my favorite websites for the basic breakdown on anything bass related. A few of reader submitted tips at the bottom of the page could be weighed with a grain of salt.

http://www.bassresource.com/fish/spinnerbaits.html

http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/spinnerbait_bass_fishing.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spinnerbaits_fishing.html

There is a lot more that could be covered in regards to my summertime fascination with spinnerbaits. Plastic trailers, trailer hooks as well as more of my favorite patterns. Unfoertunately I have rambled on about 7 pages and looking to head out the door to grab a quick cast before going into work. Hope this information helps a few anglers get more familiar with the fabulously sexy spinnerbait as well as explain my infidelity towards beloved plastic lures as we roll through summer and into fall.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

Low Standards…”I’ll hit that.”

Water still looks high and rough. Creeks look like rivers and rivers look, well…they finally look like the rivers they used to be back in the day before dams, reservoirs and this huge water-sucking metropolis. As the afternoon clouds build into heavy rain showers all of the extra moisture puts a smile on my face. This amount of water is something Colorado hasn’t seen in a long time. This big ol thirsty mountain desert is getting a good drink.

 (Above: tough going for even small fish on what is usually just a slip of water. Good, bad or ugly…I’ll give it a go for fish.)

Even though fishing conditions are slightly worse than terrible right now I still pick at spots here and there simply because I can’t help myself. Maybe it is just a matter of obsession and signs of clearing that vary by the hour. Struggling to catch fish in this swift soup is a test to say the least but inside I am giggling like something really happy. Snowmelt and monsoons don’t last forever. High water is good for the overall health of our drainage systems. Eventually the water will settle and clear. These waters will be healthier as a result of all this extra moisture for years to come. Many anglers are far more patient and still in wait mode. They will return to the water when conditions are pristine and perfect. Maybe I simply have low standards and will hit anything if I think there is a chance of success…at least when it comes to water that is.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

Carter Res.-Larimer County getting serious about trophy fish management

First it was Lagerman Res. with some revised keep limits and overall emphasis on trophy fish management. Now Carter is going to get a boost with a change in regulations. Now instead of keeping one fish 16 to 18-inches, an angler can keep three fish 21 inches or smaller. This will help remove the common slot predator base allowing more walleye to grow larger. It will also ease the pressure off of other species that are getting hammered by these tasty yet aggressive fish. It may seem that keeping more fish is a move in the wrong direction but in this case it is exactly what the water needs. As sampling continues, the regulations may change accordingly.

When managing agencies make decisions based more on what nature needs as opposed to what the public wants, a few feathers get ruffled. Some folks may not understand these modifications that vary by body of water. It is easy to get confused in a trophy management scenario as opposed to the one-size fits all regulations that exist for most of the Front Range. Taking a moment to read the additional signage as well as adhering to these new modifications will have substantial payoff in the future. Fish will get larger, healthier and the take can only improve. Sport lovers get what they want as well with fish over 21 inches going back to the water to be caught many times.

I am very encouraged by the recent changes made in Larimer County and welcome more water management intended to improve trophy fish in Colorado. Who knows, maybe we even see some smallmouth regulation changes as well. Below is a link to the press release on the Denver Post website written by Dave Coulson.

http://www.denverpost.com/outdoors/ci_18414521

Tooner Area 51 update "The Light Design"

A while back Shaun from carpe troute “seize the trout” http://carpetrutta.blogspot.com/

reached out to me via the comment section with an offer of collaboration or something to that affect. Before I go much further I would suggest reviewing his swimbait “how to” blog post that was pretty damn impressive in my view. Maybe because I am pretty crazy about swimbaits. To be honest I was a bit intimidated by the proposition and still am.

http://carpetrutta.blogspot.com/2011/03/swimbait-building-101.html

http://carpetrutta.blogspot.com/2011/03/swimbait-building-101-part-ii.html

Bill Trussel http://btrussell-fishingthroughlife.blogspot.com/ also mentioned the desire to see a little more on my tooner aspirations as well. In an attempt to save this fragmented paragraph I will detail one of the basic concepts I have in mind as well as a few variations. Hopefully this will appease the masses meaning one or two regular viewers of my blog.

Design One-Light and Simple

Simply take some thin aluminum pipe and bend it into a square similar to what is shown below. The dimensions would approximately be 7’x 26”. There are a number of specifics I will leave out but suffice to say this lightweight frame is intended to rest on the top of my 8ft. tooner. Right now you might be saying to yourself, “Is that it?” My answer would be, “It just might be all I need”.

Design Two-Light and Simple with Oar Locks

It may sound easy but adding something like oars to a metal frame design is more difficult than it looks, especially without the materials, a pipe bender, or any experience using said materials or this magical pipe bender unit. (I am more of an idea guy and this really holds me back in the overall development process).

Some of the work may be foregone by forming the oar holders with a few tight bends instead of forming additional pieces and welding them on. Then a couple of holes would be drilled to accommodate whatever oars and miscellaneous hardware are to be used.

The idea is to come up with as light of a version of the 8ft tooner frame as possible that would support around 350lbs. Decking material added would provide additional support as the frame itself won’t tolerate must stress. I haven’t quite finalized the deck design but looking to make that portable as well.

A few items are still being researched and not quite finalized, how the frame is sectioned and then connected back together for example. I have a few ideas but haven’t found anything that works better than the spring lock type on the front bars of my red tooner. The final concept would look similar to below.

As I mentioned before, this design is not earth shatteringly different. It is merely lighter than all of the rest and I could lug it further with less effort than other models. The deck allows me to stay out of the water eliminating the need for waders. It should go without saying that this frame would not be intended for any type of river or use on larger waters. Mainly smaller ponds and lakes where hand propelled craft are permitted but somewhat of a hike to reach.

In closing…

A lot of my time is spent keeping the bills paid and whatever precious moments are left tend to be focused on fishing. This mentality has kept me from being homeless but hindered a lot of my tooner concepts from going into the prototype phase. In all honesty I would be willing to discuss the financing of materials and possibly some of the labor to see my mad tooner visions reach the prototype stage. Letter of disclosure or some sort of partnership can be discussed prior to that life changing sales pitch to Creek Company or others.

This design is the simplest one and the best one to start with. Due to simplicity, the overall design would be difficult to patent. The new design of kickboats more or less follows a similar framing size so I am not really that far from what is out there already. But just like that old U2 song, I still haven’t found what I am looking for. This idea may be it.

From there we can work our way to the solar powered fish finder with coffee cup holder\warmer as well as a few other tooner concepts that resemble something out of Kevin Costner’s Waterworld. How awesome was that boat?

Good luck and good toonin’.

The MAD Fishing Show “Trade a Trip” Saturday with MKG

This adventure was the first of a “trade a trip” scenario with someone who is an excellent high country warrior in my view. He wanted to get a taste of some warm water action so we decided to do a little horse-trading.

Keith has lived in Colorado longer than most. Legend has it that his ancestors helped settle this land and even traded with the natives. Ok, maybe that last part was made up but it is definitely a fact that Keith is one heck of a fly angler. I highly recommend checking out his blog http://coloradoalpineangler.blogspot.com/

Early morning meet up, drive out and gear up. Morning conditions are a calm 65 degrees with very little wind. Water was mostly clear but with a slight tint due to algae and depth. Fishing action didn’t happen right off the bat but Keith managed to get into a number of quality bass on the long rod.

(Above: Here’s MKG with a solid bass and one of several on the day. Hopefully Keith will do a full write up on his blog and I won’t spoil the effort by telling the details.)

The fish were holding at the edge of the shoreline if there was sufficient shade, cattails or tree cover. Areas exposed to the sun for long periods of time were nearly void of action. A few fish were picked up in the middle of the lake as well as along the deep inclines but for the most part: tree shade on the south side was money. I expected morning action to be hot but the big bite didn’t come into play until 9AM for some reason. The bite lasted three hours and by noon it was tough getting even a nibble. Air temps were in the mid 90’s by then (up from a mild 60-degrees in the AM) and wind started to get angry.

Don also got into quality buckets on the long rod with the Kieth’ster putting in some of the photo work. I pondered posting a few of the shots that were e-mailed to me but decided against it. With a little more effort on my part we probably could have done a shared post or collaborated a bit more on this one. In fact a lot of my posts seem to write themselves and the flavor in text just rolls off my fingertips with little effort. Not this one. I tend to get this way when I fish the same spot too often and run out of different things to say. So a lot like the fragments of this paragraph, so are the remnants of this post.

Not the money shot

Action shots are some of the most difficult to nail down in the wild especially if you don’t have a camera crew following you around all the time. In this case I managed to get an action shot but the fish didn’t turn quite right making a potential money shot really ho hum.

(Above: This could have been an amazing shot had the fish done a front dive rather than the side flip. Things rarely go perfect.)

Me? Oh I caught fish…but that is not what I want to talk about.

It took me a while to get any fish of quality. My patterns and locations were working but not picking up anything of quality. Eventually I stumbled into a better pattern by way of an oversized spinner-bait in black and white. Rather than posting those pictures here I am going to milk them for a spinner-bait post hopefully in a week or two. 

Getting a trip where three people’s schedules meet is a lot like trying to juggle chainsaws into a shopping cart. Family obligations, work obligations and the spousal units of both Keith and Don add further complexity. People will often ask me to take them fishing or otherwise toss out an invitation of planning future trips. Part of me cringes deep inside when this occurs as this is often a difficult task to organize and the trips rarely go well for some reason. Mountain Goat Keith has been run through a few trips with The MAD Fishing Show, which have been real hit or miss. Probably already screwed myself by foretelling of a future trip, which is also the kiss of death. (Sigh) I am not a superstitious person unless it comes to fishing.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

Summer brings high temps and E-coli warnings to Metro Reservoirs

The swim beach at Chatfield State Park was closed Thursday due to high levels of E. coli bacteria. The beach will re-open once tests indicate safer levels. This bacterium is commonly found in the lower intestine and a major component of fecal matter. Yep, that’s right…poo. This stuff is almost always in the water at lower elevations but usually in small amounts that are not considered harmful. As temperatures rise, so does the threat of getting seriously ill from ingesting even small amounts of tainted water.

Water in public reservoirs are frequently tested (usually once a week) and aquatic personnel may or may not tell you what those levels are unless they reach levels deemed “too high” by Colorado health agencies. Irrigation, treatment plant releases and wildlife are the largest introducers. Domestic animals, humans and even heavy rains also contribute depending on the frequency of visitors or turbulent weather.

Cases of E. coli poisoning will often rise with summer recreation and medical personnel are armed with the proper questions: “What have you eaten recently? Have you been in the water?” There is no effective way of treating E coli symptoms other than to prevent dehydration. Most medical officials avoid antibiotic treatments as that can lead to an even worse condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Expect periodic testing and beach closures throughout the summer at Cherry Creek, Aurora and even Chatfield Reservoir. So many other lakes, ponds, streams and lower elevation waterways will be wrought with high levels of potentially harmful bacteria.

Fish and most wildlife are fairly resistant to E coli and can tolerate higher levels but can still be susceptible to illness as well as death if levels reach too high. I am still researching this by the way and looking for studies that track bacteria levels in fish. It may be alarming to know that some farmed fish are fed a mixture of protein and chicken poo that may contain E. coli as well.

Below is a link to the official announcement from the Denver Post via the Colorado Health folks.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18432052?source=rss

Round 2 Sunfish

Managed to get out and do another round of chasing Green Sunfish. A little disappointed with the photos that I got last time so I decided to grab a video snap of a fish in excellent light for a better visual from this trip.

In truth I am searching for bucketmouth bass but my attention gets diverted whenever I see these guys in schools of quality. Depending on the location, one rod will get a tie up of a smaller presentation for this purpose. Most people would probably use an ultralight setup to take full advantage of the sport these slabby scrappers can provide. However, to simplify things I simply go with light line on everything and use one of the medium\fast action 7’ rods. Not perfect by any means but remember my panfish addiction is just a side gig to my bass obsession and this method lets me utilize all of the rods in full rotation.

Still hitting anything that moves these guys were more than eager to hit my small jig presentations run through areas with cover and thick vegetation. Weeding through a number of smaller fish I was able to land some decent examples. The problem is dialing in the larger fish around so many smaller ones. Patience and multiple casts seemed to be my only working strategy for this. The long rod would have been perfect had I brought the small trout bag with my assortment of flies. The #18 Mosquito was getting nipped at but not inhaled by the largest fish. With more selection I could have dialed them in with a smaller fly. This time of year they simply can’t resist it.

Another aspect of this time of year that anglers have to fish through is the white fluffy seed material being released from cottonwood trees. This “cotton” can get very thick on the water where cottonwood trees line the shoreline. As the sunlight hits the branches, seed pods open up and all it takes a slight breeze to bring the appearance of snowfall. Nearly half the lake is surrounded by these trees covering the cove in a white blanket. It doesn’t take long before my gear is fouled up.

Temperatures peaked slightly before noon and with it came the unrelenting heat of summer. Sweat was seeping into my shorts, my eyes and down the middle of my back. With the heat came added wind and the bite seemed to fade along with my visibility into the deeper water. It was time to call it a day, port out and haul the tooner back to the truck. This is the moment where I am kicking myself for not taking more pictures. So much focus was spent on finding large bass as well as keeping an eye out for batfish that pictures and video didn’t make it into the schedule. It may have been a bit boring to post a bunch of 4-inch gills and a few 2-pounder bass but in hindsight a little extra color may have greatly helped this post out.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

Three bagger trash haul with secret weapon deployment

Prolog: It’s only the worst when I need it the most

This is a personal best at this lake and I wish it were a good thing. The other morning I arrived at a lake with some folks and it ended up being the worst experience for them. The discarded trash, the line strung from trees, the story of someone who took possibly ten to twenty fish out in a garbage bag last year…it all was a blending of horrors for people who regularly fly fish high mountain streams. They looked at me and said,”You really fish here?”

The rest of the story is probably more dismal than I make it sound but suffice to say the place needed a cleanup. It is absolutely crazy how some places get a cleanup every year or so and you could never tell after a few months. Once upon a time this lake was great for largemouth bass and I may or may have not done some Youtube videos here for catfish. This post is about one of my toughest cleanups for 2011.

“Red Five I’m go…what the @#$% ???”

Pull up to the lake after work trash bags, secret weapon and no fishing poles. This is a lake I hit a few times a year on the morning route but rarely visit on the evening shift. I figured there would be a small crowd but I didn’t expect five vehicles at the small lot and then two more coming in as I geared up. The two “anglers” rolling in looked at me like I was from another planet.

First hour doesn’t go to bad. There was little to report until I reach the illegal trash dump of construction material. This is the kind of thing that is beyond my scope and makes my effort seem completely futile. Nonetheless I purge forward filling up bag number one focusing on the trash I could pick up. The second hour goes by and the first bag is full. Things are going pretty smooth and the day looks like it could wrap up sooner than expected. For once a trash haul into this location wouldn’t be so bad.

“This run is going to be easy.” One of these days I will learn to stop saying that. As soon as I thought things were going to be easy I ran into Trash Cove.

Trash Cove…every lake has one of these it seems

The top part of the area was filled with loose paper and items not too tough too grab. The bottom was much worse. Here is where I have to really dig in. So many plastic bags, water bottles, cans, and one freshly placed trotline. A vinyl plant box was also pulled out and had to have been there for several months. It could have been much worse and I have seen much worse here. Ugh…every year. The more I pulled out, the more junk I found. Some places you almost want to give up on.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I am turning the corner and nearly half the distance on filling up bag number two when I feel a slight twinge of pain in my lower leg just below my knee. It was so subtle at first. Maybe a small thorn or even a plant-prickly say from a thistle. I checked my pants and saw a spot of mud with some plant debris. I brushed it off and thought nothing more of it. A few steps later my leg began to throb and I stopped once again. This time I felt inside my pant leg for a creepy crawly. Through denim it was tough to feel much but there seemed to be nothing there. Usually you expect to feel some sort of crunch, right? Nothing. Like an idiot I kept walking thinking it was just a lingering pain from the thorns and easily fixed later. Minutes later my leg was on fire and the memory of this strangely pulsating pain that has occurred several times in my life came flooding back to me.

“Red ant.” I muttered rolling up my pant leg and pulling off a half dead red ant with mandibles the size of bear claws from my leg (ok maybe not bear claws).

The escalation of pain stopped as soon as the ant was removed and the throbbing subsided. I continued to pick up trash while reminding me how intense the red ants are at this location. Fierce may be too mild of a term and they control a vast amount of the shoreline at this lake during the summer season.

Final Lap and pull out the secret weapon (ok it is just a cart)

By the final lap I have cleaned up the north side of a lake that gets zero attention unless the city wants to cut down all of the trees due to some invasive species policy. No this is not bizzaro world. This is where I fish sometimes and well it kinda sucks the way people treat it and even the local management is not on my side. The only thing I can really have any impact on is releasing fish and picking up trash, just so happens that by now I have three trash bags nearly filled up. One is a little light but I am still going to count this trip as a full three-bagger. (Who knows? After a few beers I might tell a story about three sticks, some fishing line and a large piece of plastic that nearly kicked my ass.) Lugging all of the bags out would be difficult at best. So I leave the bags at one location and deploy my tooner cart to do the heavy lifting for me.

Limping back to the truck on one good leg my arms grudgingly load the trash bags into the back of the pathfinder. Driving off the frustration of so much litter starts to fade and my mind lends focus to next trip.

“May that trip actually have some fishing involved.”

Good luck and good fishing

Let’s get to know…

How cool are fish? Each species is different and has biological differences that control so much about where they live and why. Knowing these facts will help dial in the location and patterns of the fish you seek to catch. Fish identification is just the start. Learning the biological aspects helps us catch and preserve this amazing natural creature. Please bear with me and my poindexter excerpts of “Let’s get to know…”.

Let’s get to know the Fathead Minnow

There are so many different fish species in Colorado but for some reason we as anglers tend to focus mainly on the sport fish. When you consider fish species of Colorado most automatically think of trout. Sure we have great trout but an ecosystem is only as good as the quality of its layers. Each organism has an affect good or bad and the result plays up the entire food the chain. Taking a look at the lower links gives me a better understanding of the whole chain. The fathead minnow is fairly common making this species a possible factor wherever I cast.

Pimephales promelas or better known as the fathead minnow is one of those fish species that gets very little or no fanfare whatsoever from the angling public. Most are unaware of its existence even though it thrives in so many states across the country. The natural territory for the fathead minnow ranges across most of the country and central Canada. This species is quite hardy and able to tolerate poor water quality conditions completely inhospitable to other species. Often used as a baitfish in ponds and lakes this species continues to distribute itself in watersheds, canals and more. The fathead minnow has recently made its way into the aquarium business through the discovery of a color morph in some breeding farms. This variety of the fathead minnow is marketed as a “rosy-red minnow” for fish tanks and ornamental ponds.

The fathead minnow is generally a dull gray color in appearance with a single dark stripe running down both sides of its body. A small spot or blotch of dark coloring is located on the front of the dorsal fin. Male fathead minnows will develop a large growth on the nape and also exhibit 16 white tubercles on the snout. The fathead minnow is not as thick in the body as a mosquito fish but look very similar in shallow water. A great pattern that mimics the fathead minnow is the Countdown Rapala in silver. When I see fathead minnows in the shallows this lure will almost always get a toss.

Fatheads eat primarily plant material but will consume some of the small creatures such as mosquito larvae. Not able to beat out the competition in a physical sense, the fathead minnow tends to thrive best where competition is substantially less. This relegates the fathead minnow to the bottom of the food chain in almost any viable habitat. What this fish species lacks in aggressive tactics it more than makes up for it in reproduction. Spawning occurs from mid spring to mid summer and eggs are deposited over submerged objects. Nests may contain up to 12,000 eggs with females spawning up to 12 times in a single season.

Low aggressive behavior, high reproduction rates make this fish species a prime candidate as a forage base in some waters as well as home aquarium use. Bait shops may also sell fathead minnows to anglers looking for a live bait presentation. It is crucial to the balance of all ecosystems that humans greatly limit the accidental and deliberate introduction of fathead minnows into natural areas. Private property owners should consult with local wildlife and biology experts prior to release to ensure all environmental factors have been considered. Besides, they probably have fathead minnows in there already and simply need to look harder.

Once again, thank you for putting up with me and these excerpts of “Let’s get to know…”

Acknowledgments\sources:

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Fishing/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathead_minnow

Crappie on the shorebang

One of the things I love about this time of year is being able to sight-fish for bass in shorebang mode. For this I will go with weightless plastics on one rod and possibly jig combos or even baitfish patterns on a second rod this time of year. When there no bass to see I start search casting. Get a solid hit on a weightless grub that I think is a legit but not OMG bass. It has some spunk but you can tell it won’t pull anybody into the water. Pull the fish closer and see it is a crappie slab.

(Above: Serious forward grab on a near 15’er crappie inch. This one I actually measured at 14 ¾”-no weight. Quite possibly my biggest crappie via the shorebang mode.)

Even with the shameless forward grab the pictures don’t do this fish justice. Video tells more of the story. The new camera has a MOV format that is tripping up my converter for some reason. For now a raw footage post will have to suffice.



What seemed to work best was a weightless grub in the 4” variety. Green pumpkin with black flake really brought the attention resembling smaller fish and tadpoles that are fairly common menu items this time of year. Other baits thrown were the senko-matic and a few other lures that proved to be successful for bass mostly in the ho-hum size category. I did manage to pull one Clydish looking bucket that helped polish off the day.

(Above: Some shots are not the easiest to get. In this case I have one foot in the water and clinching the grassy slope with my buttocks. Releasing the fish both the me and the camera almost went into the drink as well.)

Bass fishing is in post spawn mode for me on a lot of lakes and some sluggishness to the action can be expected. Fish will still feed but may binge sporadically until forage sources start to increase in way of breeding shad and sunfish. My lure choice will move off of the creature baits and more towards baitfish patterns depending on the location. Frog patterns will get a tie on in the mossy areas. Fishing can become more consistent in June and July but for some it simply gets more frustrating. There is always shuffleboard.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic

Rick Cables picked to run the show

(Above: New sheriff in town. Not having fished with the guy or met him in person I had to bum a picture from the DP article.)

Merging Colorado State Parks and The Division of Wildlife and balancing the books is not an easy task. Picking somewhat of an outsider to lead this endeavor is one way of ensuring as smooth of a transition as possible without a lot of contention or dissent. If they picked someone from one side or the other, most would have felt that there was some level of favoritism involved. I am going to be honest and say that I don’t know a lot about this Rick Cable guy other than he ran the Forest Service for his entire career and lives in Pueblo. One thing I do know is that he has virtually zero chance of making everyone happy in this situation.

“The greater good” is the mantra of the US Forest Service that embodies a philosophy to create an environment that is intended to be the best possible for all concerned. This also means a willing to sacrifice both man and nature in smaller instances to achieve goals. This is not my philosophy by the way but most likely what this merger needs-an administrator willing to put tough answers on the board making the situation viable for long term which is exactly what the Colorado State Parks was not.

State Parks received additional funding from the state and once that money was cut, the State Parks started going into the red. The Division of Wildlife receives funding almost exclusively through license purchase and game permits. Not having relied on additional funding this agency has managed their books to meet future revenue\cost projections. Not an easy task and most everyone has a gripe or two in regards to how things are done. The real test for Rick Cables is to merge both entities into one governing body that functions as best as it possibly can for Colorado. This task will not require a bonafide wildlife biologist so much as a good administrator and my hopes are that Cables comes with these skills more than anything. There is a lot at stake here so I hope greatly that Cables is indeed ready to tackle all of these issues with genuine concern. A lot of what I do in the future will be affected by these decisions.

It is easy to look in hindsight but Colorado State Parks should have always sought to be viable without the additional funding from the state (even though this funding is what started the State Park system). Had they embraced this mission from the onset, they would have had less of a hurdle to jump when the funding was dropped. It should also be said that we couldn’t simply expect the original CDOW budget absorb the shortfall in this situation, as it would drag those wildlife areas down as well. Trimming the cost of Colorado State Parks budget overall is key to the success of the new Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife. At least that is my take. I also think Rick Cables would be happy to tackle anything else than that whole pine beetle situation. Mr. Cables...I am not looking for miracles here but setting the bar fairly high on the expectations.

Good luck...and let's hope this move results in the "greatest" fishing Colorado has ever seen. (things are good but they could be so much better)

The Denver Post does a fairly good write up on this and I will post the link below for your review.

  

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18264604

Wednesday Sunfish

As soon as I saw the weather report on Monday I was in a panic. The turbulent weather had played havoc on my entire season but now laid a perfect scenario in front of me with 3 good weather days and one big front as opposed to all bad days and maybe an hour here and there where you weren’t feeling Mother Nature’s wrath at less than DEFCON 4 (depending on exactly where you were that minute). Not being able to take the entire time off of work the focus had to be set on where it would count most…the last day before the @#$% hit the fan. By Tuesday I was calling in favors and looking at a day off on Wednesday.

Reach the water and conditions are beyond tasty. The air temp in the morning was a mild 55-degrees but climbing fast in the open sunlight. Water temps were guesstimated at mid-60’s in the shallows. Right away I see fish and lose sight of the game plan, which was to catch some fantastic sunfish and start casting at anything visible with fins. Early in the game I pull up a smallmouth scrapper.

(Above: Little red-eye bronze that put up a decent scrap for no good reason at all other than to take me away from my green sunfish hunt.)

The small smallmouth bass is released and I toss a few casts at some fish cruising. These fish were fairly selective and avoided anything my presentations. Not have the time to linger I quickly port out and move on to the second pond and start my search for sunfish. Within the hour I was spotting schools of sunfish but nothing above average in size. Most of the fish were bluegill and not the green sunfish that look especially spectacular this time of year. With some additional rowing and scouting I was able to dial in a few.

(Above: New camera and all but the 10.5” Green Sunfish(hybrid?) still looks a bit washed out. Honestly you would think these fish come from the Amazon or some exotic salt-water region. Through snow and ice these fish thrive in many waters.)

One of the ways a Mattsabasser deals with the bass post spawn is to fish for other species that are more active. Sunfish are moving into that mode right now as well as that whole summer time pattern is falling into swing. This is also a good time for me to fine tune the bass presentations as the fish get can afford to be more selective with so much forage around. Make a tweak here, change the color pattern there. Pick up the retrieval speed just a touch and WHAM! Post spawn bucket grabs and holds on.

(Above: Medium\heavy forward hold on a post spawn bucket mouth that shows a few signs of aging. Big head, dark colors and a dense body lead to me believe this fish has seen many summers. It is my wish that it sees many more.)

About halfway through the trip I get a gust of wind when trying to position the tooner  over a good spot. Cranking down on the oars I give the boat just enough forward momentum to compensate and keep me on the location. Wooosh! I hear a something going in the water directly behind me.

“Oh no.” I say knowing this sound is never a herald of good tidings.

Turn and see my blue milk crate in the water and all of the contents emptied. After some struggle I manage to retrieve the water bottles, life jacket, air pump and tooner gear bag. What was lost was the crate itself, the handle to the cart and the underwater camera that I had purchased last year with some amazing footage. Fishing for me does not come without its struggles, danger and perils.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

Photos from the Field

Through my adventures photos are taken that never seem to make it into specific fish posts. To be honest, a lot of my fishing goes unseen or heard. Even though these pictures may not be ready for prime time fishing posts, I have found a way to fit them in an excerpt called “Photos from the Field.”

Rock Wilson

(Above: Walking the lake shore I spot some discoloration on a rock that brought back flashbacks of the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks and co-star volleyball named “Wilson”. This rock would make a good Colorado version of said companion in my opinion. Pausing for a moment and taking a sip of water I had a brief conversation with Rock Wilson before moving on. Yes…the summer heat does get to me sometimes.)

Momma and her llama

(Above: Good companions on the trail are harder to find than you might think and probably few have considered a llama. These are very interesting creatures with a lot of quality attributes. The title would have been a lot catchier if a goose made it into the shot. Llama, momma, goose…get it?)

Bad Eggs

(Above: This clutch of eggs has been abandoned by the mother or extremely late in the game and the mother is off feeding some where far, far away which is somewhat rare. Most goslings have hatched and several weeks old by now. My guess is something went wrong and these eggs went bad. This is one of the better looking nesting spots in the area proving that bad things do happen in good neighborhoods.)

Lawn Ornament

(Above: It seems that everyone with a big yard will have some type of lawn ornament or the other. Some folks in Colorado have oilrigs somewhere on the homestead turning them off or on depending on the price of barrel crude. Kind of like having a lawn ornament that helps pay the mortgage.)

Tracking Care Bears

(Above: I don’t claim to be an expert tracker or even a master identifier of prints in the wild. However I am sure that this print is too small to be that of an Ewok but quite possibly that of a baby Care Bear. Also leaving open the slight chance it could be that of a baby raccoon or other small animal.)

June has been blessed with much precipitation this year keeping everything blanketed with lush green colors. Before we know it everything could fade back into the dry browns of hot summer and then the gold of fall. Take a moment to soak in the lush green while it still lasts. Thank you so much for your views, rates and especially the amazing comments. This blog is fueled by your support.

Good luck and good fishing.

 

Bluegill on the Backup Plan

Scouting some area north of my usual stomping grounds I check up on a few ponds that I fished a year ago. Upon arrival I can tell the recent storms have churned up the already stained water. To make matters worse, my waders decided to start letting water in on both sides. Had to pull the bellyboat out, switch clothes and check to make sure I didn’t soak the cell phone for the fourth or fifth time. Shorebang things for a moment while my head starts coming up with a Plan B.

Reach the Plan B spot somewhat late in the morning and see the bluegill are active. Looking several feet into the shallows the commotion was easily visible. Some fish are guarding nests, some fish are waiting to spawn and other fish are darting in and out to eat whatever they can. Upon seeing the active panfish my bass-chasing plan goes right out the window. Quick change up to the micro section and I find myself in Gill-Plink City.

A few of these gills were in the 7-8 inch range. I am sure there might be a few in the 9-10 inch class but wind, lack of boatage and the impending crowds left me with only a few shallow shoreline areas. Getting a first look at this location as well as a few quality panfish is still a good amount of bounty for a backup plan this late in the day. These locations are fairly close to a major city populace so crowd factor is always part of the equation. Now that I have a visual lay of the land my planning can go forward on a Plan A trip for this location. Thick schools of panfish generally mean healthy bass populations and worth another look someday.

Colorado has several species of sunfish. Identification between the various types can be difficult especially with frequent hybridization. Bluegill can be distinguished from other sunfish by the smaller mouths and the dark spot on the outside edge of the gill plate. Other sunfish may have smaller mouths as well but will have a red mark on the edge of the dark dot similar to the pumpkinseed sunfish below.

The gear can be anything micro hook size #10 to #6. Be cautious with smaller sized hooks and larger gills as they will inhale the smaller baits costing time in the removal or harming the fish. I will toss 1\8 to 1\16oz grubs and baby shad patterns ideally on 4lb line. Mainly geared up for bass I made due with the 6lb. This was one moment where I was kicking myself for not brining the long rod. Then we would be talking a complete gill slamfest. 

All in all the trip paid off on a few levels. Having actually brought some backup clothes for once really saved me. The morning outdoor strip down was not part of the plan but the only way to get back in the game. I scouted a few more areas well beyond my normal target range and still caught fish despite many setbacks. It always helps having a Plan B or even C in life as the landscape is forever changing.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

Access to 2 Colorado rivers closed because of high water flow (Denver Post)

Officials closed access points owned by city or state parks to two Colorado rivers Tuesday, citing high water flow dangerous to swimmers and riverbank visitors.

Those access points at Cache la Poudre River near Fort Collins and the Yampa River near Hayden will reopen when water flow drops to a level more typical of this time of year, said Jon Haukaas, a water engineer for Fort Collins.

Haukaas said officials closed access to the Poudre River after a rescuer looking for a stranded swimmer was trapped by hidden debris in the river. He said this incident, coupled with high water flow, prompted officials to close access even to shorelines, where currents are surprisingly powerful.

Link to full article below:

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18227588?source=rss

Matt’s Rant: “Caution Required” is an understatement in regards to Colorado’s rivers and streams right now. High flowing water with poor clarity spells mayhem for those that may push their luck. In some cases you may not even be able to do that. Prudence says, “Know before you go”. So making a call after a few web-flow website checks may make all the difference.

Crappie slab out of nowhere

So I might do a little bit of fishing now and then. On this day the red tooner and I are in serious search mode for bass. Bad weather is finally lifting so the expectations are for big bucket mouths. At first I go big with skirted spinnerbaits that look downright sexy. No bites are found so the game is switched to searching deep and slow with fantastic plastics. No love there so the bait gets a color change-up and a downsize. This is a lot like putting a puzzle together with very few clues.

“Eventually I will get one of these fish to cough up some info.” I mumble to myself while rigging up a small baby bass fluke. “Probably a little early for this color pattern….eh. Give it a toss.”

Plink, plink, plink...dinker sized bass start coming out of woodwork. (Sometimes it takes a Mattsabasser a while to figure out what is the flavor of the day.) Each cast is met with a largemouth bass in the 10-12” category. Even though these fish are small it helps provide a few clues and some action. But as quickly as the bite seemed to start, it stopped and the action went back to zero.

“Maybe bring this up to a 5” baby bass…” The wheels in my head are still turning hoping to find the key while still casting the smaller fry pattern. “Maybe do it up in dropshot mode.”

Then seemingly out of nowhere I set the hook another bite. This feels slightly bigger than the others of the day but still well below a 5-pound pull. This fish will quite possibly be king of the dinker fish but still in dinker class. But as I pull the fish to the surface I see the dotted pattern and almost kite-like shape in the water.

“Hello, Mr. Slab!” I state with a bit of glee as panfish of this quality are an exception for me.

Put it back in the drink after the photo op and then switch up to the 4” baby bass and baitfish setups. The action seems to absolutely die and I am waiting on the bench for the love bus getting not so much as a honk or a wave. Wanting the big fish I continue to grind out the rest of the day with bigger baits.

After what seemed like several hours I finally get the heavy thump I have been waiting for. Set the hook and the fish starts its run before leaping out of the water once, then twice. It then races down under the boat. I was lucky enough to turn the head of the fish before it reached the anchor rope. From here I was able to keep the head aimed towards me and guided the lip to my hand.

Put the fish back and stop my pole from plopping into the water. Then the debate began in my mind whether the bucketmouth or the crappie would be the fish of the day.

“Crappie.” I acknowledged shortly after the gear up and heading home. “I might catch a few bass here and there but don’t see too many crappie slabs.”

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.