Golden Gate State Park.

Since our first nice fishing trip up to these ponds our boys friend has been dying to go up here to experience some of the great pond fishing as Golden Gate State park.   We finally managed to get up here last weekend with him having a sleepover.  The fishing was a little slower as it has not been stocked in a while but we still managed to pull out a couple nice stocked trout the boys really enjoyed the smaller ponds you could see the fish prowling the water looking for something to eat.  This is the only picture I managed to get as I forgot to grab my camera before leaving and my phone died quickly as there is not much cell service up there.   Golden Gate has got to be one of my favorite spots to go that we have found in our short time here in Colorado.  This park has some great day hikes, nice fishing, and spots for the wife to take pictures.  A day spent fishing is a day worth living!

Gross Reservoir

With the fall colors in full bloom we decided to make a run into a new area thinking we would hit a nice fall colors and maybe some fishing in the South Boulder Creek.  Quickly we realized that the canyon from Boulder held not aspens, but instead were all evergreen trees.  So making our way to what I thought was going to be some creek fishing we came upon Gross Reservoir.  Following a dirt road it winds back down the mountain a bit before coming back to the dam.  There is a pull off for the South Boulder Creek but the wife showed no interest in climbing down the mountain to watch me and the boy fish.  We decided to head to the lake to try our luck there.  I have spent a lot of time shore fishing not being a bait fisherman my luck has never been that good.  I grabbed the poles and headed to the lake.  Surprised to find no one on the bank fishing I thought well this isn't going to go well.  Forever a sucker for fishing I jogged down to the shore to try my luck anyways.  Using a Mepps XD silver/gold http://www.mepps.com/information/xd/145#description found at the link.  On my first cast I thought I had a hit.  Throwing quickly back out I hooked into a nice little rainbow.

Within minutes both me and the boy were pulling in trout on every other cast. 

Most of them were in the smaller 6-8 inch range but we did manage to hook into a few 12+ inch in size.

After about 30 mins the area started to slow we were fishing on a small inlet close to shore they were biting on just about any lure we threw out leading me to believe they were recently stocked.

The area is one I would definitely recommend especially to bring the younger ones to. 

We moved to the very end of the area we were at and managed to get a few nicer size fish to follow the lure but it always seemed like the little ones came out of nowhere and snatched up the lure. 

When we got home I did a little more research on the lake.  I can't wait to go back and get a boat on the water as there are Lakers, Kokanee, Cutts, and Musky in this water.  This is a place I will add to the go back soon category.  Rules for the lake.  Only hand propelled watercraft no wading or swimming.  Remember to catch and release, and bring a kid fishing. http://www.denverwater.org/Recreation/GrossReservoir/

Another Trip to Chatfield Ponds.

Had a chance on Thursday to take the boy down to Chatfield again.  Throwing on some new lures we got from www.fishhound.com.  Most of the lures on this site are bass or salt water wish they would get in some trout stuff, but it gives me a reason to go out and try my luck on the ponds. 

Yes that is a blue gill man are there some monsters in these ponds.  I caught this one on a white curly tail grub I already had tied on. 

Boy caught this one fishing a bass popper.  These are some aggressive fish.

Nice little bass I picked up on the same popper. 

Caught many a fish with the lures we got from Fishhound and Mister Twister.  We were using these:
http://www.mistertwister.com/products/bargain-bin/index.php?fid=69&familyname=Split+Double+Tail+Grub
http://www.mistertwister.com/products/bargain-bin/index.php?fid=61&familyname=G-Grub
http://www.fishhound.com/gearproduct/slick-spin-green-glow-12oz.
With the ability to get lures to test keeps me fishing alot more then if I had to go buy every one.  Remember to catch and release!!

 

Guanella pass road

Took a nice trip up Guanella Pass today mostly to get pictures, but did manage to toss the line in a bit.  Had some nice chasers no real catches to talk about.  The view was absolutely awesome with the fall colors in full effect.  Worth the trip during fall is best watch out for the traffic and random people stopping to look as the leaves changing.

No pictures of fish sorry just some nice landscapes by Take the Backroads!

West Fork Clear Creek/Empire Winter Park Road

Every now and then you do have to take a break from the fishing.  A nice drive trip to the west fork of Clear Creek.  The water was running very clear making it tough to coax the native trout to chase down our lures.  While we didn't hook into any we had alot of chasers. 

Finding alot of rapids running into deep pools the late start in the day may have had something to do with the lack of fish caught.  May have been more action if we had brought the fly rods.

Hmm maybe this is why the fish are so jumpy.  Big bear paws tend to make fish a little spooked when you are wading in the river.  We did find a few nice spots that I am looking forward to trying when we have a little more time in the day to really fish them.  Hopefully we can get back up there before the snow hits.

Fox Hollow Golf Course

Had a few spare minutes after work tonight so took the boy over to Fox Hollow Golf Course.  Sitting just below Bear Creek Lake he told me with friends he was catching alot of Smallies Just below the Dam.  After About 5 Casts with a white curly tail grub this guy hit my line.

While we didn't catch anything of any size to talk about other then the crayfish The little had a ball catching alot of small Smallies.  Defintely a great place to take the young ones to get them into fishing just watch out for golf balls flying by.  Try hooking on a white curly tail grub and swimming it we also did well with a Red/Gold  MEPPS XD.

Did he really try to eat that the Rapala is almost as big as he is!

Best one of the night.

Have fun fishing and remember even if you only have a few minutes you can find a place to fish in Denver!

Chatfield Res.

With a few hours to burn me and the boy decided to give Chatfield a go.   Our first time at the park we had heard there are some small ponds to the south of the lake that were decent fishing.  We loaded up the poles and took off in search of some evening fishing.  This is a state park so if you do not have an annual pass you will have to pay to get in.  We found the a parking lot by the first pond and started fishing.  It looks like it was used mostly for boating so after a few minutes we decided to move on.  With a couple casts into the Dog Training pond we caught this.

Hoping for some bigger fish we decided to move on.  I saw some other people fishing, but looks like they were after catfish.  After a bit of a walk and alot of Poison Ivy( it was everywhere so consider yourself warned),  we came upon another pond with alot of weeds.  With the first cast I managed to catch a nice sized Bluegill. 

This pond turned out to be very productive.

Nice Bass the boy caught on a popper!

Did that bluegill really manage to get that gigantic popper in his mouth?

 All in all I would rate this area very good for fishing. All fish were released.

Waterton Canyon

 

With some time with the short one I decided to take a try at Waterton Canyon.  I knew there would be alot of hiking involved and I know some times he gets tired of just walking and wants to just fish.  I jumped in the water as soon as I could after about 10 mins and a couple of good spots I manager to hook into this little guy.  After that the fishing went pretty well.  Nothing of real size for the first mile. but I did hook into a lot of little guys.  After about a mile of walking up the river I jumped out to move up a little faster as this was a new water and I wanted to find the bigger ones.

This is the sign I saw when walking up the path.  Hmm wonder if being in the water fishing is a good idea??

Throwing caution to the wind I jumped back in and look what was waiting for me at the first hole.   He sat there the entire time I was fishing.  Just waiting for me to catch a little one and let him have it for a snack.

Climbing on the rocks above that hole I decided to fish for a bit.  This is the picture of the one that got away.  He was the biggest fish I caught today after hooking into him he made a run for the falls being kinda stuck I tried to muscle him back up grabbed the camera and snapped the picture right after he threw my lure and splashed back down into the pool.

After catching a few more small browns I decided to jump back out and venture further up the stream. 

Hmmm This trip may get really interesting. 

Twenty minutes later I look up the hill to see this guy watching me .  I know the picture isn't great as my little camera isn't meant for long range pictures, but that is a bear that little black spot in the middle.  I decided that I had enough fishing and jumped out to walk back down the trail.  Overall Waterton canyon was a great fishing trip caught alot of smaller fish and a couple big ones.  I would recommend bringing a bike as there is a road to ride on and the fishing gets better after the Marston Dam which is 3.5 miles up.  Remember this area is artificial fly and lure only and there is a 2 trout limit if you plan to keep them.  A day spent fishing is a day worth living.

 

Bear Creek

With the temperatures dropping and a couple days of rain storms the water temps dropped enough to be able to fish Bear Creek.  Took the young one up and jumped in the creek.  Within minutes he had hooked into the first fish.  We weren't able to get that one to the bank, but 3 casts later he had hooked another.  The fishing was hot and heavy we walked about 1/2 a mile upstream pulled in 15 fish in total most smaller, but a couple nice ones.  There is nothing better then the small creek fight on an ultra lite pole.  Fished with Mepps XD Black/Gold and White/silver.  Remember to catch and release!!

Marston Lake

After browsing the net looking to see if this was fishable I got 2 different answers.  One there is some really nice fish, and two it is DOW property.  I decided to take a ride over to see.  Well it is fenced off and there are some signs that say no tresspassing so I guess there may be some nice fish in there but it is owned by the department of water. 

Ward Road Pond

Got out today to the Ponds at Ward Road.  I was able to sneak out of the house with my float tube.  The litttle guy didn't want to bring his so he fished from shore.  I was testing out a new bait so I could write a review on it.  Things did not go well with it.   The bait was way to heavy to fish in these ponds with all the weeds.   After about 20 mins I switched to a popper man there is nothing better then a bass top water strike.  After about 2 hours of fishing I managed to hook into 4 bass.  I strongly recommend a trip here.  Two things though there is a alot of weeds close to shore so fishing topwater or weedless is a must, second this is a catch and release pond so you can't take them with you.  I have seen some huge bass trolling the shallows still working on getting one into my net.  Remember to catch and release, and take the young ones fishing with you. 

Bear Creek Lake

I am reminded today that unless the young ones are catching fish fishing is no fun.   With a trip to the lake float tubes in hand, I thought we would be in for another fun filled day of catching some nice fish.  The lake is usually a little busier on Saturday's and Sunday's, but I thought we would give it a go.  Trolling a white curly tail grub has worked well before not today though.  After about a half an hour on the lake the little one started to grow bored.  I switched over to worms in hopes of some quick bites to keep him entertained not luck though.  Fairly quickly the fishing trip turned into a lets just splash around the lake and look for interesting stuff.  All in all good time.  I added a picture from a past trip just to remind me that it is not always about catching fish sometimes it is about hanging out with the kids.

Cache La Poudre

After all the fires I was a little worried about traveling to this river, but with Bear Creek shut down due to the low flows and jonesing for some good trout fishing I made the trip.  When we got into the canyon all you could see was burnt trees all around.  We stopped at the first pull off area to check the color of the water and see what the area looked like.  To my surprise the water was clear even though the banks were littered with burnt wood and ash that had flown down with all the extra water.  I decided to drop a line and see what I could find.  To my surprise on my first cast I saw the flash of a trout that just missed my lure.  Nothing is better the tracing your lure back and seeing that flash.  Three casts later I hooked into a nice sized Brown.  He quickly headed for fast water and managed to throw my lure.  Not giving up that easily I kept up the casts.  Not to long to wait until I managed to land my first fish.  I managed to land a few after that.   I wanted to see what the rest of the river was like so we traveled up further.  As we got up stream a couple miles the fishing slowed not sure if it was time of day or the fact that there was a lot more debris in the water, but we did not find a better spot then that first one. 

Sometimes the stars align and put together a wonderful fishing weekend. With 3 different fishing places this weekend the fishing was hot and cold.  First off Ward st ponds.  With the weeds in full bloom fishing lures need to have weed gaurds, but using a white spinner bait I was able to hook into a couple nice Large mouth bass.  I saw a few very large bass trolling the shallows.  I will make sure to get back here in a month or so when I can handle being in the water with a float tube.  Remember that this is a catch and release fishing area with artificial flies and lures only.   So snap a quick picture and place those fish back in the water.

The next place was some small random ponds near parks once again small bass, bluegills, and carp was mostly what we saw.  Hooking into nothing more then a pond, but the little guy had a ball.

The last place was some great creek fishing.  I was able with a Mepps Extra deep lure on to entice 4 nice fish to bite.  I saw a lot more but the area we were in was heavily traveled and they were quick to spook. 

Winter hibernation

Well after a few months of winter hibernation time to get back to the fishing.  I had some great times trying to learn how to snowshoe.  The weather has warmed enough to get back on the water.  Got out yesterday to Prospect Park and along clear creek.  I was able to only watch as the young one hooked a few small bass.  Even though I didn't do much fishing myself sometimes it is fun just to sit back and watch the next generation work thier magic.  Hopefully now with better weather I will be able to get some more fishing in.  Till next time.  Fish on.