I must say after the last two weekends, this one was definitely much more to my liking. Good company, fun activities, and even a few fish. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.
Saturday morning started out with as a work day, not honey-dos, rather a Centennial Bass Club project, building “bass trees”, more correctly fish habitat structures. I’ll admit I was sorely tempted to hit the water instead, but I correctly figured we’d be done by noon and I would have the afternoon to fish. It’s my understanding these “trees” will get planted in a couple bass ponds on State Wildlife Areas around the Loveland/Fort Collins area. I hope to be there when that occurs, and will spill the beans as to which ponds at the time, or maybe after I’ve had a chance to fish them first.
Anyway, it was a great morning, and is just another reason way everyone should consider joining and supporting a fishing club, whether it’s Walleye, Muskies, Bass, Pike, FFF (Federation of Fly Fisher), kayak fishing, TU, or . . .. These fishing groups accomplish a whole lot of good.
After we finished up working, I headed up to Horsetooth to break in my newly purchased park’s pass and see if I could find a smallmouth or two. Figured I needed to put in bit of practice given the smack I am talking and will continue to talk over the next few weeks. Granted things will be different by the time the Full Moon Open rolls around, but I like keeping up with things. And as they say, practice makes perfect.
After launching my tube in Satanka Cove, my hopes weren’t high for a great day, as the water was 46 degrees and I often struggle catching smallmouth then. But I was pleasantly surprised when after a half dozen casts I managed a respectable 16 inch fish, and managed several more fish that afternoon, everything over 13 inches, and all but one very healthy. The pattern I found was fish hanging in 8-15 feet of water around inlet points with steep slopes, although one fish did come out of the back of the cove in water of similar depth. So other than fighting wind most the afternoon and developing a few leg cramps as a result of being a bit overweight, old, and out of shape, it was a great start for the year at the ‘tooth.
Sunday was a bit different. I picked up Cody a little before 9 that morning. As planned we headed south and stopped off at St. Vrain State Park to catch a couple stocked trout before heading to the Rockies/Cubs game. It would have been an ideal plan, had the winds not picked up making casting a mild struggle, but it did clear many fishers off the heavily stocked and popular Sandpiper Pond. We did manage to catch a few fish, but I was a little surprised that when fishing a heavily stocked trout pond we managed more bluegills and bass than trout, guess they like “trout” flies too. And I couldn’t help smiling when we left at how quickly our “neighbors” moved into “our spot”, especially as they were fishing where we had rather hoped to try. Ah, well guess the fates were smiling on us.
Finished up the weekend watching the Rockies, and yes, they are still the hottest team going right now with a good win over the Cubs. I have to admit, I enjoy going to a baseball game, having a bratwurst smothered in kraut, onions, peppers, and mustard, a couple of brews, and maybe a bag of peanuts, almost as much as fishing. So doing both in one day was akin to perfection in my book. I can only hope you’re weekend was just as much fun as mine.
