Reply by: regulatedhobbyist Posted: 7/21/2012 9:38:55 AM Points: 315
Man this sucks. I was there last night. Caught tons of bluegill and perch. Even a crappie and one 12" SMB. All swimming still. I have yet to see a catfish outta there.
Still, It might be a good time for someone to make a topo map of it?
No, the lake will NOT completely dry up. I have been fishing this lake for over 50 years. I have seen this lake go down, waaaayy down, on several occasions, but it has never completely dried up.
The lake has 2 outlets. One, the outlet ditch, which flows into Horseshoe, on the north end. The lake is too low now for any water to go out thru that ditch. The second outlet is a pipe, a tube, which sits on the bottom near the T-intersection of Hiway 34 and Colorado Ave., on the south side of the lake. The pipe is out a ways, but is not situated at the very bottom of the lake. The water will likely be drained down to the level of this pipe opening, but then it can not go any lower. There will still be a significant amount of water in the lake. Not very deep, but enough water to sustain the fish.
For you catfish fiherman, this is a golden opportunity. I and my boys have caught many hundreds of catfish in this lake over the past several decades. The absolute best fishing has always been at the end of summer, when the water level was low. This year, the lake will likely hit "dead pool." What fish are in there will be very concentrated.
And for you newbie cat fishermen, remember - you will catch few, if any cats during the day. You gotta be out there at night, all night.
The Bluegill were palm size, and one last night with really weird coloring, almost purple, never seen it before. And Dennis, There are many a nights that I am out until the sun comes up and completely skunked on crawlers, livers and stinkbait. I'm at a loss for that stuff there. Never have I caught a walleye. Just bluegill, perch and a few bass. I'm stuck on the shore, dunno if that matters.
I really love bluegills, and it'll be a great chance to test out my new ultralight! I've never fished lake loveland before, any tips on where the gills are most abundant?
Reply by: regulatedhobbyist Posted: 7/26/2012 9:33:45 AM Points: 315
Surprisingly enough, the south shore at about 1:00 - 3:00 AM. I was up there Friday night (7/20) and I caught 34 bluegill, all about 6 - 7 inches. I usually cast my medium rod with livers or other bait, massive hit on bacon but I missed it, then throw from my light rod. I cast it out about 20 - 25 yards with about three to four feet lead from the bobber and a split shot. then I slowly reel it back and usually about every 1-3 casts I catch at least a bluegill. The other place is the inlet. I would pull a bluegill outta there every cast, usually at night and only when they're 'wrestling.' you can see them when the're doing it.
I also check solunar tables, most of the time they hit pretty close. oh and apparently the purple bluegill are because they are males that are trying to breed.
On an ultralight rod... nice. My little girl caught a 12 inch bullhead cat on an ultralight. She's ten and about 70 pounds. Surprisingly enough she had it on the shore before I could get to her, but that was at the Duck pond just north of the lake. Fixed bobber with a long leader got us a few good sized (11-12 inch) cats.
yeah a few nights ago I was out there and the water level was down to 25 - 26 feet. waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy low. Oh well. Concentrate those fish.... right?
I actually had something about the length of my forearm and hand bite through my line. Got it up to four or five feet from the shore and the line went slack. Not a sound either like when I've had my line snapped. just a fight one second then no hook. line broke or was bitten halfway between the hook and the split shot I was usin.'
They closed the swim beach because of bacteria exposure or whatnot. Does this mean that we shouldn't fish there? I guess I never knew how that worked.
Hobbyist, I can give you one tip. May not make a bit of difference, but.....
Do cats, in their natural setting, eat chicken livers? Do they eat stink bait? Or bacon, or any of those so called "secret concoctions"? No. They eat primarily 2 foods. Crayfish and small baitfish, either live or dead. That is all I use, baitfish and live crawdads. The baitfish, sometimes dead, sometimes live. The baitfish can be small suckers, chubs, bluegills, perch. If I fish the bait dead, I thread the line and hooks thru the carcass (I use an actual needle, a large needle which I made myself) so the catfish cannot rip it off. 98% of the fish I catch will be cats, and I don't miss many.
If I choose to use live baitfish, I also sometimes hook walleyes, bass, and even northern pike. (1 pike in 40 years!) I would say the ratio is 90% catfish, 10% other game fish. However, the one problem with fishing the bait live is, you must hook the baitfish thru the lips (some prefer the dorsal area.) Those big fish come up from behind and grab the bait and often rip it off wihout getting hooked. Yeah, I miss alot of hits fishing the bait live.
20 + years ago, I pulled a 19 pounder out of that small lake behind the Loveland hospital. This was when the lake was surrounded by wheatfields, not houses. That catfish had a baby blackbird, fully feathered, in its stomach. Probably fell out of its nest over the water? So those cats, especially the big ones, do occasionally eat something not on the established menu.
I have been keeping my eye on Lake Loveland. It is not low enough yet to make it worth my time to go out. Soon....
By the way, I caught, oh, maybe 60-70 trout up at Lake John Monday afternoon and Tues morn. I may have to start a new thread......
