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Weekend Fishing Fun?

Blog by: David Coulson , CO 10/22/2012 (Return to blogs)

This was my second weekend running that I was fully free to spend it fishing, and I did, kind of.  As I blogged earlier, Centennial Bass Club scheduled Saturday morning to clean trash out of the western coves at Horsetooth.

I met the small group at eight that morning near the boat inspector’s station.  There were eight of us and two boats.  I think there was also another group that met and did some work at the Inlet Bay area.  Anyhow, we loaded up and headed up lake to the Eltucks where we spent the morning picking up trash there, and around the camping spots to the north behind Goose Island. 

Pleasant weather, good company, and a good project made for a great morning.  Aside from me getting a little highly needed exercise, I also had the opportunity to photograph a lot of structure sitting out of water, both stuff I was aware of, and some not so much.  However, the highlight of the day was how little trash we found. With the low water, I expected to see hundreds of cans and bottles tossed overboard by the party goers (and dare I say anglers) who frequent these coves every summer.  Either folks are being good about packing out trash (I hope is true), others have been good about picking up trash as they find it (I know some do), or much of the trash was silted over (I know some of this occurs too).  Whatever the reason it was a pleasant surprise. 

The one downside of this was the worse trash was associated with fire rings and campsites.  The very folks you’d think would be a bit more conscious about cleaning up after their selves, especially about leaving crap in the fire rings.

After a morning of work, most of the crew went back out for a little fishing.  Me, I thought about it as I had my rods and tube with me.  Sunday’s plans changed my tune, as my intent was to be on the water at Boyd with my kayak, and fishing the south end by sunrise.  And what did that have to do with my not fishing the ‘tooth.  Simply, I needed to swap out a kayak rack and get my gear ready to do.  Already a tad tired from the morning’s events, I figured I’d not push things. 

Sunday, all went according to plan and paddled up to my “spot” as the sun was hitting the water.  The reason for being there was it was the location of the most productive net from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife survey efforts the week prior, productive in terms of bait and white bass. 

By now, I should know better than to chase “rumors”, even when they’re true, as it’s generally a matter of “you should have been here yesterday.”  That proved to be the case.  The weather was delightful, winds mostly calm making for pleasant fishing.  Unfortunately, the birds, and fish also, where equally calm.  Oh, I managed to catch fair numbers of fish, but none of the trophy class white bass or walleye that I saw in the nets.

Still it was a great day as I caught the largest smallmouth I’ve ever seen in Boyd, a hair less than 18 inches, along with good numbers of smaller black bass, trout, white bass, and yellow perch.  And to boot, I got a little more well deserved exercise.

So, while I only fished one day, it was a great weekend of fishing related activities.  Horsetooth is a little bit cleaner. My car it fully rigged again for both kayaks and float tubes.  I got reminded again that “spots” aren’t near as important as locating fish and how you fish for them. And to top it off I even managed to even a few nice fish.  May I have many more such weekends before Old Man Winter’s icy grip settles on the land, forcing me to dig out the auger, and quarter my rod length.

Steve combing the banks for trash at South Eltuck
Cleaning crap out of a fire ring
Bottle nearly silted in.
One of two such rocks left by someone with a sense of humor
Cool rock two.
The other boat leaving North Eltuck with a boat load of trash.
Bill scouring the area for trash
Even low water offers some scenic views
Sunrise at Boyd from a kayak is a delight
A decent largemouth, one of many Boyd is producing at this time
My best smallmouth from Boyd, just shy of 18 inches, the highlight of the day
Blog content © David Coulson

About the Author

To say fly fishing is a passion for Dave is an understatement, he lives by the adage, �fly fishing isn�t a matter of life or death, it�s much more important than that.� Simply, if it�s a fish, then Dave�s willing to chase it on a fly. This includes making two or three trips a year out of state to places like Alaska, Canada, East and West Coasts to fly fish for salmon, northern pike and salt water species, such as redfish. The rest of the time Dave spends his time plying Colorado waters with a fly rod for everything the state has to offer such as bass, perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye, catfish, pike and yes even trout with a fly.

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