Happy Spring Y'all
Blog by: Matt Snider , CO 3/20/2019 (Return to blogs)
This morning birds were singing outside my window when I woke. It's been a while since that last happened. The grass is still yellow though here, and there's a clump of snow sitting all alone in the front yard like someone just took it out of the freezer and placed it there. I walked the dog and the neighborhood still looks like it is sleeping in with a hangover. But the sun was hot by late morning, and you can almost hear the rivers yawning and gurgling up in the mountains while standing here in the front range.
So that put a bug in me and I decided to take care of a few personal things. I registered my boat finally - wasn't in a hurry to do that since it is still up on blocks awaiting a warm day to finalize some gel coat repair. I renewed my trailer registration. And I bought my 2019 fishing license. $55.50 this year, with Habitat Stamp and 2nd rod stamp added. Should be here by start of the new license season starting April 1. Those three things were all fairly painless albeit lightening my wallet a bit more than usual.... took maybe 15 minutes total.
So open water fever is here, but I still look forward to a few more days on the ice. This winter was the biggest for me in my life for ice fishing. I got in roughly 18 days on the ice. That's a lot for me. Next year I hope to get even more. I fished the 3 Lakes Ice Contest and the Holes 4 Heroes Tourney. I fished Granby a few times and got into lakers - caught several smaller ones and hooked one monster that didn't bless me with exposing his head out of the hole... I am still learning. I met some great people and had some great days in and out of the hut.
I'll be heading uphill again soon before it all goes to liquid, and get some more exercise hand-augering through 2 feet of ice and frozen slush. But I am also shifting my mindset to open water. For some reason rivers draw me this time of year more than any other period. I think it is because they are like a starting gun for everything else to come back to life after a long cold hibernation.
The flows trickle a bit more each day, flowers bloom, grass greens. It is a great time to fish many creeks and rivers before waters rise and runoff sets in. It'll be here before you know it.
I got all the paperwork completed, so I am good to go until all my park passes expire. Got my fly rod warmed up last weekend spying carp with Tom. The waders work, and my fly pack is back in order after pillaging it for the ice fishing season.
You ready?
Early spring Poudre carp - photo by Tom McInerney
Blog content © Matt Snider
Comments
FISHRANGLER
03.23.19 9:45 AM
Yes very ready. Was thinking about hitting the platte today for some small mouth in town.
like you I think the rivers in the city are fun this time of year. Its about the only time i fish them.
fishthumpre
03.24.19 9:31 AM
I totally agree, this is a great time to be out testing open water. Northern Colorado bass for me are still in hiding, but that should change with a few more days of sunshine, and trout and crappie are already cooperating often enough to lure me away from the television set. Now's the time to get rotten and tangled lines and other early season screwups out of the way, before things get serious around here.
About the Author
Matt Snider is a lifelong fly fisherman who has turned his attention to the "other species" of Colorado, namely any non-trout species. Having caught multiple warmwater species in Colorado on the fly in Colorado, Matt built FishExplorer as a means for anglers to maintain updated lake conditions, an element he finds critical in catching fish and enjoying our resources. An advocate of alternative fly fishing and fisheries preservation, Matt is an avid wiper and muskie fisherman traveling with boat in tow in pursuit of these hard-to-find fish. If a fish is willing to eat something, his bet is that it will eat a fly...