Day 20 - Golden Meadows Park

Date: 4/26/2012
Location: Golden Meadows Park
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Weather:  65  Degrees, no wind, overcast

Thea and I fished the pond at Golden Meadows Park for several hours and did very well.  We each caught over 50 small 4-6" crappie and several bluegill.  I also caught one 12" bass.  I also caught two of my biggest bluegill of the year so far at 9 1/2" and 9 3/4."  The 9 3/4" bluegill is my personal best for Colorado.  We both fished BBS suspended 12" below Gurglers, and color didn't seem to matter much.  The bluegill were holding in deeper water off the edge of the weed line and the crappie were all up shallow and spawning.  Really fun day! 

9 1/2" Bluegill:

9 3/4" Bluegill

Day 19 - Horsetooth Reservoir

Date: 4/21/2012
Location:  Horsetooth Reservoir
Time: 10:30am- 2:00pm
Weather:  70 Degrees 5-10mph wind from the South

Dad and I fished Horsetooth Reservoir for the first time this year.   It was great to get the kayaks out on the big lake again, and it gave us an opportunity to try out dad's new fish finder and our new anchor systems.  Unfortunately, the fish were not very cooperative.  We both fished hard for a several hours, and I only got one hit, that I missed.  Dad did manage to catch a really nice 15" Smallmouth Bass on a white Bunny Minnow fly.   This fly has been the ticket for big fish so far this year, as I caught my biggest ice fishing trout on it as well!

Hopefully the action will pick up on Horsetooth in the next month or two and we will have a ton of fun chasing the Smallmouth around! 

Dad's nice Smallmouth Bass!

Day 18 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 4/20/2012
Location:  Dixon Reservoir
Time:  5:00- 6:30pm
Weather:  60 Degrees 10-15mph wind from the North

Thea and I fished on Dixon Reservoir for a little bit after work.  The wind was really rough and made casting and fishing kind of a drag.  It was pretty cold as well, and the bluegill seemed to be completely turned off.  Fortunately, we located a nest of pumkin seeds and I managed to catch a few decent 6-7" fish on a Black BBS and then Thea came over and caught the big mama 8" Pumpkin seed off the same nest on a yellow BBS.   An 8" Pumpkin seed is big enough for a Master Angler award in Colorado, so we will be submitting the picture so that Thea can get a 2012 Master Angler certificate and patch!  Pumpkin seeds are pretty rare in general, and catching one this size is a huge achievement! 

We didn't get the best picture, but it was a really pretty fish!

Day 17 - Cottonwood Glen Park

Date: 4/16/2012
Location:  Cottonwood Glen Park
Time:  6:30- 8:00pm
Weather:  70 Degrees and no wind

I gave Cottonwood Glen Park another try today and it was a lot of fun.  I had the pond to myself and there was a feeding frenzy going on with all the stunted/small bluegills rising to the surface constantly.  I caught over 50 bluegill on a White gurgler/Black BBS rig, with most of the fish biting on the BBS.  The flies barely had time to hit the water before a small bluegill inhaled it.  All of the bluegill were under 6."  I also so some larger bass rising and several large carp and some big goldfish/koi.  I did manage to catch one nice bass as well.  I didn't measure him, but he looked to be about 16" when compared to my fishing rod.  That makes it the biggest bass of the year so far, and I think also my biggest fish from the local ponds yet.  The bass also hit the black BBS.

Bass from Cottonwood Glen:

Day 16 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 4/14/2012

Location: Dixon Reservoir
 Time:  9:00- 12:30am
Weather: 65 Degrees wind variable... storm hit about 12:30

Best day of bluegill fishing so far this year!  Dad and I took the kayaks to Dixon and had a blast.  The fishing was kind of slow until about 10:30 and then it really picked up to the point where it was a fish per cast if the cast was close to the vegetation edge.  There was a major storm moving in and we left just before it hit.  The best fishing came in the submerged cattails near coordinate L18.   We were both fishing popper/dropper type rigs.  Dad had a big white foam spider on top and I had a white gurgler.  We both fished BBS spiders about 15" underneath.  The best colors for the BBS seemed to be tan and black.  Dad's foam spider seemed to get more hits on top than the gurgler, but the gurgler made a better strike indicator.  Lost count, but I'd guess we both caught in excess of 50 bluegill, most of them nice fish in the 6-8" range.  I also caught 4 bluegill over 9", including my biggest of the year so far at 9.5."   Just a great day on the water.

Dad driving the kayak like a boss.

Biggest Bluegill of the year so far!  He even had a big humpback head.

Day 15 - Troutman Park

Date: 4/11/2012

Location: Troutman Park
 Time:  6:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  50 Degrees, cloudy, no wind

I tried to target bass today with a 3" long bunny fly.  I fished it for about an hour and a half, covering the whole small pond and the Northwest side of the large pond.  I didn't get a single bite on it.  Just before I left I switched to a gurgler/pt combo and caught two small bluegill before leaving.

Day 14 - Troutman Park

Date: 4/9/2012

Location: Troutman Park
 Time:  6:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  60 Degrees no wind

Thea and I had an interesting day of catching tiny fish in Troutman ponds.  The water levels are very low with several weeks of hot weather and no rain.  All of the fish that were out feeding seemed to be very small.  We both caught 20+ fish, but they were almost all in the 3-4 inch range.  Thea caught a 6-7" green sunfish and I caught a 10-11" bass, other than that all fish were small.   We were using pheasant tail nymphs about 1ft below gurglers.  Most fish were caught on the PTs

Thea's pretty Green Sunfish.  

Video of Thea making a perfect cast to a pod of rising fish... and catching a tiny bluegill. 

Day 13 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 4/5/2012

Location: Dixon Reservoir
 Time:  4:00- 6:00pm
Weather:  60 Degrees 10-15 mph wind from the South

I took the Kayak over to Dixon after a short work day and fished for a couple of hours.  The wind was too strong to really fish well, but I drifted from K13 to I4 along the treeline on the Eastern edge.  I fished a Popper/Dropper type rig with a white gurlger and a yellow BBS.   I caught a dozen bluegill, equally split between both flies.  I had several more small fish strike/miss on top.  Overall, the fishing was slower than the last trip to Dixon, but still fun.  I also fished some larger streamers for bass, but no luck. 

Dixon from the Kayak:

Dixon Bluegill caught on a white Gurgler: 

Day 12 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 3/31/2012

Location: Dixon Reservoir
 Time:  5:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  70 Degrees 5-10mph wind from the South

Thea, Dad, and I fished Dixon and had a great time.   Thea decided to fish mostly from shore, as she hasn't gotten used to fly fishing from the kayaks yet.  She caught about 25 fish, including several 8" bluegill and an 8" Pumkinseed.  She didn't get a picture of the Pumpkinseed, not realizing that it probably would have qualified for a Master Angler award.  Thea fished between coordinates of H12 and I-15 and said the area near I14 was especially good.  Thea said that the fish were taking both the yellow gurgler she was fishing on the surface, and thepheasant tail nymph that she was fishing about a foot below the gurlger. 

 Dad fished for Bass on the very Southeastern corner of the pond, but didn't get any bites on a big popper or a rubber worm.  He switched over to a black gurgler with a green BBS and caught several on both.  I drifted the tree-lined Eastern edge of the lake, letting the wind move the kayak along, from coordinates K11 to I6.   Almost every good cast yielded a bluegill.  They were very aggressively taking both the yellow BBS and the black gurgler.  The bluegill were all in the 6-8" range and I also caught a nice 7" pumpkinseed.

7" Pumkinseed:

8" Bluegill:

 
Dixon Reservoir:

Day 11 - Troutman Park

Date: 3/30/2012

Location: Troutman Park
 Time:  5:30- 8:00pm
Weather:  70 Degrees and no wind


Fished Troutman park with Thea and Dad.  We all did very well, catching many bluegill all over the small pond.  I caught almost all of my fish on a Yellow foam gurgler with a pheasant tail nymph fished about 1' underneath.  Most fish came on the pheasant tail, but several hit the gurgler as well.  As it got dark, the fish stopped taking the nymph and focused more on the topwater presentation.  I switched over to a black gurlger and caught several nicer fish, including an 8" green sunfish, right before dark.   I was mostly catching fish in the J14 area of the small pond.  It was a very fun night of fishing. 

Day 10 - Lon Hagler

Date: 3/25/2012

Location:  Lon Hagler
 Time:  4:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  70 Degrees and no wind

Thea, Dad, and I took the kayaks to Lon Hagler.  I tried to fly fish near the inlet with no success. Dad caught one fish on a jointed Rapala near the North side of the dam.   Dad and I then switched off with the kayak and Thea and I trolled the dam face with the kayaks and I caught one small rainbow on a silver and blue Little Cleo Spoon.  Thea then caught two rainbows on the same Little Cleo spoon.   It was the first kayak fishing trip of the season and it was great to get out on the water!

Thea fighting her second fish of the day!