Day 27 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 5/12/2012
Location:  Dixon Reservoir
Time: 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
Weather:  55 degrees, overcast and mist/rain.  Wind 0-5 mph from the south

Sean Kimbrel and I took the Kayaks out to Dixon in the mist/rain.  I was hoping for a little better fishing with the overcast skies, but the opposite was the case.  The bluegill that had been smashing everything the week before took a lot more convincing.  We both had to work pretty hard to catch a little more than a dozen fish each.  Still, it was a good day of fishing and a great time talking with Sean.  I had a couple of nice hits from Bass on the popper and the bluegill seemed more inclined to take the popper than usual as well.   We fished various colors, but most seemed to produce about the same action.

We fished the bedding area near the dam early and then moved to the East shoreline to drift as a slight breeze picked up.  We found the bluegill to be more scattered than the last time I fished the shoreline when they were all tight to structure/weeds.  The weeds are starting to grow toward the surface along the whole east side and fishing small pockets seemed to be the key.  We also found more fish in slightly deeper water 50-100 feet from shore. 

Pretty little Bluegill from the Kayak:

Day 26 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 5/10/2012
Location: Dixon Reservoir
Time: 5:30pm - 8:00 pm
Weather:  70 Degrees, Wind 0-5 mph from the South, unsettled weather with thunderheads building

Thea and I fished the same section of the dam that we did so well at on Saturday.  The fish were slightly less active, but we were also boxed out of prime fishing/nesting areas by other fishermen.   The fish seemed to prefer a little more movement in the presentation than they did last weekend.  Again, the most effective rig was the popper/dropper with a Gurgler and BBS.   We both caught 25+ fish total with several 8-9" Crappie mixed in.  I caught one nice 11 inch crappie, but it flopped out of my hand before I could get a picture.   The Crappie all came within about 50 yards of the outlet structure on surrounding rip rap shore. 

At nightfall, I had one nice bass hit the popper and get off the hook while fighting it.  We also so several other large bass feeding on top in the shallows near the trees in the NW corner.  I need to remember to bring some bigger poppers to fish in the evening!  

One of those 8-9" Crappie that was holding near the outlet structure. 

Day 25 - Troutman Park

Date: 5/8/2012
Location:  Troutman Park
Time: 5:30pm - 7:00 pm
Weather:  75 Degrees, No wind, sunny, Day after a major cold front/rain storm

A hefty rainstorm moved through and filled the ponds up pretty well.  It was sunny again today and I wanted to go out and take advantage of the extra water to cast some bigger lures over the bedded bass.  Unfortunately the extra water and sun brought out the crowds as well.  The big pond was lined shoulder to shoulder with people, so Thea and I fished the small pond for bluegill.  The action was a lot slower than normal and we each only caught 3-4 fish, mostly small but one a shade over 8."  The cold water inflow must have slowed them down a bit.  We probably should have fished during the rainstorm instead, but we were busy. 

I also noticed a nice carp, which is the first time I've seen one in the small pond.  I'm not sure if I'd just not noticed it before or if it managed to swim up while the connector creek was running.  Either way, I casted a weightless white wooly bugger to him a few times, but he wasn't having it.

 Half way to 50 days!

Day 24 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 5/5/2012
Location:  Dixon Reservoir
Time: 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Weather:  85 Degrees, Wind 5mph from the south, sunny, Day before a major cold front/rain storm

CINCO DE MAYO!!!  With the smell of skunk lingering on me from my bass fishing attempts at Arapahoe, I wanted to try for a more "sure" thing.  We headed to Dixon, which seems to be the most consistent water around.  This was probably the best bluegill trip of the year so far.  Thea and I each lost count, but caught well over 75 bluegill each.  The bluegill and pumkinseeds were in full spawn mode and we focused on the shallow area in the Northwestern corner near the dam.

There was no real need to move as we were catching fish on almost every cast.  All the bluegill seemed to be healthy 7-9" fish.  We didn't get any over 9" yesterday, but the average size was awesome.  Thea and I each caught a Master Angler size pumkinseed as well.  Mine was 8" and Thea's was a monster at 8.5."  I ham-fisted mine and dropped it in the water before we got a picture, but I did get a great picture of Thea's so she will get a MA certificate and patch.   Thea also had an awesome double with two 8"+ bluegill at the same time.   We also both caught several 10-11" crappie that appeared to be spawning near the outlet structure.

The best rig was the "Dixon Special" with a white gurgler on top with a Tan BBS 18" underneath.  This really seems to be the ticket for this lake.  Yellow and black BBS also worked well, but the tan seemed to be a little better.  I also tried fishing with a sinking line and a 2" clouser trailed by a BBS for a while.  I had some success on long slow pull retrieve, but it wasn't as fast paced as the popper/dropper rig and the bluegills weren't any bigger. 

Thea with the Master Angler award Pumkinseed:

Thea with an awesome double!

Day 23 - Arapahoe Bend

Date: 5/4/2012
Location:  Arapahoe Bend Ponds
Time: 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Weather:  75 Degrees, Wind 5mph from the south sunny

 

Thea and I fished Big Pass and Cormorant ponds at Arapahoe bends.  I casted swim baits, rattle traps, and bunny flies for bass for about 2 hours with only one bite.  Thea started fishing for bass as well, but switched to a popper/dropper rig with a gurgler and a hare's ear type nymph.  She caught several small 4" bluegill and crappie as the sun went down.  After dark, we stopped by Troutman on the way home to take advantage of the super moon and cast some poppers.   Thea caught one green sunfish and I got skunked.  

 

Day 22 - Troutman Park

Date: 4/29/2012
Location: Troutman Park
Time: 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Weather:  75 Degrees, no wind, sunny

Thea and I targeted bass and carp again at Troutman park.  Again, we didn't have any luck at all on the carp.  We tried some kool-aid hot dogs in addition to the bread chunks, but the carp were much less active.  They pretty much just sat sunning themselves in the middle of the pond.

With the carp not cooperating, we both focused on catching bass.  No real big ones, but we both caught 4-5.  We both fished gurglers with nymphs or BBS 1 foot below.  The bass are guarding beds and seemed willing to attack either the gurgler or the nymph if it hung out over the bed long enough.  The bright sun and low water made a careful approach a little more necessary today.  I did hook one nicer bass that probably would have been about 16" but it threw the hook in a classic largemouth jump and headshake.

In addition to the bass, Thea also caught a bunch of bluegill, green sunfish, and even a couple of crappie and golden shiners.  I also caught a few bluegill, but did not manage the species diversity she did.  It was a great day of fishing!  

Thea with another nice bass (literally almost the exact some spot as yesterday!)

Day 21 - Troutman Park

Date: 4/28/2012
Location: Troutman Park
Time: 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Weather:  60  Degrees, no wind, overcast

Thea and I targeted carp and bass today at Troutman park.  No luck on the carp bite with spinning rods fishing with chunks of bread on the bottom.  The carp seemed to be cruising higher in the water column or thrashing around in the shallows, maybe spawning?   I caught a decent bass on a white bunny streamer, and it looked like the bass had just eaten a golden shiner, because it still had the tail sticking out of it's mouth.   Thea also caught several bass on a purple prince nymph fished 1 foot under a gurgler.   I switched to a small crawfish patter trying to catch cruising carp, but ended up catching several more small bass.  We didn't catch any of the targeted carp, but the bass fishing was good!

A fat little bass:

The reason for that fat belly:

Thea with her delicious bass: