Horsetooth Reservoir

Ended the day with one of the best hours of fishing I’ve ever had on this lake. I went out after lunch and it was a very hot and breezy afternoon. I had a hard time finding the fish and getting them to bite. So I spent some time experimenting, fishing over 100’ deep and stuff. Then as the sun began to sink, I found myself in the right place at the right time. The wind calmed and I noticed a disturbance on the surface. A white bass boil! It’s a very rare occurrence to find yourself near a boil on this lake. For one, it’s usually too windy to see it happening. These are white bass chasing smelt, it’s not like the big splashes of saltwater fish busting mullet. Second, the white bass are tough to find and predict on this lake. They move so fast, and seem to run around the entire 6 mile length. I’ve only seen it happen a few times, and in those cases they’re usually 100 yards away by the time I cast to the first spot, and even further by the time I chase them. Tonight they hung out in about a 250 yard radius for an hour. I’d watch and listen… sprint the kayak maybe 40 yards at a time and cast into the most recent boil. They were ferocious. I landed a handful in the 14 inch range and a couple in the 17-18 inch range! I later discovered that 17 inches could qualify as the state catch and release record, but I didn’t get a measurement pic. So now I’ve got to find them again, and keep a rod rigged for it at all times! I also caught a great smallie that was getting in on the schoolie action. Easily over the 17 inch master angler mark, but again no measurement because I was focused on a quick release and chasing the next boil. Btw, I know some of them look like wipers. They’re not, and in fact I spoke to the CPW biologist the very next morning (they were doing annual sampling of the lake). He agreed it’s not possible to be a wiper due to how many years it’s been since they stocked them. He was also interested in my theory that the white bass population here could have some mixed genes due to “back crossing” at some point in the past from wiper to white bass.

Got out for a couple night sessions in the past week. Caught the 25” walleye at 1:30am in the rain. She smacked the husky jerk in about 2 feet of water. The smallie was probably 18” and hit so hard I thought it was a big walleye too.

Catching up on posting a few smallie sessions from the past two weeks around home. I’ve only gotten out a handful of times, and caught at least one smallie each time. Some decent size ones for this lake, which has a notoriously small-size smallie strain. .

Went back out after the kids were in bed. Caught a couple very nice walleye on the jerkbait. 24” and 25”. Accidentally discovered my new walleye photo method: hit them with the headlamp from the side and it looks like their fins are glowing! You might have to try that, Fishing with Lance!

Nice evening shore session with two of my daughters. Got one of them onto a couple of good size smallies, while I threw the jerk bait and managed to pull in one fattie as well.

PB walleye! 30” length, 12 pounds. Just 1 inch short of the current state C&R record. It had been a slog of a day sitting at my desk. By the time evening came, I wanted to get outside but was feeling too tired to take the kayak out. So I decided to fish from the shore near my house for a change. It ended up being a beautiful evening with calm conditions and a colorful sunset. Shortly before sunset, I caught a great smallmouth bass, working the dropoff with the superfluke. I’m sure I’ve caught 17 inchers before, but never measured them. 17 inches is the Master Angler mark in Colorado, so I got a pic on the tape measure so I can submit it. So technically that’s my smallmouth PB! As the sun set, I switched up to the jerk bait, looking to slow it down and move a bit shallower. When the walleye hit, it was such a hard stop that I literally thought it was a snag. I gave my rod a quick twitch to dislodge it from the “rock”. When I did, the line only tightened and then I felt it move! I knew at that moment it was a heavy fish, and I strongly suspected it was a walleye. As soon as I had it in the net, I called my wife from my mobile phone so she could run down to the beach and help me with the pictures and measurement. I got a pic on the tape to make it two master angler species in one session! I just wish I’d remembered to tickle the belly to get a dorsal fin flare on the selfie. I would have released this fish even if there wasn’t a 21-24” slot limit implemented this year. A broodstock-quality fish such as this will lay half a million eggs! Like the brown trout I released a few weeks ago, this could also be a state record fish someday.

I’m consolidating a few sessions from the past week and a half, to catch up on posting catches. Lately I’ve been catching smallmouths on just about every outing, with an occasional trout. Continuing to experiment with methods and mostly fishing deep.

Took two daughters to try a strategy I’ve been meaning to try for awhile: Shore fishing on a very windy day, using the wind to drift bobbers away from the shore. Success! Got them both onto nice trout .