chatfield

[Nick]

Anyone haveing any GOOD luck on Chatfield for walleyes? or anything else for that matter besides trout. Also does anyone ever fish Blue Mesa Reservoir?

[Neal/CO]

I have fished Blue Mesa a bunch of times but never thru the ice. I wish it was closer, because it is our best cold water fishery. Tons of Kokes and Lakers, lots of nice brown trout also. I know of three Lakers over 30 lbs taken there this last year. I heard that Glendo up in Wyoming is now safe to ice fish.

[bobco]

Blue Mesa it good thru the ice. Neal tell those people catching the big lakers to please put them back, they are probably 25+ years old, quite different then what the DOW wants but we believe that they can have both a throphy lake trout fishery and kokonee population.. The DOW did not say much about their 9 million + kokonee eggs collected this year! I guess the evil lakers did not get all of them after all.

Back to Blue Mesa, the first bridge can be really good for trout, caught a bunch 2 weeks ago on gold swedish pimples tipped with a mealy worm. Teardrops with a meally is usally good but there is a strong current there and will move your bait around ( I like to see the jig on my vexlar. The waterski beach area can provide some lake trout fishing and if it freezes sapiniro bay is good for lakers.. If you want to catch some small lakers go to Taylor, use 1/4 chartruse foxy jigs and a little sucker meat, 30-80 feet of water. The lake is over populated with 16-20 " lakers. They have not transitioned to the meat eating stage and are very good eaters (nice orange meat). Once again return the big boys to the water . I have not had any luck or really tried for kokes thru the ice but have built a jigger and plan on trying it this year, I understand the canyon by the elk creek marinia is where most koke fishing takes place on Blue. Come and enjoy the lake it is one of the great places left that the DOW hasn't totally screwed up yet.........

[Neal/CO]

I use to catch about a half dozen Kokes a day while ice fishing at Elevenmile, but those days are over. They have barely put any in there the last few years. Maybe the DOW will use some of the surplus of eggs to jump start Elevenmile again. There is nothing better on the grill than a Kokanee that was just pulled thru the ice and never frozen.

As far as the Lakers go, you are preaching to the choir. Its amazing how many fish made it back to hatchery after they basically outlawed snagging along the way.

[bobco]

I used to live in Woodland Park and fish 11 mile allot, I'm sorry to hear they no longer but kokees in because they where really "king sized " in 11 mile. The last 2 years blue mesa kokees have been good sized, allot pushing the upper teens.
What was your techniques to catch kokees a 11 mile thru the ice? Sorry if I sound like I was preaching but it just kills me to see these guys come up and kill those huge 25 year old fish, ( that by the way suck for eating!) For what it is worth the DOW was proudly talking about how they have eggs again to trade for other states , a guess stocking our own lakes are not a priority...

[Neal/CO]

I use to like to fish off the point end of Witcher's Cove. I would try to set up on the deep lip where it drops into the channel. Usually you have to fish deep out by the islands for Kokes or shallow for rainbows. Witchers is kind of a compremise area where fish of both species are constanly moving thru. I use to be able to catch both on chartruese gizzits with a mealworm. Silver/blue kastmasters work well on sunny days. There are still kokes at Elevenmile, just in drastically reduced numbers. I sure hope some of that surplus makes its way to Elevenmile?

[coe0025]

thanks for the info on Blue Mesa. I go to college up there and really want to catch some of those big lakers up there I just don't know where to start since it is such a large body of water. Went out on Chatfield today and caught some perch off the road on minnows. Only stayed for about an hour because the ice was getting iffy. Warm weather is doing a number on it. Water starting to come through in quite a few places.

[Neal/CO]

Either in a boat or thru the ice, try the main rock walls at the mouth of Soap Creek. You usually start seeing schools of lakers on the first lip, around 45 feet deep all the way down to 90 feet. That is a fun lake to have sonar unit, lots of lakers schooled up down there. For Brown trout, pretend like you are bass fishing and fish the shoreline areas around Soap Creek and Lake Fork arms. Throw small Husky Jerks or Rapalas, tube jigs, and black & brown marabou jigs, up against the banks.

[walleyewallace]

Hey Nick, After spending 15 years in colorado, most of the lakes are fished out ... to much pressure, but if you must I would work the dam in the evening (late)....There are only three lakes left for good walleye fishing there...Pueblo, Bonny, and Sanchez....Good Luck

[Nick]

thanks again for the blue mesa info. Going out on Chatfield EARLY tomorrow right around sunrise off the point by the marina on the road. I will let you guys know how I do tomorrow afternoon. Found some chubs in a near by creek. Going to try and use those on tipups along the break where the road stops at the marina

[Nick]

a little bit to windy this morning to go out there. Maybe tonight at sunset. Which flasher do you guys prefer? The Vexilar or the Zercom? I want to get one but I am still trying to find a good price and make sure I get the better of the two.

[EricCO]

What about Chatfield, Cherry Creek, John Martin, Nee Noshe, North Sterling, and Boyd? All have good populations of walleyes.

[bobco]

I haven't used the Zercom, I have a vexlar and love it! I can see a teardrop in 20 feet of water and can tell if the fish robbed me of a meal worm, once you get used to it you will not what to ice fish without it. My only complaint is that in 60+ foot of water it is hard to get good seperation from the bottom, in shallower water you can lift your jig 3 or 4 " off the bottom and adjust the power so that you can see it as lite green (the lowest color), in deeper water fishing for lakers it is hard to get that seperation, I need to come off the bottom 1-2' to see it from the bottom, you still can adjust it so that you can see a fish come in but not as well as in shallow water.
I do suspect that the Zercom will also have this problem because it takes more power to go deeper and with more power the resoultion will suffer......buy one you won't be sorry.