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Where am I: The Front Range (Denver to Colorado Springs) in Colorado
When?: January
While the skiing is indeed good in Colorado this time of year, the fish bite too! Winter in the Rockies not only offers both ice fishing and open water stream fishing opportunities, but also excellent wildlife viewing. Many species including Big Horn Sheep and Mule Deer come down from their mountain haunts to forage for lower elevation grasses and Forest Service provided hay. Check out some of the articles below:
Ice Fishing Cherry Creek Reservoir for rapacious rainbows.
After a strange hike across the pinging ice, I found a hole that had been cut the previous day by an ice auger. With a tire iron, the one inch layer that had covered the hole was broken open and the cold water below awaited. I dropped a Berkley powerbait hunk on a trout doughball rig through the ice to the bottom and waited. To my surprise, scant seconds later the rod tip jumped and I was hooked into a skinny 10 inch rainbow trout. Simply enough, the snow covered ice had cut back on the food supply in the reservoir and the trout were ready to eat! The park charges $5.00 for parking and a one day license costs $10.00. Bring a tire iron and find an abandoned hole. Also, if worse comes to worse, there are several places in Denver to rent ice augers.
Tackle: 2-4lb class spinning with a
very short rod (3 feet or less) and a soft tip.
Rigs: Trout
dough ball rig,
salmon egg rig
When: January-February
(Pay attention
to ice thickness and ask or check before venturing out!)
Fishing the Upper Platte River (where it isn't frozen).
The Platte River is largely frozen in its slower patches (like the one above) but on most days it is nearly fully open near Scraggy view and above.
How to get there: Several dirt roads lead across the front range to the Platte, especially off the outer road from above the USAF Academy in C. Springs north to the outerbelt in Denver. By foot, a three mile hike from the Platte River trailhead southwest of Denver will definitely put you into open water.
Most of this trail is artificial lures
only, and I had some response with inline spinners (panther martin size
4)
. Use 2lb gear spinning or
5 weight fly gear. The higher up the river you hike, the more open
the river water is, and up a scraggy view the water was open enough to
use a fly rod (though I didn't pack one). The locals said a salmon
eggpuff ball fly, or a very small nymph
would
work, and next time I get up there I will test this theory.
Wildlife viewing on the Platte River West of Denver.
Due to the harshness of the winter in the Rockies several species come down from the higher elevations to the Platte River Trail to feed on both the sparse natural forage and hey bought in by the forest service. While the animals are not highly spooky they will bolt for loud noises or if a human approaches closer than about 30 yards. These animals were seen near sunset, which along with sunrise are typical feeding periods.
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All pictures and text (C) 2006 Bryce L. Meyer All rights reserved.