Coldweather snaps making for hot fishing

The recent cold weather should make for some of the hottest fishing of the year. Unlike spring, where a cold front with a significant temperature drop can virtually shut off fishing, in the fall a cold front has just the opposite effect.

Especially this fall where we have been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures prior to the drastic temperature drops this week.

One of the best strategies along the Front Range at this time of year is shore fishing for trout, according to Austin Parr of Discount Fishing Tackle.

The cooling water brings the trout closer to shore, making them very accessible. Casting spoons can be a great way to cover water. Not only will the cooler water make the holdover trout more accessible, but it allows Colorado Parks and Wildlife to heavily stock the lakes and ponds that may be too warm for trout during the summer.

Parr suggests having a second rod stamp and fishing something like Berkley Powerbait, either on the bottom or below a bobber, on one rod and casting a spoon with the second rod. Not only will the baited rod catch fish, but it will attract trout you may catch on the spoon. At times, he switches to a live minnow on the baited rod. This will often produce a large walleye or other species that has moved shallow to feed on the recently stocked trout.

Parr’s favorite lake for this style of fishing is Aurora Reservoir. Chatfield Reservoir is a close second. I am fond of St. Vrain Ponds and other smaller waters. A good tip is to check the stocking report and try to get there shortly after the fish are stocked. This is a great opportunity to take a kid fishing.

Another phenomenon this sudden cold weather triggers is schooling baitfish in shad based lakes. The shad will become stressed by the falling water temperatures. Many will die.

The distressed shad will gather in schools and be gan to move toward deeper water. This makes them easy pickings for the predator fish like walleyes, wipers, white bass and catfish. Not only will these abundant baitfish attract numbers of fish but also large ones. Many of the largest fish of the season are caught during this period. A few days ago Parr had a client catch a 29inch plus walleye at Cherry Creek Reservoir.

This bite will be taking off up and down the Front Range in lakes like Chatfield, Cherry Creek, Boyd and Pueblo Reservoirs, but if you’re willing to do a little driving, John Martin reservoir in southeast Colorado may be the best fishery in the state this fall. The key is locating schools of baitfish using your electronics and then present a reaction bait like a jigging spoon or a jigging rap right in their face.

Many anglers are done fishing for the year. If you love fishing, now is a time to experience some of the best fishing of the year and you can have the water to yourself.