Picture this: Fish put on pretty face for anglers
If there is anything that trumps the sensation of hooking into a monster fish on a fly rod, it’s the satisfaction of catching it in public fishing water.
These aren’t spoon-fed fish grown in a private petri dish awaiting the occasional offering from paying clients between “rest periods.” These are climb-the-food-chain survivors dodging the onslaught of predators ranging from pike and raptors to relentless anglers plundering the waters with an arsenal of fish finders, bait and technical tackle. Many of them may have started in a hatchery, but it takes some survival skills to work your way up to mossback status.
So catching a bona fide bruiser in a public pond or stream merits some bragging. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Clearly, they are not.
That’s the reason for Colorado’s Master Angler Program that recognizes fishermen for success in their sport. And a lot of fishermen will tell you it’s the reason the camera was invented.
Big fish are also the reason many anglers pick up their fishing rods at all. And the abundance of lunkers coming out of hiding come spring offers all the incentive they could ask for.
“It took me all week, but I finally caught one that measured 40 inches,” said Bob Dye, a Denver guide who recently returned from his annual steelhead fishing trip to northern Idaho. After landing several 37-inch steelies on a public stretch of the South Fork of the Clearwater, he finally taped a personal best.
“It’s the most powerful fish I’ve ever caught,” Dye said.
Closer to home, anglers have been reaping rewards from last weekend’s opening of Spinney Mountain Reservoir in South Park, soon followed by boating access at nearby Eleven Mile State Park.
Eleven Mile regular Greg Sheldon unabashedly removed a pair of bruiser cutbows in the 8-pound range from the reservoir just before full ice-out last Tuesday. Meanwhile, Mike Deherrera of Denver has been landing the pigs prowling their way into the South Platte River just upstream for weeks, inching his way up to Spinney once the park opened to anglers.
“I’m glad to say Spinney fished very well for me on last Friday’s opener and again on Sunday before the winds picked up at noon,” Deherrera reported. “The river has produced lots of big trout the past couple of weeks, in the 8-pound range. San Juan worms were the ticket on hooking these giants.”
The giants are very much in play at the moment, but they’re going to take some effort. Just remember: When you find them, they’re also going to take some pretty pictures. Scott Willoughby: swilloughby@denverpost.com or twitter.com/swilloughby