[Zman]

From my boat...got out there about noon...got off about 7:30 pm...well I would like to tell you how great I did...but I couldnt fish my way out of a paper bag yesterday...I thought I had a good Walleye...but turned out to be a 14 inch smallmouth bass...caught him on a silver shad jigging spoon in twenty feet of water...I lost two walleyes on floating Rapalas...I tried everything...talked to one guy...he said it was better earlier in the morning...fish are right up against the dam...at least the males are...the females arent there yet...probably out in 20 feet of water at the base of the dam...watertemps varied from 43 to 47...seemed to be around 44 at the dam...so still about a degree low...I talked to quite a few guys...probably about a dozen boats out there...all had 0,1, or two fish...I talked to one guy who had 5...he was using an eighth ounce jig head with a chartruese twister tail...casting to the rocks of the dam with a steady enough of a retrieve to not get snagged...one guy didnt have any walleyes but had caught an 18 inch trout...wind was from the west...it was gorgeous out there...the Z just didnt do very well...

 

[Neal/CO]

That is interesting about swimming the grub along the rocks. I bought a bunch of ringworms and lots of 1/6 oz Gami long shank hooks. These things have an action like a slinky! They crawl thru debri on a steady retreive. I am going to experiment and see if they work. I lost over a hundred $ worth of Husky Jerks last spring on the rocks

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the good report Z.

How do you think I would do from the shore. Would I have any luck walking the shore along the dam? If so, what would you reccomen throwing out?

 

[QuickRelease]

As of tomorrow the dam is closed to fishing from 4 PM to 9 AM. DOW is doing their egg harvest. Fished Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM, mostly along the dam. Didn't catch a thing. :-[ Did see 1 fish caught from the dam. Looked to be a smallish trout.

 

[bigtime36]

I hit Chatfield up this Saturday, got there about 7:00 AM and statyed till about 4:00, water temp was any where from 44 to 47 degrees the warmest water being over the islands by the swim beach. I started by the dam in the AM and caught 2 16 1/2 in. Walleyes useing a rainbow trout crank(smaller sized crank), after that went south i trolled the east side of the lake opposite of the wsim beach and caught another 16 1/2 in. Walleye with a brown Rapala. After that I headed to the West side and the trolled the islands out from the beach, hooked up with an 18 incher there in about 13 ft of water, it good there where the water depth ranges from 30 - 9 ft of water about 300 yrds out of the swim beach. I was useing a Rapala lookalike when i hit the 18 incher, not sure the brand, got it at Cabelas a few years ago, but worked like a charm... Well thats it for now and good luck to all. Let me know if it picks up out there....

 

[bigtime36]

Mustang,

I would recomend useing smaller cranks from the shore of the dam, you dont want to get to deep seeing that you will hit the bottom and snag, and also use some smaller spoons, the water is only about 8 ft deep 75 ft from the dam so try that and some floating Rapalas and you may have some luck there...

 

[Zman]

Mustang...

Big time is right...use floating Rapalas in 5, 7 and 9...reel slowly...no extra action...I have walked that dam plenty in the dark before most knew Walleyes existed in there...over 10 years ago...it is a nasty dam in the dark...small rocks that move...go out before dark and get situated and get a feel of the speed you need to just stay above the rocks and not get snagged...you will get lots of hits right at your feet...they come in real close to feed...cast at an angle to shore to maximize your lure in their feeding zone...most of the time it will be a couple of feet or less...wear a headlamp...get a white and red bulb one...the red is better after dark for tieing lines...the hard part after dark is the eye in the dark...I always tried to not use light...didnt want to scare them from the shallows...if I used light I always turned around and put my body between the light and the lake...I always tried to keep from shining on the water at least until I was leaving...if you keep fish and are moving...take several of the cheap 50 cent plastic cord stringers...you can pick up fish on your way back...just tie them around a rock...you will be the only one out there...you can fish from the tower to the boat ramp cove during spawning season...where the nets arent...Walleyes come into there...dress warm...the cold pours out of Waterton Canyon once the sun goes down...you can feel it come across the lake...its like someone left the freezer open...have your drag preset...and dont give up after a couple of fishless nights...there are plenty in there...I think there are too many for the forage base...you will get them...good luck!