[catfish_al]

Went out to Chatfield Wednesday (can you believe this weather). Started in the morning attempting to do the spooning thing with no hits. I used a silver prism Kroc and a blue/silver Kast. I fished over the side of the boat (like I saw Terry do on T.V. and I casted out jigging my spoon back. I fished in holes where I saw other boats at and fish holes where I graphed fish on or near the bottom. So what am I doing wrong. I have saw reports from other fisherman this past few days about catching fish this way. This is my first posting and I got to say that I find this forum to be great and the knowledge from its members is top notch. So any help that my fellow members are willing to give would be very much appreaciated.
I did manage to help my sister to catch her first fish (Trout) on my boat Wednesday. It only took 3 hours of trolling with a Rainbow Taildancer. The previous Wednesday, when the shad were still hitting the surface this same lure caught 20+ trout at Chatfield.
Keep those drags a screamin,
catfish_al
P.S. Being new to this forum, how do you post pictures?

 

[idratherbfishing]

this thread has plenty of information on picture posting. If you need more help let me know.

http://www.coloradofisherman.com/forum/index.php?topic=172.0

Dan

PS. Chatfield is a very tough nut to crack this fall. Much different from last year. I attribute it to the fact the DOW put about a 'billion' prespawn gizzard shad in this summer and they spawned very well. Another factor is higher water levels.

On the upside I am hoping this translates into bigger fish (both walleye and bass) in the future.

 

[tal0362]

Dan,

Aren't the gizzard shad the big shad, something like 12+ inches as an adult? I hope they they don't grow too fast, else they will quickly get too big for walleye and trout to eat. The fish I've caught this fall had eaten many smaller fish that looked a lot like the "shinners" I buy.

I too attribute the slower fishing at Chatfield this fall to the abundant supply of bait fish.

Ter

 

[don broeren]

Welcome catfish_al! The Kastmaster can be a decent jigging spoon but for walleyes there are much better spoons available. If you want to learn about jigging spoons for Chatfield walleyes, talk to Gene Metschke at the Gander Mountain in Thornton. Be sure and tell him Donald sent you. He is one of the most knowledgable walleye fisherman I know, especially when it comes to Chatfield. He's on the forum now and then, maybe we'll be lucky enough to get a reply from him on here. GENE, where are you???

TALO, you are absolutely right. Gizzard shad do get big, I've caught them to nearly 18 inches at Cherry Creek in the past. The little fish you were seeing were definitely shad, they do look similar to shiners when they are small.

The DOW moved a bunch of shad from Cherry Creek over to Chatfield earlier this year, fishing Chatfield has been tough for nearly everyone since then. When the water gets cold enough to kill some of the shad the fishing should improve, hopefully. The good thing about it is that every fish you catch should be nice and fat!

 

[idratherbfishing]

Dan,

Aren't the gizzard shad the big shad, something like 12+ inches as an adult? I hope they they don't grow too fast, else they will quickly get too big for walleye and trout to eat. The fish I've caught this fall had eaten many smaller fish that looked a lot like the "shinners" I buy.

I too attribute the slower fishing at Chatfield this fall to the abundant supply of bait fish.

Ter

Those are the gizzard shad. they grow quickly and reach a couple of pounds in weight. They grow quickly in a year the ones I am seeing now are around 3 inches in length. They won't be around much longer, I read they have a better than 90% winter mortality. They don't tolerate near freezing water well. As I said earlier I hope this translates into more, bigger and hungrier walleye and bass next spring...............

Dan

 

[Neal/CO]

I use spoons alot, both vertically (slabbing) and rip jigging from shore. There is one thing you can do to change the action of a specific spoon that is effective! If the particular spoon you are using seems to be falling down hard instead of fluttering, go with heavier mono. Everyone today is in such a hurry to make mono obsolete! I never use braids or light mono when spooning. The thicker the diameter of the line, the more hang time (flutter) you get. Once those shad start dying, nothin beats a properly presented spoon!

 

[fishinlooney]

I have to second the opinion Don gave about Gene at Gander!!! I've had the pleasure of fishing with Gene and he is VERY knowledgable and effective when it comes to catching fish just about anywhere.
I was out on Chatfield Wednesday with a couple of other great fishermen and we ended up catching 3 rainbows, 2 walleyes and 1 good sized smallmouth. The best fish was an unbelievably fat 18 inch walleye. It looked like a 3#er in the water but when we got it in the boat it barely hit the 18" mark. The other 15" walleye was really fat also. They are eating well out there! All fish were caught on spoons.
Catfish, way to get your sister addicted, I mean hooked. Don't give up on the spoons, you may have a long learning curve this fall an Chatfield but they do work. It sounds like you are fishing them correctly, you just have to get it in front of a hungry fish!

 

[Zman]

Thanks for the updates guys...I am off to Chatfield...hopefully it isnt for a shad filled skunk...we will try spooning...and drifting a large shiner on a second rod...maybe they will mistake it for a shad...talk to you all late tonight...