my shot of choice is a irish carbomb. i don't think you could handle one of those.
CPW State of the Fish meeting
Meeting is Monday February 29th at 7:00 p.m at the Silverthorne library. Come on up, learn alot, and let them know what you would like to see done to make the fisheries better. If your of age and not a ding dong like goldie I'll buy you a beer!
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Call me so we can knock back a frosty one.Unless I get caught up with dumb **** at work I'll be there.
Really wanted to attend the meeting but work and family duties called. How'd it go?
Macman, just saw your post. i was in the ER getting stiches in my elbow and X rays of my ribs during the meeting!! but here is the main things to note.
Blue river north may get degraded from Gold metal.
Green Mountian is doomed with the Gill lice and pike. No more rainbows or kokannne being stocked, kill all lakers attitude will never change, and there will be a $20 bounty on pike. The thought is to clear the kokanee and rainbows out for awhile to get the gill lice to subside,as well as to not feed the pike.
They are now getting worried at Dillon that the Arctic Char are going to compromise the kokanne by eating eggs and kokannee fry. There will never be any trophy protection for the browns or rainbows because they eat arctic char. Who knew fish weren't supposed to eat other fish??
Rainbow trout are the keystone of good fishing in colorado. Without them there would be no funding for fish management of any kind.Everything and every species takes a back seat to the mighty rainbow trout. Kind of a fragile species to bet all your money on.
Kokanne not so much. The avid kokanne guys are fewer than than laker and pike guys, and beginners and tourists rarely cathch kokannee. With out making beginners and tourists happy with rainbow trout. No money would be available for managing bass/walleye waters along the front range.
20+ inch rainbow in dillon eats lots of other little fish and will not discriminate.Rainbows don't eat Arctic Char.
300,000 Rainbow fingerlings are stocked annually for the sole purpose of growing some trophy Browns.
The Self sustaining Arctic Char population that they worked so hard for is a threat to the self sustaining mini Kokanee population.
Makes me oh soon glad I get to fish Saltwater, lol.
Heres a little secret. Big Bass, Walleye, Lakers, Pike, and Browns all eat stocker rainbow trout. Rainbow trout infuse insane amounts of calories into predators all around the state. Without stocker rainbow trout, trophy fish fishing would be scarce in colorado. And I don't see you bitching about catching rainbows below the Dillon dam.is there anyone on this site who actually prefers rainbow trout fishing ??? i know id take a trophy fish in 3 days fishing over a cooler full of dog food for the dog. the dog is really annoying with out her trout too! every morning during coffee time she barks at me to get a fish out the freezer.
Ther hoards of power bait fisherman are what pay the bills at the CPW. Some management is better than no management. There are many success stories across the state of successfull fish management. With out rainbow trout fishing, no money would be available to inhance thevwarm water fishing. What about this don'the you understand?)lvrider-You are exactly right. I would rather catch anything other than trout.
I live fairly close to Quail LK down at CS and every spring they stock rainbows 2 or 3 times. Many of them die at the boat ramp and the vast majority of the rest get caught within a week after the hoards of power bait guys show up. Most all of them are 10".
Thats what they call fisheries management? Its a joke.
If your a local business that benefits from fly fisherman coming in and out of town, this is real bad news.Is Blue River North the section between Dillon and GM? What impacts does degrading it from gold medal have?
If your a local guy that likes to fish the blue it's good news. Less out of towner pressure on the fishery.
When you take a look at all the licences buyers, like 9 out if ten are people who could care less what species they catch, they have little experience and gear, and they are people who fish very few times a year. The avid fisherman is by far a minority. Stocked Rainbow provide opportunitiy for people with out alot of gear or experience to catch fish. So say it one more time in different words. With out thr majority of liscenses buyers getting a tug on the line and having fun fishing, the fishing you like would not exist.You seem to think that all a weekend warrior type fisherman is interested in are hatchery trout. I would argue that if that is all that is offered to them, that is what they will pursue.
Why does it have to be trout that can't survive in many front range fisheries. Because people are too stupid to learn to pursue another species? Even I have a higher opinion of them than that.
Maybe you're right and the task of CPW is to provide put and take fisheries. But its not that way in TX where I am right now, or KS or Neb-what makes them different-because front range and eastern CO might as well be KS or Neb.
Yes there are very few real big rainbiws. The ones that are able to holdover through the winter have figured out how to eat mysis year round.Right. I have ponds full of big Rainbows and know that big fish eat little fish.
I was thinking that there were few Rainbows over 20" in Dillon and that they tend to habitat shallow water while Char for the most part were in deeper water.
The fingerling Char are on the shore lines during the summer eating chrominids. You can catch them on real small dries in the late evenings all summer long. Then when they were stocking the fingerling Char, the browns and bigger rainboes are around the boat ramps gorging on them.
I've been in love with trout since I caught my first one from the banks of Lake Dillon in 1977. I've been supporting the CPW since I bought my first hunting liscence in 1986, I been guiding tourists since 1995. I've sent countless letters, emails, and attended many meetings to let them know when I have thought they were totally wrong about lake trout predation . But that doesn't mean I dont support them. There are many many CPW fish management success stories.Fordo starts guiding filthy tourists and became 100% trout lover and CPW supporter.
smh
2
you kinda stumbled on to it...... Colorado has varying climates and many different types of waters. The rainbow trout was been found to be the most adaptable fish for hatchery rearing and new and different habitats in colorado.I feel the CPW can fix things to accommodate everyone and make co a premier fishing destination given all of the varying climates in our state...
.
By far, they are the most inexpensive guaranteed way to make sure there is fish to catch in our waters. Raising, stocking, and successfully sustaining bass species in Colorado isn't as easy as it is in nebraska or kansas, and the thing that holds the CPW back form expanding, and creating more bass hatcheries is money. Rainbow trout are what brings in the money, so again, with out rainbow trout there is no money for the fishing that you like. some of you bone heads just can't understand it! Like Z said, its a no brainer.
P.S I love rainbows
this fish really likes rainbows. and I really like him, therefore rainbows are good.
both fish are from the same reservoir, Go Figure!
Read Z mans post about elevation etc. Colorado climate is too volitile. Bass are not the right fish to be able to adapt to the climate in the VAST majority of the state. We do have decent bass fishing on the eastern and western sides of the state, and in those areas much of the management is centered around bass species especially in waters that have been able to sustain them.And if you stock bass in a low elevation lake there may be an initial cost that is more than stocking trout but the point is the bass are likely to successfully spawn and repopulate that lake and sustain themselves. With trout you have to go back again and again and restock to maintain a population.
So looking at the bigger picture, isn't it less expensive to stock bass?
Fordo-You keep asking me why I can't see the logic of your argument. Its not that I can't see it, its that I disagree.
What other fish is hatchery friendly and can survive anywhere from reservoirs on the eastern border to the colorado river at the utah border, and the highest frozen lakes in Colorado?
What other fish can be easily reared that can feed trophy fish that live in all environments in colorado such as largemouuth bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Tiger Muskie, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Ranbow trout and Catfish? Right now one of the hottest thing going for trophy largemouth and walleye fisherman is big rainbow trout swim baits.
And if your a kid that lives above 6 k, or who gets out in the mountians, a blue gill, bass, walleye, or perch isn't going to be your first fish. most likely its going to be a rainbow trout.
I cant believe any of you who value fishing in colorado would ***** about rainbow trout. You could call me cocky or whatever for some of my posts on here, but thinking your so good and awesome that "slimers" suck and are only good for dog food is pompus and ignorant as hell.
What other fish can be easily reared that can feed trophy fish that live in all environments in colorado such as largemouuth bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Tiger Muskie, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Ranbow trout and Catfish? Right now one of the hottest thing going for trophy largemouth and walleye fisherman is big rainbow trout swim baits.
And if your a kid that lives above 6 k, or who gets out in the mountians, a blue gill, bass, walleye, or perch isn't going to be your first fish. most likely its going to be a rainbow trout.
I cant believe any of you who value fishing in colorado would ***** about rainbow trout. You could call me cocky or whatever for some of my posts on here, but thinking your so good and awesome that "slimers" suck and are only good for dog food is pompus and ignorant as hell.
I'm tired of having "trout state" shoved down my throat. In your neck of the woods trout make sense Randy, in mine they don't. I know and understand the importance of stocker rainbows, but down here in smaller ponds they don't provide sustainable fisheries. Stocker trout are wasted in little ponds down here for a few good weeks of fishing and harvest when that time, money, and effort could be better spent with another species. Don't get me wrong I appreciate the bass food, but I'd like to see big bluegill populations in more ponds down here to put smiles on kid's faces all year long not just for two weeks.
Again I'm not discrediting or disputing the importance of stocker trout... It doesn't make sense to put a penguin in a reptile cage anymore than it makes sense to shoehorn stocker trout in every body of water down in my next of the woods simply because we're a "trout state" maybe we wouldn't be such a trout state if there was more effort put into other species.
Eric i disagree, given the CPW budget and man power, warm water species get good attention.
Even in your neck of the woods the colorado climate is not conducive to hatchery rearing, maintaining and perpetuating, blue gill, large mouth populations and such without spending a ton of money. It could be done, but i bet the cost is outrageous to do what you are asking. The CPW is low on budget, if it cost alot of money to do something your out of luck.
Atleast those ponds normally always have protection for bass, the lakes have protection for walleye all the warm water species in colorodo get protected.
Up here on the hwy nine and 40 still water we have one reservior out of all of them that has any kind of trophy fish protection, even at that, its for only one species in the lake. Other wise we get no protection on trophy trout and a kill all predator/ big fish are bad small fish are good mentality. Although trout are the cheapest, most adaptable fish we have in coloardo. Warm weater species in your neck of the woods get way more protection and conservation type management.
And i got tell you, as a kid the Linder brothers were my heroes after having bass fishing TV shows constantly shoved down my throat. About 45 other states in the union are bass states, its nice to a few trout states in the mix.
Big Goonie, The reservoirs along the front range do well supporting walleye and small mouth but once you starting heading west and get to about 6.5 k they do not. The only reservior we have in the mountians that I think could support walley and smallmouth is blue mesa. Where climate is right, they do a hell of a job rearing walleye at chatty, creek, P-lo. Tons and tons of the little lakes in the front range have killer fishing for saugeye and such. And whhen you have the opportunity to catch 30 plus inch walleye, in a climate that was never meant to have them, than you shouldn't *****.
If you look at the native ranges of walleye and small mouth they are nowhere near Colorado. Colorado has had trout since before white man showed up. The climate in Colorado and the fluctuating of our rivers and now reservoirs is too volatile, yes smallies and walleye can survive cool temps, but there is more to it than that. For example, Why don't the smallies in the yampa live past Craig? Colorado type spring run off, oxygen levels, varying seasons and many other factors make it so it is not condusive to raise and stock small mouth or walleye in the majority of Colorado
As far as some of the forage fish you mentioned we already have them. Most all of the cool water reservoirs are loaded with sculpin.
I dont know why you warm water guys are bitching. We have it all here in Colorado.
Take Eric Allee for example,he is a guy who grew up fishing trout, fished for trout like hell and caught lots of them. At some point that got old or whatever so he made the switch to bass and most have his outings are targeting Bass. He lives in Colorado, yet he is able to get into some pretty good bass fishing right close to home. Then when he wants to, he can get in the truck, Go jig beep for huge lake trout, or hit some beaver ponds with a fly rod to catch brookies on dries. No other fisherman in the united states have this luxury we do. Large mouth in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho? Nowhere near the quality we have in Colorado.
Now lets take the majority of all other hardcore avid fisherman in the United states for example. By far the most common and wide spread fish to catch in the whole country are bass/ warmwater species. Most fisherman across the country grow up fishing bass, at some point that gets old or whatever and they crave something new. Those poor suckers have to travel many many miles, they dont have the luxury of making a switch and spending lots of time targeting different species, they are stuck with what they got. Bass, bass, and more bass. So when you have a whole country that is loaded with bass everywere, but very few sweet spots in the country that has trout and things new and different you get tourism.
Tourism pays the bills, it keeps those killer walleye rearing operations going, the wiper stocking efforts going, pays the wages of game wardens and fish managers to work on propagating and protecting bass and walleye fishing along the front range.
If you look at the native ranges of walleye and small mouth they are nowhere near Colorado. Colorado has had trout since before white man showed up. The climate in Colorado and the fluctuating of our rivers and now reservoirs is too volatile, yes smallies and walleye can survive cool temps, but there is more to it than that. For example, Why don't the smallies in the yampa live past Craig? Colorado type spring run off, oxygen levels, varying seasons and many other factors make it so it is not condusive to raise and stock small mouth or walleye in the majority of Colorado
As far as some of the forage fish you mentioned we already have them. Most all of the cool water reservoirs are loaded with sculpin.
I dont know why you warm water guys are bitching. We have it all here in Colorado.
Take Eric Allee for example,he is a guy who grew up fishing trout, fished for trout like hell and caught lots of them. At some point that got old or whatever so he made the switch to bass and most have his outings are targeting Bass. He lives in Colorado, yet he is able to get into some pretty good bass fishing right close to home. Then when he wants to, he can get in the truck, Go jig beep for huge lake trout, or hit some beaver ponds with a fly rod to catch brookies on dries. No other fisherman in the united states have this luxury we do. Large mouth in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho? Nowhere near the quality we have in Colorado.
Now lets take the majority of all other hardcore avid fisherman in the United states for example. By far the most common and wide spread fish to catch in the whole country are bass/ warmwater species. Most fisherman across the country grow up fishing bass, at some point that gets old or whatever and they crave something new. Those poor suckers have to travel many many miles, they dont have the luxury of making a switch and spending lots of time targeting different species, they are stuck with what they got. Bass, bass, and more bass. So when you have a whole country that is loaded with bass everywere, but very few sweet spots in the country that has trout and things new and different you get tourism.
Tourism pays the bills, it keeps those killer walleye rearing operations going, the wiper stocking efforts going, pays the wages of game wardens and fish managers to work on propagating and protecting bass and walleye fishing along the front range.
Why are they low on budget and man power?
The current amount of tourism and amount of non avid, new fisherman buying licences only provides so much money. Alluring people to come to colorado, and making fishing fun and simple for everybody, so that new fisherman come out to fish again, again, and again is what brings in the dough.
when the rod bends and they feel the thrill, its more likely they will come back. Eventually those fisherman will graduate from powerbait and stockers, but power bait and stockers is what gets people in the door so to speak.
Its like a ski resort, with out the green runs, easy skiing, and masses of out of staters, they would never have the resources to build more lifts to access the terrain that makes the avid and real good skiers happy, who like us in fishing, are by far the minority.
So create regulations to support what populations of fish that we have. Or hire biologists that aren't rainbow trout whores.... Or maybe have biologists from states like Michigan, Maine, Wyoming, Montana or the Canadian Shield (places that have comparable winters)?offer their input on a better alternative to hatchery rainbows that's more self sustaining, for our higher lakes. Otherwise get used to arseholes like the old man in Heeney...
Either way if I just want to fish to fish, I'll stick to the region... If I want quality I'll go elsewhere and give them my money. I bet there's a great reason why slayer always goes north, or linh goes east all the time...
I'm done as well. They just stocked Webster and grand view with catchable rainbows... Hopefully the bucket assholes catch their fill before the bass start nesting.
I do just fine in these parts. No need to go elswhere for Quality, maybe for different species, but this region by no means lacks quality.
In 2015, i caught a 10 plus pound rainbow, (2) 10 plus pound browns, (1) 20 plus pound pike and numerous 5- 15 pounders, (3) 20 plus pound lakers and numerous 5 to 15 pounders.
that being said why can't we protect and heaven forbid have some [email protected]#kin pride in the fact that we do have bodies of water that can and will grow tanks if we simply protect them! You'd think the CPW would look at a fishery like Blue Mesa and pump their chests out a bit, yup we grow some of the biggest lakers in the west and it's only gonna get better. uhh....
I can go on and on.... I posted a blog about Ewert a month or so ago. We need more guys like Jon out there. He'll tell you the truth without sugarcoating it and if he disagrees with you he'll flat out tell you. .
Couple of statements I agree with 100%. Jon is doing a good job, especially with what resources he has and as much water that he is responsible for. I will ***** about him to my friends about trophy fish protection, and i have sent e-mails and posted on here in frustration disputing some things. But Jon gives out any info you ask for, , answers e-mails, and does seem to really love his job and care. So for that I won't complain.
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