[Zman]

On the heels of the other post on Pueblo I am lamenting what might have been...got to Pueblo around noon on Thursday...what a great summer day...for November 10th...water temp was 55...went with my longtime friend Dennis...mainly seeing if the wiper bite was still on in the coves...casted Rapalas and floated Hotdogs (live suckers) again...Dennis devoted both rods to bait...one a sucker and one with shrimp for cats...Dennis had the first monster on...it stayed deep and was huge...fought like a cat...he got it in but it made it to some tires and managed to snap the 30 pound powerpro he had...we never saw it...it was huge...he got bit a second time...this was on a large sucker on the bottom...hammered it and kept goingtried to turn it in a snagged filled area and it broke the Powerpro too...just clean...new line...and for those who think he doesnt know how to fight a big fish...he had the lake record wiper at Aurora of 13-9 ounces for awhile with 4 pound test line...way discouraging and exciting at the same time...sometimes you win and sometimes they win...late in the day had a wiper take a six inch live hotdog under a bobber...swirled on it but must have been nicked by the hook...he dropped it...the hotdog was absolutely crushed and mangled across the dorsal fin mid section where the hook was...that was the first day...optimism ran supreme on the second day...the weather was even nicer...the sad part is not one hit on bait or casting the entire day...I talked to some guys who were getting some good rainbows trolling small rapalas...funny thing is though...I had a great time...the fish that swim in that reservoir are among the biggest in the state...we were using big baits/lures targeting big fish...and we didnt get the job done when we had the chances...but it is a rush just knowing at anytime something bigger than you have ever caught could hit...there was always that hope...I saw some huge swirls (that werent carp)...I got skunked...infact we both got skunked but it didnt feel that way...there were chances and always optimism...that is why you go...to be outside and just have a shot...the amount of shad in that lake is incredible...the state record wiper is only a few ounces shy of the world record wiper...yes I said world record...Pueblo barely freezes...they are 10 degrees warmer on average than Denver...a longer growing season...the world record wiper swims in Pueblo reservoir...and for a shot at that I can go weeks without catching anything down there...

 

[daredevil]

aman brother 8)

 

[water]

You know what that lake needs. It needs a massive shad die off. If that happens I could see mutiply world records caught out of that lake. There is a 30 lb wiper in there for sure.

 

[TroutFishingBear]

It needs a massive shad die off.

That would destroy it. People will catch record fish out of there...believe me. My friend got two 8# walleye in the same day out of there a month ago.

 

[Neal/CO]

Hey Mark, are you netting your own suckers or buying them? Just curious. Does anyone here in Colorado use a cast net and get their own bait?

I goto North Carolina every summer for 10 days to see my family. We spend almost the whole time up at my sisters lake house on Smith Mountain Res. Every night we go out on her dock and throw the cast net out. It usually only takes about 10 throws to fill the bait well with the next days bait (about 75 4" Alewifes) with some monster Gizzard shad as a bonus. Last July we caught 40 nice stripers and probably a dozen big catfish downlining live bait. I have always wondered how well that technique would work here, if i could net some big gizzards? I bought a big cast net but have never used it here in Colorado.

 

[basshunter]

great report! This fall has been awesome for extended warm water fishing

 

[Zman]

Hey Mark, are you netting your own suckers or buying them? Just curious. Does anyone here in Colorado use a cast net and get their own bait?

Neal...unfortunately we were buying them...we usually dont...usually use lures...but they love hotdogs (especially if you sing the Oscar Meyer weiner song to them!)...we figured it was one of the last warm water trips for big fish down there so we sprung for a couple of dozen at Gander...I will use them for muskies under the ice if they croak...put them in the freezer...a couple of things on the catching of live bait...I know a lot of guys used throw nets and do really well for shad...I think it works better at night...

You can get chubs and suckers out of the SouthPlatte...below deep rapids from dowtown to the north...a little piece of worm on a size 10 hook below a dime sized bobber with light line like 4 pound and you can catch a bunch of them...I just didnt have time so we took the easier way out and bought them...