Fished North Michigan Creek Reservoir

[fishinbenny]

First of all let me introduce myself since this is my first post on iceshanty.   My name is Ben,  and I found this website about a month ago as I was getting all my ice gear ready, and hoping to find early season ice.

I was so pumped to finally get out on the ice for the first time this season yesterday.  I convinced one of my buddies to head up from Fort Collins at 4am.  We were on the ice and dropping jigs and lures by 6:45. 

Conditions were great.  5-7" clear solid ice, with 2-3" semi frozen slush, and 5" of snow atop that near the north west end.  We drilled 15 holes with the hand auger, and started testing the waters before finally setting up the shelter in about 12-15 FOW.  The fish were very cooperative striking around 6-8 feet down.  We had our best luck using a gold spoon, and a white spoon with some pink to attract them in, and then hooked them on small jigs with a half of a wax worm.  They wouldn't strike if you were jigging much, they mostly hit our jigs that we were dead sticking.  After lunch we had to follow the fish deeper in about 26 FOW, where they were striking about 10-12' down. 

Yesterday was also my first time using an Ice Flasher.  My lovely wife got me a Humminbird ice-55 for an early Christmas present.  It was really cool to see how fish reacted to the movements and different bait. 

All in all we fished from 6:45am - 3pm, and between the two of us got 64 rainbows, and 1 small brown above the ice.  All 65 fish went back in the water to be caught again.  We even had 4 fish on at one time!!!  No monsters, the biggest one was about 15-16", most of them were about 11-13".  It turned out to be a truly epic day of non-stop action on the hard water.



Perfect Day!!!












These were the 4 that we had hooked all at the same time, one quick photo before returning them to the water.

[lefty2053]

Welcome to the site, I am sure you will like it here. Good job on your first trip out. I think I saw that lake on TV one day on channel 31 or 2 not sure which. Never been there,and I live on the Western Slope.

[fishinbenny]

Thanks Lefty, this lake was one of my families favorite spots growing up.  There are a lot of fish there, not many huge ones, but a great place to go if you want to get a lot of bites. 

[DoctorPerch]

Welcome!  That reservoir is underutilized in the winter and certainly has some numbers of fish, as you have demonstrated.  The Ranger Lakes nearby are also great in the early ice period.  You submitted a great report with all the details one might want to know.  Keep it up!

[fishinbenny]

Thanks Doc!

[lefty2053]

How the heck did you get that picture to fit on here?

[fishinbenny]

How the heck did you get that picture to fit on here?

Yeah Lefty, it's a bit annoying how big it turned out.  I'll have to try and re-size it when I have some time to sit down at a computer.

[The Woodsman]

Congrats on a wonderful day!

So...what type of Gold spoons and White spoons worked for you again??

Thanks!

The Woodsman

[Mountain Maggot]

Hey fishinpenny,

When I lived in Loveland, I took my boys (now 27 and 29) up there every winter...summer too.  It is a great fishery but the largest fish we ever got was 20 inches.  Staying in one of the cabins over New Years was a regular ritual.  Stopped going up there when the beatle kill took over figuring we could be trapped in a fire.  I warned the ranger who oversees the Forest when the kill was 5% and five years later it was 90%.  He didn't understand the severity. 

Haven't been up there in 4 years.  Maybe its time to go back with the boys.  Thanks for the good report.  Night fishing is a blast too with a hut.

[fishinbenny]

Woodsman,
we had luck with just about anything really, but I had some swedish pimples that seemed to be bringing them in, and also some narrow gold spoons, sorry not sure the brand.  Probably 1-1.5". 

Mountain Maggot,
I agree, I stopped going up there when the beatle kill got out of control.  Didn't go back until last summer my dad and I went back after fishing Long Draw in the morning. They have been doing a lot of clear cutting, and the place looks very different than I remembered.   But we caught a lot of fish! 

[Sawtooth]

I guess we drive by there every time we go to John, but I didn't know about the lake.  Are those yurts at the KOA there available for winter? 

[Bigassbassman]

Good report -  looks like a fun day up there!  And welcome to Ice Shanty.   

[Mountain Maggot]

Yurts are on State Forest not KOA.  Check the State Forest website for availability.  Unless you like to Xcountry ski or snow shoe, access to the yurts in winter is limited in that the roads to them won't be plowed.  You'll need to bring a sled to haul in supplies but the yurts are great.

[Sawtooth]

Yurts are on State Forest not KOA.  Check the State Forest website for availability.  Unless you like to Xcountry ski or snow shoe, access to the yurts in winter is limited in that the roads to them won't be plowed.  You'll need to bring a sled to haul in supplies but the yurts are great.

That's interesting.  Thanks.

[The Woodsman]

Thanks a lot Fishinpenny.
That's funny.  Before I read your reply I bought another gold Swedish Pimple for a stocking stuffer for my son.  The guy at JAX in Ft. Collins suggested taking a gold spoon and removing the treble hook, then tying on about a foot or so of line to dangle on the split ring below the spoon and tying your jig (and bait) on there.  This also gives you the advantage of more weight for a faster drop on the next "cast".

Happy holidays everyone!

The Woodsman

[fishinbenny]

Went back up yesterday with the wife and dog.  They made it about 3 hours fishing which is about how long it took to drive each direction with all the snow.  I probably only got about 30 min of good fishing in between cooking, baiting, and all that stuff.  The fish are still very active up there, we landed about 15.  They are biting a bit softer than the other day.  Dead sticking was the key.  Didn't have time to grab more waxies, so I busted out some old PB, and they sure went after that.  Had a good time, but looking forward to going after some Lakers next!