Rig Question

[DanR]

What’s up everyone?   Hope the ice is nice out your way.  Just about to get enough ice to go fishing here in Boston, but will be in NoCo next winter.  Here we target pike, bass, pickerel, trout using tip ups and live minnows/shiners.  Do some jigging too, mostly for perch and whatever else will hit.  Is jigging for walleye, trout, wiper, pike, much more popular than using tip ups and bait?  Or most people go combo?  Also, does finding safe ice Dec. to March usually require a drive into the mountains?  Thanks a lot and keep the lines tight!

[Bigassbassman]

Hey Dan,
You’re visiting next winter?  That’s a ways away to start planning, 

I used to live in Newton, MA and I used to love fishing for bass with my Indian Hill tipups.

Unfortunately, only two fishing lines allowed out here in Colorado.  So you could use one tipup and one jigging rod.  Almost nobody uses tipups out here.  Also, no live minnows allowed above 7k feet elevation and west of the Continental Divide.

But good bodies of water like they have in New England are few and far between in Colorado.  In NoCo, you have Fort Collins which has plenty of bass ponds, but you can’t ice fish them.  Cool, right?

Yes, most people head to the mountains to target the holy trout.  For some reason (cash) CPW seems to hold the freakin slimer up on a pedestal above all the other lowly species like bass and pike.  In short, if you’re looking for an ice fishing destination that compares to MA, try another state.
 

We have ok options for walleye through the ice, however.  That’s one thing we have that I would target while you’re out here.  Something that you don’t really have back in MA!  And if you like fat slimers or lakers, we have a few places to find them out here.

[SLAYERFISH]

And in the mountains you can't use live bait.

And the ice this year is terrible. Worst in several years.

And the traffic jams in the mountains are EPIC. Don't go on the weekends, holidays, or if it's snowing!

[DanR]

Whoa!   Thank you both.  Suppose I could’ve just checked the regs to get started, but didn’t realize they’d be so wildly different.  Yea, making the move to Colorado hopefully over the summer.  Not a huge trout fisherman (yet) and targeting winter walleye may be more my speed, but I do love it all.  Never caught a lake trout.  My time will come. Yea man, Newton is close and I fish plenty of nearby ponds and lakes.  I’m in Medford.  Have to go out past MetroWest about now to find thick enough ice, but hoping to get a few weekends in close by as well. Did you find it pretty reasonable to figure out tricks of the trade to find fish when you moved out to Colorado? 

[DanR]

Also, suppose I’ll give away my tipups before I move.  Ha.

[DanR]

Lastly, are there winter days that have warm air temps and are devoted folks can take out boats on places with open water?  Or mostly everything locks up?

[SLAYERFISH]

Lastly, are there winter days that have warm air temps and are devoted folks can take out boats on places with open water?  Or mostly everything locks up?

Most of the lakes close to boating on Nov. 30th and re-open on march 1st. The reason is for "Aquatic Nuisance Species" inspections staffing.

No ice, no boating out of season. Its freekin ridiculous but it s the law.

Pueblo reservoir is the exception. Its open with inspections.

It's why I have yearly licenses for Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, and Wyoming!

[Bigassbassman]

Keep your tipups!  You can use 6 lines in some WY lakes and 5 in NE!

[DanR]

Wow, traveling really opens up the options and sounds like it’s quite necessary come winter.  That’s a lot of states to head to each season, but damned if it’s not a hell of a good reason to travel.   Gotta find them fish.  Yea, Wyoming isn’t too far, so that makes sense to keep the tipups.  Their regs sound closer to MA.  Thanks again SlayerFish and BigAssBassMan.  Keep the lines tight and will be psyched to see what you pull up through the ice this year.  Get em.