South Dakota to Colorado

[SDPerchPounder]

I just accepted a new job in Colorado Springs and will be moving down at the end of October.. I haven't been able to do much research on fishing in the area, so I thought I'd drop a note in here. I have a few questions maybe you guys could answer for me.

1) Is it worth keeping all my ice fishing gear? What a painful thing to even think about.. I assume there's some ice fishing up in the mountains but I don't know much about it. Any advice would be great. I know very little about the area.

2) Are there Walleyes in the Colorado Springs area? A quick search told me there are Walleyes in the Pueblo Reservoir but maybe you guys could help me dial it in a little better. Times of year, presentations, shore fishing spots, etc. just the basics without giving your honey holes.

Any information would be helpful for me, not opposed to taking up fly fishing either. Just looking for some general areas to fish somewhat close to Colorado Springs. Thanks in advance, guys! Looking forward to the move!

[Baetis62]

Hi SD
Definitely keep your gear.  We have great early ice at 11 Mile and Antero for big trout.  Some Pike too.  That’s not a long drive from CS.  Look at Aurora, Chatfield and Cherry Creek reservoirs in the Denver area for Perch and sometime Walleye.  Keep your eye on IS for conditions because metro spots can get funky pretty quickly. If your willing to drive further consider Granby and Williams Fork for Lakers and Rifle Gap and Harvey Gap on the west slope for perch.

[stinkyfingers]

Congratulations on the new job. By all means bring your ice tackle though what you'll find is not much like the Dakotas. From the Springs on south is pretty sketchy on making fishable ice. Also, down here you'll need to travel a while to find good warmwater species like saugeye and crappie. This is trout country. Mountain lakes like Elevenmile, Antero, Tarryall, Skaguay. The passes west of Denver will put you on some other good lakes for lakers. There are also Northern to be had which is what I often chase.
 A good source for tackle, bait and fishing conditions is Colorado Tackle Pro who are on the west side of the Springs. They sponsor this board. Chris is a good guy and is dialed in.
Larry Falk at 11milesports knows his lake and is convenient but can be an ordeal to do business with.

Good luck.

[SLAYERFISH]

Prepare to be brutalized-

[stinkyfingers]

Prepare to be brutalized-

Yeah, Slayer makes a good point. He's one of the 10%. The bite can be mighty tough. Personally, I've fished Elevenmile for about 40 years and there is not a man who walks the Earth who has been skunked at that heartbreaker more than I have. If you can't live with misery and bitter disappointment it might be as well to leave the ice tackle back in South Dakota. That being said, those Denver boys have a few choice perch lakes though they're shy about revealing the locations with all the lurkers about.

[Bigassbassman]

Congrats and welcome to Colorado!  Nah...don’t bother bringing your ice gear...

Unless you enjoy a “short” ice season that often lasts from October in the high mountain lakes, until April or even May up high.  Trout galore...slimers out the yin yang.  And even a few bass, eyes, and — yes, the occasional perch. 

[lostbrit]

I live in the Springs also, I fish antero and the mile a fair amount (about hour and half drive to the mile and hour fourty five Antero) Antero is the better lake IMO. Funny enough my works in Sioux Falls.

[SDPerchPounder]

Thanks for the tips guys! I don't mind going for Trout, may take some time to adapt and learn how to fish for them but I don't mind the challenge.

[bronvike21]

Hey SD. I also hail from NE SD although I've been here 25 years. Go back to Watertown and icefish every year. If you are ever up in Fort Collins or want to make the trip, I would be glad to show you some spots.

[ShuMugen]

Welcome to Colorado. IMO Slayer is the guy to talk to about Walleyes, but the Fishing can be a bit Tuff here for Open water. I Personally think its just as hard during Ice, unless you explore  . A lot of the local pond and area don't allow Ice fishing, but since the sport has picked up some cities are starting to allow it but your major state parks are the best bet.  Monument Lake maybe the closes to Colorado Springs, but does hold some great ice Trout and 2" perch, Rumors states there are Eyes, but I have only fish that little pond when I am volunteering with the disable Vets. 

[Vex-Um]

I moved from SD 5 years ago to Denver area.  You'll be shocked by the fishing opportunities. I didn't think there were any except for slimers when I got here.  Walleye and perch are easy to come by if you apply the same methods you use in SD. A lot of methods that are regularly used in the midwest are barely utilized here, and they produce.

There are big pike in certain lakes, and its a ton of fun to chase big lakers too.

[SDPerchPounder]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

I've now gone fishing twice. 0 fish to show for it. Hoping to have some better luck on the ice. I've fished Sprinney and Elevenmile, it's been rough.

[dntbeamenace4031]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

I've now gone fishing twice. 0 fish to show for it. Hoping to have some better luck on the ice. I've fished Sprinney and Elevenmile, it's been rough.

Hey SD don't take it too personally, great fish in those lakes but 11-mile in particular can be a fickle beast.  A few other CO members might chime in and tell you the truth about their experiences there....except Slayer he does in fact slay them at the mile.

[callovthemackinaw]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

I've now gone fishing twice. 0 fish to show for it. Hoping to have some better luck on the ice. I've fished Sprinney and Elevenmile, it's been rough.

elevenmile sucks.   I hate that effing lake so much even though arguably, it produces the biggest trout in the state.   

with that said, the thing with that place is, its way more about when then where.    try early mornings and late afternoons when the sun goes down, and pound other previously drilled holes with things that piss off the trout, like spoons and such.    kinda learned with trial and error, persistence is key there.

Theres lots of good ice north of town that forms, and if youre willing to drive... youll find good warmwater spots for decent panfish.   peep the CPW management reports for the lakes in CO and itll give you a good clue where to start looking.   

[SLAYERFISH]

....except Slayer he does in fact slay them at the mile.

Oh well- Everybody's good at something!

[stinkyfingers]

elevenmile sucks.   I hate that effing lake so much even though arguably, it produces the biggest trout in the state.   

with that said, the thing with that place is, its way more about when then where.    try early mornings and late afternoons when the sun goes down, and pound other previously drilled holes with things that piss off the trout, like spoons and such.    kinda learned with trial and error, persistence is key there.

Theres lots of good ice north of town that forms, and if youre willing to drive... youll find good warmwater spots for decent panfish.   peep the CPW management reports for the lakes in CO and itll give you a good clue where to start looking.   

That lake can beat the heart out a man but it will sure sharpen up your game. I'm the Wilt Chamberlain of Elevenmile skunks, setting a record of futility that will never be

equalled. While you can always catch little fish at some of these other lakes, when you do finally score at the Mile it's almost certain to be a beauty. Guess that's why we still flirt   

with pretty women even if we don't really have a snowball's chance.

[Husker95]

I love 11 Mile and Spinney and spend most of my time there - both hard (11 Mile only) and soft water.  They are both great fisheries with amazing trout and pike opportunities.  A couple years ago one of the Tightline boys put a 30 pound pike in the boat @ Spinney - no joke.  But they can both be cruel and fickle - especially the Mile.  Everyone who fishes there regularly has a confidence strategy and most are pretty simple.  I asked Slayer on this forum years ago for some tips and he said "....14-15 FOW with a Kastmaster banging off the bottom."  That works.  So do tube jigs shallow and football jigs on deadsticks.  You have to spend time on these lakes to develop your plays - more so than maybe any lake ive ever fished.

11 Mile is like your high school girlfriend.  One day she'll make out with you and say she loves you.  The next day she wont return your calls, pretend she doesn't know you and worse - she'll go to the movies with your best friend.   

[callovthemackinaw]

yuuppp...

one of the best days i had at the mile was when i showed up to suckers cove....   and it was tent city.   i went to the other side and fished for a couple of hours until the crowd took off in disgust.   (suckers cove gets beat up worse than any other place at the lake) and... at 5 pm, i returned and fished their holes and had the area to myself.    within 30 minutes, i had 2 football trout and 2 pike on the ice, bouncing kastys.     that day i learned its way more about when than where.    trout there always show up at the same place at different times.   just gotta know the "when."    the "where" and "what" is pretty common sense otherwise... 

i also had many days on the ice there previously.... eating crap, throwing everything i could at them trying to figure out the bite.   

still, eff that lake.   id rather fish up north.   

[arkansas angler]

Early ice at 11 mile can be great. Later when the entire lake ices up, and the fishing pressure increases, I’ll take a long hike to get to areas that aren’t fished as much. Get a topo to find the spots less accessible. Like callofthemackinaw said, timing is everything. Early and late are almost always better. Antero and 11 mile get a ton of fishing pressure, so fish at times and places where and when most others don’t. Also bring a flasher. A lot of times you get one or two chances, so you don’t want to miss them...