Larimer County Lakes

[IceBuster]

For those interested - I fished LonHagler (S.W. Loveland) today.  Activity was hot and cold.  We caught 5 and I had seen at least 10 more (trout) caught.  Lake Loveland had very slow activity.  Both lake held about 4" to 5" of good Ice.

Good Luck.......

[team ice]

Any news on the conditions up at Red Feather....How thick is the ice on the lakes, anybody having any luck?

[mountainscout]

The lakes in Red Feather all have around 20" of ice, fishing has been HOT! On opening day about a month ago at Dowdy we landed 115 trout between 5 of us: I got 30 out of that #. Parvin, West, and Bellaire all have thick ice as well.

[team ice]

Great!!! Thanks, may be a good place for this weekend.

[mountainscout]

I'll try this again:  Dowdy has been great this year. Larimer County closed access to the lake for the last 5 months, so the fish are big and they are hungry...here is a pic from earlier this year:

[mountainscout]

Let's get more discussions going about Northern Colorado!!!! All I read on this site deals with 11 Mile!!!

RED FEATHER LAKES!!!

[grncreek]

I wish I knew more about that area. I never seem to make it out that way. Heres a list of the lakes I fish regularly, chatfield, 11mile, taylor, twin, fourbay, blue mesa, and granby.  So for the most part I cant help, but I love reading about the area (or anything fishing) Hopefully someone on here fish's out that way.  I really want to learn more about those lakes.

[SUCKERMEAT]

I don't get out there as often as I used too I have found both Dowdy and West lakes to be good numbers lakes but mostly stockers. You can't beat either lake for a skunk beater.

[mountainscout]

Red Feather gets quite a bit of pressure, but they are some great lakes to pull large numbers of trout out of, since Dowdy was closed for 6 months, the fish there are bigger, usually fall in the 11-15 inch range, nothing huge, but big enough to be fun.

We went to Seaman Reservoir on Saturday, no action as far as trout, but guys were pulling perch at the banks. Plus, the North Fork of the Poudre has open water right there, so you can hit the river if the lake's dead.

[mountainscout]

Does anyone have any tips opn lake trout fishing? I've gone up to Chanbers Lake on top of the Poudre Canyon (Near Cameron Pass) and gotten skunked 2X in a row. I'm usuing the same bait that I would for rainbows...fishing out in the middle....I take it this is wrong...any advice?

[Prairiegoat]

Does anyone have any tips opn lake trout fishing? I've gone up to Chanbers Lake on top of the Poudre Canyon (Near Cameron Pass) and gotten skunked 2X in a row. I'm usuing the same bait that I would for rainbows...fishing out in the middle....I take it this is wrong...any advice?

Go to the trout section. There are discussions on bait for lakers. Also, the Alberta section has some good tips. Littleoldlady has caught some big ones on Cold Lake and she shared what she uses.

[SUCKERMEAT]

The most common way to fish for lakers is a White tube jig tipped with a piece of sucker meat. Jigging is usually the most affective way to fish it but you can catch them dead sticking also. Also fish deep and find structure. Good luck in your laker hunts once you hook one you will be hooked yourself.

[mountainscout]

Has anyone fished Red Feather/Larimer yet? The ice should be around 2-4"s, I haven't checked officially yet, but I see stress cracks on the lakes and the ice looks thick from the surface. We may try Dowdy this Saturday, but it would be nice to hear if anyone has already fished it!

[mountainscout]

We fished Dowdy on De. 1st. Good, not great. About 4-6" of ice, windy(as always). browns were biting more than the bows, we got 15 between 3 of us. A buddy of mine went up the next day and said that he was pulling one after the other out, but the wind blew them off after about 1.5 hours. It's been cold, so the ice should be about 8-10" by now.

[mountainscout]

I would blame lack of skill if I was new to ice fishing (and if I hadn't talked to a lot of other people on the ice), but ice fishing in Red Feather Lakes has been the worst this year. I am not even motivated to go. I don't know if Dowdy just got hammered over the summer, or if it's the water temps, or what. It SUCKS!!!!

...waiting for the water to thaw.

[4cator]

Nice fish, looks like you had a ton of fun!!

[benwyo]

Is any body fishing down there anymore?
Ben