Not ready to stick a "Fork" in it yet!

[JohnnyO19]

The short ice season in the Metro area really has been a bummer for me, cus I really do love the hard water. So I packed up the 4 runner and hit one of my favorite lakes in Colorado. Parked @ 7:00, had my 1st fish by 7:30. Ice getting on the East side was Sketch, people were getting wet, But the lake conditions are the best I've seen in the past 6 years or so. Minimal snow on top, 12-14inches of ice, no wind, in fact, I never put on my coat the whole day. Fished 7:30-12:30 in 47 ft of water. Caught 18, biggest was 21in.  Nonstop action the 1st 2 hours, most fish were suspended, or wouldn't hit till they chased it half way up.



Tube jig, Shad, and silver buck shot did all the damage.




Kept 2 19 inchers to try Bigassbassman's fish cake recipe



We ate one fillet before putting the rest in the fridge, got to say, was the best tasting laker I've ever had! Never seen pink Laker meat before, (seriously! but definitely hanging for a great joke :-)

Storm and wind started to roll in, so I bolted. Couldn't believe there was already traffic on I-70 @ 1:45! Drove 4 hours + fished 5 hours = a great day! Not ready to put the auger away yet :thumb:

[Bigassbassman]

Great job up there, Johnny!  I fished GM Friday with Sawtooth and TimK, and I was going to hit your lake Saturday but it didn't happen. That lake has been fishing well this year, although I heard a few people say it was slow on Friday and Saturday.  That storm rolling in today must have stirred them up again.  Let us know how the cakes turn out!

[beeverfishing]

Nice catch..   Good to see you still have ice.  Noticed Denver has had some really warm temps last cpl weeks.  Course I assume that other places it has been much colder.
 -8 here in NW Pa.. forecasting -14 before morning.

[Sawtooth]

Wish I had been at your lake.  Got skunked at both GM and WF.  Congrats.

[JohnnyO19]

That lake has been fishing well this year, although I heard a few people say it was slow on Friday and Saturday.

You really need to be actively working the fish, I only caught 2 on a dead stick, and that was half way up in 24ft of water, because that's where the fish have been cruising. It's so funny, If I have a dead stick sitting on the bottom, when I move the flasher to check it, theres often a fish just staring @ my bait! A little jiggle, jiggle and BAM! But nothing with it still, just sitting there.

Also like I said, At least half of what I caught yesterday, I worked for a couple of minutes, bringing them up 10-15ft before they would commit. I even had one that missed it a couple of times, then I finally got him 5ft below the ice.

[TimK]

People were getting wet accessing from the east ramp?  I fished there Saturday off the east ramp and it wasn't showing any signs deterioration.  The lakers in that lake really really like to take jigs on the free fall, much more so than a retrieve.

[mtnhillbilly]

yeahme too... i picked one up on the drop and one when it hit bottom a couple weeks ago and that was it....

[JohnnyO19]

People were getting wet accessing from the east ramp?  I fished there Saturday off the east ramp and it wasn't showing any signs deterioration.  The lakers in that lake really really like to take jigs on the free fall, much more so than a retrieve.

Nope,  go farther South, by the camp grounds/ outhouse. About the 1st 5 ft or so all along that shoreline, towards the cliffs had been melted & refroze. There were safe spots, but you really needed to check. lots of open, standing water, along the shore, when I got off.

[Catfishking]

Nice job that lakes been good to me this year

[JohnnyO19]

 Hey Cat, You ever fish for Pike there through the ice?

[Catfishking]

No in the summer I catch them all the time but never have tried threw ice

[Bigassbassman]

When I fished that lake, I used a tip-up for the first half of the day with a small dead sucker in about 15-20 fow, but didn't get bit.  I'd think you could fish the inlet area or some of the shallower flats with a kasty, darter or similar, and probably have a pretty good chance at a pike.

[DanDANthefisherman1]

Hey Johnny, Those fish are full of crawdads, thus the pink meat.