Hello all! newish Hardwater fisherman here to learn and brag!

[WesternSlopeFlyNIce]

Hey all. I'm originally from florida but moved to Northwest CO 3 years go.

Since then i've learned how to fish lakes and rivers for trout and some panfish.

I'm in the yampa valley

I fish the Yampa river almost exclusively (fly fishing) during warm months (with some fun lake action Chironomid style )

During hardwater i fish steamboat lake, stagecoach, and a couple others i'd rather not mention in public lol.

Here is my setup!
Any tips would be grately appriciated! i take many friends and coworkers fishing most weekends so anything to help them get on the trouts! (mostly trout fishing out here, i know a couple secret crappie spots though!)

[WesternSlopeFlyNIce]

P.S.

I'm looking for lakes on the north-western to mid western colorado areas and mid mountain areas to explore.

i really do want to go to the lake granby tourney but i dont have a atv or snow-machine.

How competitive could i be by just a hand-pull out there. i know granby is huge.

[JohnnyO19]

Can you ice fish Elkhead? I've always wanted to fish that lake.

[TimK]

Can you ice fish Elkhead? I've always wanted to fish that lake.

You can, but hardly anyone does.  The people of Craig would rather drive to stagecoach and eat slimers

[WesternSlopeFlyNIce]

Is "slimer" a fun word for stocker? they say there are Walleye in stagecoach. yet to pull one out though

But yes, about 15 or so years ago Elk head was drained due to a toxic spill ( thats the scuttlebutt anyway)

Fishing there is tough, there are CRappie, Big and Small mouth , Sunfish, and some quite large northerners if you can find them.

The crappie are smaller than what i catch at my sneakret spots. but they are delicious. ive been warned to not eat much out of there though, due to heavy metals.

I plan on heading out sunday afternoon with a buddy to try for the crappie bite! they say trout live there but i havent seen one.

Its safe, 8-12 inches. if you wander , be carefull. there are a LOT of creeks and springs that thin the ice in spots

[TimK]

Is "slimer" a fun word for stocker? they say there are Walleye in stagecoach. yet to pull one out though

But yes, about 15 or so years ago Elk head was drained due to a toxic spill ( thats the scuttlebutt anyway)

Fishing there is tough, there are CRappie, Big and Small mouth , Sunfish, and some quite large northerners if you can find them.

The crappie are smaller than what i catch at my sneakret spots. but they are delicious. ive been warned to not eat much out of there though, due to heavy metals.

I plan on heading out sunday afternoon with a buddy to try for the crappie bite! they say trout live there but i havent seen one.

Its safe, 8-12 inches. if you wander , be carefull. there are a LOT of creeks and springs that thin the ice in spots

Yes slimer is a term for stocker trout. 

[WesternSlopeFlyNIce]

oh yah , there are LOTS of stockers in stagecoach.

BUT, and help me with this
i'd guess after a year of living in the lake/river a stocker grows his fins back, his meat gets nice (if harvested in winter) and looks pretty similar to a wild trout ( excluding the hens, their heads stay tiny-blunt it seems)

but ive got some tasty (older) stockers out of the lakes here.

For wild trout- your best bet is the river, but they taste aweful. and i refuse to harvest from the river.

BUT: i've cought browns and brookies in both stagecoach and steamboat lake. you know them bois aint stocked!

[Vex-Um]

Stagecoach is full of snot rockets and slimers.

There are some very large cutbows. 

[Bigassbassman]

Welcome to the site!  Bass fishing in Colorado can't compare to Florida...but we have...ech...plenty of trout.   

[WesternSlopeFlyNIce]

Thank you sir!

I mostly fished saltwater when i lived in FL,
Snapper
Snook
Tarpon
Red/black drum
Yellowfin tuna
Sea-trout ( OMG delicious)
Whiting
Flounder
Sailcaits for days
and your odd Monkfish/rockfish/

[Bigassbassman]

Nice --- I miss the salt water, fished for stripers and bluefish a lot when I lived in MA.  And recently some reef fishing and offshore in HI.