Name: Bill Stewart
Date Submitted: 5/23/2013
Dates Fished: May 21, 2013
Comments on C-45 Ranch Creek & Ponds
Although cold and morning snow showers, we had a great day. Nice property but water was high, fast and slightly discolored. No hatches nor rises seen. We abandoned the lower river (after confluence) and moved to upper boundary where we caught browns and rainbows in the many undercut banks. Copper (copper) Johns ruled.
Name: Wallace W
Date Submitted: 5/23/2013
Dates Fished: 05/22/2013
Comments on A-5 Shawnee Lake - Available May 1, 2013
When I arrived the air temp was 38 and the water temp was 46. There were fish rising to small midges in still water. By the time I got in the hatch was over and the there was some chop on the water. I did not catch a fish until 11am. Small Brown on a #12 Wooly Bugger.
By 12:30 the water warmed to 49-50 degrees and the fish became active. Again, they preferred still water, sun and waves would send them down. Nevertheless I was able to catch six 12 Browns on a #18 Griffiths Gnat. I also caught a beautiful 16 Bow on the Gnat and a 20 inch Bow on a fuzzy Ant. Eventually I caught a 23-24 inch Bow on Beadheaded PT below a Chubby Chernobyl and picked another 19 incher out of the inlet with the same rig.
I had to leave at 5pm when it looked like there was going to be another cycle of Midge hatches.
Streamer action was intermittent all day. The place should light up when it warms a little.
Name: Fabrice F
Date Submitted: 5/22/2013
Dates Fished: May 22, 2013
Comments on A-5 Shawnee Lake - Available May 1, 2013
Mostly cloudy day with temperatures in the low to mid-sixties. Started fishing around noon, initially targeting risers from the shore. I landed a nice rainbow on a dry but top action died down quickly, so I pulled out the float tube. The water was still surprisingly cold and may account for the fact that the action was generally slow all day.
After fishing a #8 black woolly bugger without any action for about an hour, I decided to go deep with a sink tip and a #6 brown streamer. I caught a nice 18-inch rainbow within a few minutes but then things slowed down again. After about 2.5 hours in cold water and little action, I decided to call it good. The lake has plenty of fish, judging from the number of jumpers I saw and top action in general. Once the water warms up a bit, I am sure the fishing will pick up as well.
Name: Steve Fitzgerald
Date Submitted: 5/20/2013
Dates Fished: May 19, 2013
Comments on A-16 North Fork of Big Thompson
11-5 pm, 50s/60s, overcast. Pond asleep on arrival, so I fished the creek first. Water clear but running quite high and hard. Fish hiding, but could be coaxed to take a bhpt or prince nymph if dropped where they were podding up for protection (behind rocks and slow water pockets).
Fished pond from 2-5, landed a dozen or so, about half on a midge on the surface, the others on a dropper (I found anything green would work, the fuzzier the better).
Not bad for runoff season and close to home.....
Name: Chris Wilper
Date Submitted: 5/19/2013
Dates Fished: 5/18/2013
Comments on A-12 Middle Michigan Creek
Started fishing about 9:30 with cloudy skies and temps in the mid 40s. The weather deteriorated through the day with high winds and temps dropping into the 30s. We caught 4 browns ranging in the 5-7 inch range and hooked one 20+ fish hiding under the bank. We tried dry dropper rigs with most of the hits on the dropper (BH prince nymph).