Empire Lake A-18 : Log Book Entries


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71 entries found

Name: HW Date Submitted: 5/19/2013
Email:
Date's Fished: 5/19/13

Commments:
I had a very nice day on Empire Lake. Don’t ask me why, but the first thing I tried was something called a Tubs Indispensable. It is a yellow wet fly that I tied several winters ago when I was bored and trying to fill a streamer box. I have never fished this fly before, but I caught a very nice rainbow right of the bat while I was trying to get settled in my float tube. I fished for the rest of the day, with the weather changing from sunny and warm to snowing and blowing, without ay luck; welcome to spring time in the Rockies. The fish may have been my first, last and only trout of the day, but it was also the biggest fish I have caught in the last three or four years. This is a great place to take your float tube and hangout for a day.



Name: TRatternab Date Submitted: 5/13/2013
Email:
Date's Fished: May 13, 2013

Commments:
Fished Empire Lake on May 12, 2013. Water temp was about 55° - although it felt colder. Air temp about 65°.

Two of us fished from 9:30 – 2:30. There were occasional rising fish but no bugs were apparent. Best fishing was at inlet which comes under Bard Creek Road. Hooked 6 rainbows, landed 4 (about 17") all on steamers. The black crystal wooly bugger was our best fly. Caught two suckers on BH nymphs.



Name: CHEF Date Submitted: 7/26/2012
Email:
Date's Fished: JULY 23 2012

Commments:
Fished the evening on Monday, had the lake all to my self. The rain and lightning forced me off the lake twice. The fish were happy and rising to caddis. Most of the fish were stacked in the inlet most likely because of the water temperature. I caught several on the stimulator and a couple on the dropper. all in all great time just watch out for the lightning.



Name: ET Date Submitted: 6/2/2012
Email: etwele@comcast.net
Date's Fished: May 23, 2012

Commments:
Very nice day, but very breezy. Saw several fish but only managed a few to the net...5 total. They were all pretty nice size though 16-21 inch rainbows. No secret fly or nympth, but a foam beetle & BH Black PT seemed to get the most hits.



Name: Tom Farrell Date Submitted: 4/25/2012
Email: tdfarel@aol.com
Date's Fished: 24 April 2012

Commments:
I fished A-18 today from 1030 - 1430 hours. A beautiful day with sunny skies, light winds, air temp at 75 degrees. Water was clear. No surface activity noted during the period. I dedicated most of my efforts to the bridge area. Several fish were observed "cruising" this part of the lake. I suspect that many of the cruisers were recently stocked fish. Tried a variety of flies to include midges, small BH patterns and small Carey Bugger's. Changed to a #16 Steeve's Firefly and landed 6 fish from 15-18". Lost a few other fish to this beetle pattern. I fished the Firefly to the banks and was met w/success. Landed one more fish on a #16 Wet Black Ant. A good day...



Name: Gary Godden Date Submitted: 7/5/2011
Email: gwgodden@comcast.net
Date's Fished: July 2, 2011

Commments:
Fished from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Great weather all day. Warm and sunny with very little wind. Tried various streamers and nymphs at various depths with no success. Finally, the only pattern that got results was a #16 Black Foam Beetle on the surface. Caught probably a dozen rainbows and 1 brown ranging from 14 - 18" on it. They would attack it even after the legs had been chewed off. Even caught a nice fat 20" carp on the beetle while slowly trolling it. That carp put up the best fight of the day. Most action between the outlet area and the bridge. Strangely, I saw no fish stacked up at the inlet stream. After lunch, while I was stepping off the bank to get into my float tube, I heard a loud commotion in the willows just 50' away. Out comes a cow moose with two young ones! She stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do and then proceeded to wade into the lake and swim across it with her calves in tow, disappearing in the willows on the opposite bank, headed up the Bard Creek drainage.



Name: Drew Date Submitted: 7/5/2011
Email: drewa@reconstructionexperts.net
Date's Fished: June 24, 2011

Commments:
Perfect weather for the day - 2 of us in float tubes, and another club member shore fishing from the bridge area.
All in all, there was no real rhyme or reason to which flies they took - we switched often... probably just best to list in order of success.
TOP FLY to LEAST FAVORITE
Red or Root Beer San Juan, Black Prince Nymph, Purple Prince Nymph, Tiny Spinner. The flies that had ZERO success were and streamer of any kind and large dries. "The Trough" running from bridge to parking lot produced most of the fish (about 12 total).



Name: Doug Wells Date Submitted: 6/11/2011
Email:
Date's Fished: June 10, 2011

Commments:
A beautiful day in the mountains, in the 70s and not a cloud in the sky. Between three fisherman caught 8 or 9. All rainbows averaging around 16 inches but broad in the shoulder. The fish are heavy and healthy. The water has more color to it than unusual due to runoff. All fish caught on small black streamers or small black midges with a splash of red. They were interested in nothing on the surface.



Name: Nitro Date Submitted: 6/7/2011
Email: tdruggish@gmail.com
Date's Fished: May 6, 2011

Commments:
Took a few nice fish on streamers. Between the 3 of us we just couldn't break the code on the wooly bugger streamer thing. In the afternoon the fish rose and we took a fair number on Adams.



Name: Steve Fitzgerald Date Submitted: 5/11/2011
Email: sfitz88@comcast.net
Date's Fished: 5/7/11

Commments:
A spring ritual for me, a visit to Empire Lake. Did not disappoint. Fished from about 9:30- until 6:30pm, warm, sunny day (not ideal conditions). Fishing was best from 10:30-4, when the fish went deep and to sleep. The successful fly was simply a black bh copper john, and sometimes a bhpt, both small. I suspended them between 4 and 1 feet beneath the surface, depending upon where I was fishing. Of the 20 or so I caught, all but three took the dropper....the other three took a small para midge that I was using as an indicator. One of those, happily, was 25".

The deep end near the drain was, as usual, the most active spot. I will say that the water appeared lower than in years prior at this time, I suspect the heavy snowpack and continued cold is delaying runoff. Thus, Empire Lake -- while good now -- may be even better later this month into early June.

Keep moving, share the "money hole" with the other RMAC anglers that are with you when you visit, and be sure to also sneak a fly around the corner against the willows from the bridge. Tricky.....but worth it (a big boy lives right underneath the evergreen).



Name: B. Helms Date Submitted: 4/25/2011
Email: helmsb@msn.com
Date's Fished: April 22, 2011

Commments:
Temps in the high 30s to low 40s... high winds gusting to 40 mph. Hooked and landed 1/2 dozen nice rainbows in the 16 - 20 inch range. Hooked but did not land a brown trout that looked to be 25+ inches... guess the 4X tippet wasn't quite strong enough. All fish were down deep and caught on BH nymphs (copper john, pheasant tail, hare's ear)... no action on streamers or terrestrials. Good day considering the windy conditions.



Name: Brian Vincent Date Submitted: 4/23/2011
Email: blv87@sbcglobal.net
Date's Fished: April 15-16, 2011

Commments:
Fish not very active. Caught several fish but they did not put up much of a fight. But still caught one over 23 inches and two more 20 inches.



Name: BH Date Submitted: 11/1/2010
Email: helmsb@msn.com
Date's Fished: Nov. 1st, 2010

Commments:
Weather much nicer than predicted... temps in the 4os w/ bright sunshine. Unfortunately, the fishing was slow. We were able to sight fish to several large trout... they would turn and chase but wouldn't strike. Tried every color and pattern (streamers, dries, nymphs) but had little success. The cold temps at night and the fact the lake was frozen last week didn't help. The 2 fish that were hooked didn't give much fight as they were dragged to the net.



Name: Chef Date Submitted: 10/6/2010
Email: epferncreek8@aol.com
Date's Fished: 10/4/2010

Commments:
My wife and I fished empire lake and had a great time. We caught several large rainbows and i caught a mackinaw did not know they were in there. lots of fun floating around the lake. Fall is certainly here. No real hatches to speak of except tiny midges and white woolly buggers.

Editors note: There have been rare reports of Tiger trout in A-18, they resemble "macks" in color and pattern. Tiger trout are a cross between a brown and brookie.



Name: MG52 Date Submitted: 6/23/2010
Email: rprov_ca@netzero.net
Date's Fished: 6-22-2010

Commments:
Warm and as usual with me - WINDY.. But that is okay because it was a great day. Not a lot of fish but really great quality in the 3 that I landed. Smallest at 16 and the largest just shy of 20. Green was the magic of the day. There are a lot of small fry along the edges and if you can get something to look something like them and get it to the deeper water the big ones are waiting. Many refusals for the day and with lighter tippet I got more takes but also more breaks. Looking forward to a day when the wind will let me tube this water and I can work the far side around the brush. The grass is always greener when you can't get to it.



Name: Chef Date Submitted: 6/22/2010
Email: epferncreek8@aol.com
Date's Fished: 6/20/10

Commments:
What a way to spend fathers day. My father in law Larry & I fished from 8am until 1pm hooked several nice fish on stimis , mostly rainbows, but you had to get the fly right up under the trees. A little wind a lot of sun and even more fun.
Great little lake so close to Denver, can't wait to go back in the fall for big browns.



Name: Rick Date Submitted: 5/29/2010
Email: rick@locumtenensusa.com
Date's Fished: May 26, 2010

Commments:
My first time at Empire Lake and it will not be my last. My buddy and I started fishing about 8 and went till almost dark. Kept catching fish and just could not stop. We used various dry flies with the most success on Adams and Griffiths Gnat. Don showed up right after Dave landed a beautiful hog and I got my beast just afterwards. Don was talking Big Fish Hall of Fame! Thanks to the owners of this property and the club...great job.



Name: Kevin Date Submitted: 5/24/2010
Email:
Date's Fished: 5/22/2010

Commments:
Fished from 8-2. Headed back up to try to land a few of the toads that eluded me the previous trip. Third cast brought a nice 18" male bow to the net. A few casts later and i was into a larger fish. The fish took me into my backing and across the lake. Being i was on foot and afraid of being spooled i had to lob my line over the willows as i chased him down to a clearing where i could fight the fish safely. Ten to fifteen minutes later i have a fish around 27-28" and well over 10# in the net. All this before my fishing buddy had even showed up so i had to snap a quick pic of the fish in my net and revive him for 8-10 minutes before he was ready to go.

After taking a lil break after the hawg i figued id throw it out there a few more times. My friend had just showed up and was gearing up at the parking area. After a few casts and a few strips...BAM! Another large fish on the line. The fish was a tiny bit smaller but still very large.I yell out for my friend to get down to me so i could have a bit of help landing and getting a pic of the fish. This fish fought for a few minutes and i had him in. He had a huge kype and measured around 24". He was probably around 7-8#.

The fishing slowed from around 10-12 and then picked up again. Fishing deep with long leaders and big streamers seemed to be the ticket. After casting for a bit i had another LARGE fish take some swipes at my fly right as i was bringing it out of the water. Casting it right back to the last spot the big fish was seen and BAM...AGAIN! This fish was very big and brought the line deep into the lake. After a few minutes of fighting this fish we got him in. Another fish around 27" - 28" and over 10#.

After another break we hit it hard again. My friend was suspending emergers and midges under an indicator and had some luck. I stuck to the streamers as it was (very) successful most of the day for me. Figured id get a few more casts in before heading down the hill ealry in the afternoon. A few strips and BAM. Had another very big fish on the end of the line. Got him in after a few and had a nice male bow of around 24" and 7-8# in the net(which had some of the rubber netting rip due to the size of fish being netted!!). Spoke to the landowner and he told me that he has put 20# trout in that lake but has only seen one as large as 15# landed out of it....something to shoot for...haha!

All in all a great day with some of the largest fish ever netted(and photo'd) personally. Had many other smaller fish(18"+) landed as well. Will definitely be back next spring!



Name: gerry Date Submitted: 5/24/2010
Email: ctchnlego@aol.com
Date's Fished: 5/22/2010

Commments:
A good day at Empire. The morning was slow, but it picked up in the afternoon. The smallest fish to the net was 16", and the largest (by my nephew), was a measured 24 1/2" slab bow. The wind blew from 5-35 on and off. Flies that worked in no particular order. Amy's ant, stimi, triple double, black slumpbuster, olive bugger, white bugger, hot wire prince, black beauty,rojo, beetle. There were a few midges on the water in the afternoon when the wind was down enough for them to float on the surface. Large (sz18), and with a rusty color abdomen. The fish took a few adults, but were keyed on emergers which I never really matched. Dry dropper rigs took most of those fish with the black beauty probably most productive. Lots of noses on the fly without takes. Fun. Please remind everyone to wet their hands before releasing fish. I saw 2 dead fish and several with "white" finger marks from improper handling with dry hands. Best, G



Name: Steve Fitzgerald Date Submitted: 5/21/2010
Email: sfitz88@comcast.net
Date's Fished: May 16, 2010

Commments:
A good day on this great pond, a spring tradition for me. Arrived at 9, and had hooked 4 fish by 10:30, all at the deep pool at the end, and all on droppers two feet below the surface (bhpt and green copper john). One was about 23", others all big, strong, healthy fish. Then did a lap of the pond and enticed 4 or 5 more of the cuisers to take a dry midge, bhps near the surface, or an olive bugger. Saw a U-boat left over from WWII cruising around, but it ignored everything I threw it's way. I used a 6x tippet....larger got me ignored. Still possible to land the biggies on this, but you will lose some.

Very sunny day, and as the day wore on, the fishing slowed to the point where lunch and a nap were in order. From 12-5 caught just a few and saw very little activity.

As usual, waiting for sunset was worth it. NEVER leave this pond until you can no longer see your fly. Between 6:30 and dark, caught at least a dozen, including no less than 6 20" or better. Was towed by what turned out to be a 26" steelhead for 10 minutes. Revived him, tested the hook, kicked back to the deep end....and hooked his brother (24") for another ride. Was an absolute blast. The trick is a dry you can see as an indicator (I used a small para BWO, but I really don't think it matters), with the smallest red nymph you have about 1.5 - 2 feet below. I stayed with the 6x until the sun went behind the mountain (and was able to land the big one above on it), then switched to 4x as the light disappeared and the fish became less choosy.

Somewhere north of 20 fish landed, a good 5 or so hooked and lost, some whoppers, and playing to fish all day long. Great RMAC day.



Name: Kevin Date Submitted: 5/17/2010
Email:
Date's Fished: 5/15/10

Commments:
Fished from 10 - 4. Fish were in the normal places. Werent too eager to chase a fly but we got some on slumpbusters, woolys, rs2, stimis. The fish woulld come up to the fly and reject it. I had at least ten different times when a fish would come up and nudge my dry with his nose and then swim off. Very bizzare behavior. And this was with 6x and 7x tippet. Also had fish reject the fly until we would begin to bring it back in. The fish would then turn and chase the nymph and even the dry when stripped back under water. Caught a nice bow on a stimi while stripping it back to shore.

Had two very large fish take my slumpbuster. One had the fly pop out and the other broke off 2x tippet almost immediately after hooking up.



Name: Gene & Kris Edwards Date Submitted: 5/11/2010
Email: genoedwards@comcast.net
Date's Fished: May 7, 2010

Commments:
If size matters....and we all know it does...you shoulda been with us today. Yep, it was windy and yes the sight fishing to the cruisers was difficult as usual. They are awfully picky. But if you like to chuck and duck streamers in the wind like I do, they were the ticket today. Black and blue slump buster was the most popular bug today. Now if I told you I caught a 10 pound rainbow I know you would think that I don't really know what a ten pound fish is. That's what I said to myself when Don told me another member had a 12 pounder or so on a few days earlier. Well I'm telling you, I didn't have a scale but Im really believe 10 pounds is a very conservative estimate. The fish came in at just under 29 inches but the body width and depth was at least 1.5 times as big as any fish I've caught before. BTW I backed it up with another one that was maybe a couple of inches and one pound smaller. In all we caught 7 fish apiece in just over 3 hours and Kris caught all of hers on a smallish black beauty or red copper john under a stimulator. All of mine on the black slump buster and an olive flash bugger. All rainbows with the smallest fish all day coming in at 17 inches, most around 20 inches. Get up there!

Geno



Name: DS Date Submitted: 5/10/2010
Email: ds8461@aol.com
Date's Fished: 4/14/2010

Commments:
Snowed on us but didnt stop me from bringing in 3 huge bows. Green wooly was the ticket. Had to get off the water when i had a snow drift on my belly boat. This is a sweet little lake if you have the time I would say go.



Name: B. Helms Date Submitted: 5/7/2010
Email: helmsb@msn.com
Date's Fished: 5-5-10

Commments:
Weather warm, in mid 50s, but extremely windy. This seemed to put the fish down and made the float tubing a little more difficult. However, we still landed a few nice healthy rainbows between 16-19 inches and a 12 in. brown trout. They were mostly hitting streamers (tan sculpin) but we also saw action with bead head nymphs (copper john, zebra) and even had a couple take a large beetle. Didn't see much surface activity or any "cruisers" due to the wind.



Name: Stu Stout Date Submitted: 6/29/2009
Email: stout356@gmail.com
Date's Fished: June26, 2009

Commments:
I fished for about 7 hours (08:00 - 3:00). Lots of fish cruising and a few rising on and off. For some reason the fish didn't appear to be too hungry. There were a lot of fish that would come right up to my flies and reject them. I changed patterns many times and tippet from 5x to 6x with little success. I did pick up some smaller fish on Damsel nymphs and Copper Johns.

I did end up landing 8 to 10 fish with 4 fish over 16" including two Donaldson Steelheads and one Rainbow over 18" that were very fat and very strong.

All in all a great day of fishing.



Name: Jeff Jackson Date Submitted: 6/25/2009
Email: jeff@jeffjacksonhomes.com
Date's Fished: June 23, 2009

Commments:
Great day on Empire lake. Got there late & only fished for two hours before a thunder & lightening storm moved in. Took 3 big fish on top with ants & beetles. Calm before the storm provided great dry fly conditions. I hope to return soon. Great spot close to home.



Name: Tom Farrell Date Submitted: 6/6/2009
Email: tdfarel@aol.com
Date's Fished: June 6, 2009

Commments:
Fished Empire Lake today for 4 hours, (0900-1300) . Weather was sunny with west winds at 15 mph w/gusts to 20. I had high expectations toiday for this fishery. However, fishing was quite slow with only 2 trout hooked and landed. I tried a variety of flies, including wet ants, Callibaetis Nymphs, Midges and Damsel Nymphs. Only 2 fish to the midge. Observed several fish cruising the banks but didn't seem to be interested. A beautiful property!



Name: Pvirn Date Submitted: 5/18/2009
Email: rfvirn@yahoo.com
Date's Fished: May 17

Commments:
Started the morning at Empire lake at about 7am. It was a bright bluebird day which started with calm winds. I was greeted on arrival by rising fish and clear water. This is not only a great fishing property but a great sight fishing lake with large cruisers visible all day from the tube and the banks.

The morning saw a BWO hatch. Bugs were tiny 22-24. I managed a couple of fish on a #20 Parachute adams. Then the surface activity waned as the sun came up higher. I moved over to the creek inflow on the west end of the lake near the road and was treated to large rainbows and donaldson's stacked up in the outflow current. I am not sure if the fish were protecting their turf or they were hungry because they hit dries, beadhead princes fished on the leader with no indicator or dry just a "nymph on a string". They also eagerly hit olive and black buggers.

One other interesting note...in the middle of the day as I was crossing the pond, large fish would line up in the current created by my flippers. When I stopped, they disbursed. When I started kicking again they would return. I guess they were attracetd by the current . I've never seen that before. This is a beautiful property with big strong fish. A great choice when the rivers are all blown out. Average fish yesterday were 14-16 inches with 2 20+ inch fish landed as well.



Name: Steve Sparks Date Submitted: 4/13/2009
Email: stephenrsparks@gmail.com
Date's Fished: April 11, 2009

Commments:
I nearly always enjoy my times at Empire Lake. On this date, however, the fish just were not biting. The water was a bit low and the fish were simply lethargic. I did catch two rainbows that were very smallish for this lake's normal catches. The weather was cold and overcast. I was fishing from a bellyboat that after a few hours was starting to numb my toes a bit. I tried a wide assortment of flys including streamers and nymphs. The only success was with a krystal black and green flash bugger (which I had much success on the next day at A-8).

I do recommend this lake but I think it is still a bit early for this lake.



Name: Nate Lilley Date Submitted: 3/31/2009
Email: nathanlilley@comcast.net
Date's Fished: March 30, 2009

Commments:
A-18 never ceases to amaze me. Got to the lake around 10:30. 18 degrees outside with only about 1/2 the lake exposed from ice. Began with belly boats on the north side of the lake. Caught 6 fish 16-18 inches using a dry dropper rig. (Yellow humpy with a #18-20 red copper john dropper). Got too cold to remain in the belly boats. Spent the rest of the day wading around the property. Continued to pick up fish off the dry dropper rig as well as stripping a black/blue slump buster throughout the day. Over all, probably around 15 fish total. Saw some huge fish cruising. It was a good enough day to deal with the temperature, wind and snow.



Name: Lee Berkes Date Submitted: 8/1/2008
Email: lee@theschools.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Hottest day of the year! Went to the lake to escape Denver heat. Fished from the island during the hottest part of the afternoon. Surprised to see so many fish surface feeding, and a few doing full flips in the air. Many crusing the shallows very near the island's shore. Took a 13" brookie on a wolly. Enjoyed the quiet, private beauty of the lake.



Name: Jason Price Date Submitted: 6/12/2008
Email:
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Attempted to belly boat but kept getting blown to the shore. Tried nymphing off the bridge with no success. Walked around the lake to the inlet and found the fish stacked up and sipping on the surface. Used griffiths gnat, renegades and rs2's slicked to ride in the film. Caught a few in the 18 inch range. Still had a fun day.



Name: Jeff Pemberton Date Submitted: 5/31/2008
Email: jwpembie@gmail.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
What a great place - even though there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was just beating us down the trout were very cooperative. The inlets under the trees were productive but the strikes were very suttle - the most aggressive ones came when they were competing to take the fly (ants, bwo, med. stimi, san juans among others). The outlet was very active and the bows were coming out of the water at times, maybe new stockers. They were so excited a number of times they made such hard strikes they missed the fly but we still had a very prodictive afternoon on this end of the lake as well. Guests threw some god-aweful wholly bugger patterns, one even had a propeller and yes to my surprise that worked as well. Great day - better than work!



Name: Allan F Date Submitted: 5/24/2008
Email: afries4@comcast.net
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Mixed bag day - windy, snowy, sunny - did I mention windy? When the sun is out - the fish hang in the shadows near the inlets - got good action on small hopper, beetle and ant patterns. When clouds came over fish were active finning on the surface as well as lunging out the water for surface bugs. #16 adams with barr emerger dropper provided a half dozen fat - healthy rainbows all in the 16 to 20 inch range. Another great day (despite the weather) on a great property.



Name: Stephen R. Sparks Date Submitted: 5/11/2008
Email: sparkr@msn.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Caught 9 fish in about 4 hours from a float tube. All were Rainbows with two in the 18 to 20 inch range. Best results near drainage before the bridge. White buggers did not work, but black and olive buggers worked after about 9:30 AM. Appeared spawning underway in the areas where water enters the lake, which are typically the best fishing, at least from my prior visits.



Name: Steven Date Submitted: 7/19/2007
Email:
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Caught several hog-sized rainbows on Denny Rickard's stillwater nymphs. The water was in good shape, the weather was hot and sunny.



Name: Steve Sparks Date Submitted: 7/5/2007
Email: sparkr@msn.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Tremendous place!! caught 4 Donaldson steelheads, and 9 rainbows and brown, all nice sizes, hooked but lost about 5 others including a large steelhead; fished the two inlets from a float tube with the middle one the best for steelhead, used white zonkers until I ran out and moved to black woolly buggers with fairly good success. This is a great place but you need to fish from a tube to get to the middle inlet..



Name: Ken Skinner Date Submitted: 5/10/2007
Email: mckendree64@msn.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
I fished from 9 until 3:30.A fair wind blew most of the day,when it stopped you could spot little sipping rises of slow cruising fish. A small parachute Adams dropped gently in the rings would generally get a hit - some small 10-12 inches some much better - 18-20".I tried a size 18 Pheasant tail nymph in the small inlet from under the road. That got a 16" Whitefish so I quit that.While the wind was up & risers not visible casting a black Woolybugger or white marabou Muddler up towards the bank & stripping back at a medium speed got some nice fish(18 -20") Hits generally came 4 to 12 feet from bank.



Name: Ron Freed Date Submitted: 5/3/2007
Email: RFreed7777@msn.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Two of us fished Empire Lake on Thursday. The fishing was good in the morning. We took several nice sized Rainbows. At about 3:00 PM a storm blew through and put the fish down. This was enough to slow the fishing for the rest of the day. All in all a good day on this property.



Name: Mike Plante Date Submitted: 4/29/2007
Email: pproperties17@qwest.net
Date's Fished:

Commments:
: I arrived at 10:00 a.m., a little late, but there was good action on Parachute Adams which continued throughout the day. I fished from a belly boat and loved getting underneath the willows. Five in the net, one broke off and two rose to the fly. Not bad for my first on rmac water. Size was mostly 16-18" with only one at 12". The best part was two gigantic rainbows leaping out of the water to engulf an unsuspecting morsel within 10' of me. Wow!



Name: D. Collier Date Submitted: 4/20/2007
Email:
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Two of us fished this property in the PM. Water temp 48 degrees. Numerous hard fighting, slab sided, Donaldson's averaging 16 to 19 inches - my biggest went 22 measured inches. Most were taken on very small(size 10/12)GBH vanilla ice or white wollybuggers - fished deep with a very slow retrieve. Fish were concentrated in the two cove areas at the East end of the lake. Of note, I had a depth finder on my float tube and the deepest water I could find was 10' in the NE cove - 9' in the SE cove. Saw lots of good sized fish, so the lake appears to be in excellent post-winter condition.



Name: Joe Bo Date Submitted: 4/15/2007
Email: joseph.bobinis@lmco.com
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Water very cold, wind blew relentlessly most of the day, tough float tubing. Between 2 of us 7 fish in the 13 -15 inch range all bows. Broke off an 18 inch bow that took a 12 simulator on top (surprised the heck out of me). Most fish caught on buggers, and Richard's still water nymphs size 14 (olive). Will return in the fall. Fish were only taking during calm periods, nothing hatching.



Name: Allan Date Submitted: 7/8/2006
Email: afries4@comcast.net
Date's Fished:

Commments:
Great Half Day - despite the weather - 57 degrees, constant rain - parchte BWO and parachute adams brought in 7 nice rising rainbows - caught some smaller bows and browns casting against the bank with small hoppers w/ant dropper - had one big brown on beetle break my 5X - great (cold, wet) half day.



Name: Mike Murphy Date Submitted: 5/28/2006
Email: rayraymur@comcast.net
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The fishing was great as was the weather. In spite of a prediction that called for t-storms, we instead were given mid-60's with gusty winds and sunshine. Numerous fish were cruising the banks eating ants and a foam ant #16 hammered the snot out of them for hours. My brother used a hopper and a beetle and did great as well. This is fishing better than it did when we first got our lease in my opinion - and it was pretty good then!



Name: Paul W Date Submitted: 5/26/2006
Email:
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Commments:
Fishing was good. Caught a 19 inch brown by the inlet on a wooly bugger, and many 16-18 inch rainbows on buggers and big attractors on the surface. Yellow humpy was the fly of the day. Tried a dropper but only took one fish on a copper john, almost all on the surface.



Name: TJ VanderHeiden Date Submitted: 5/19/2006
Email: vanderheidentj@comcast.net
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Commments:
Had a great day at this site despite swirling winds in the afternoon. Fishing was GREAT in the AM on Parachute Adams, Picked up in the mid morning with Hare's Ear's, Buggers and the fish went absolutely nuts at one point on white zonkers (and anything else white). After about 4 it did drop off a bit. We thought the evening would be as good as the morning, fish seemed to be hitting just below the surface and we took a number on zebra midges, prine nymphs and Para Adams. Fished with 2 guests and each of us caught over 20 fish with a number of them over 15 inches.



Name: Stu Stout Date Submitted: 5/21/2005
Email: stout@us.ibm.com
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Commments:
With most rivers blown out I tried A-18 for 1/2 day. Didn't plan on stillwater fishing so I was forced to bank fish. I didn't get on the water until about 2:00 PM. Had good success with both green & black buggers; but took most of my fish on small dries after 5:00PM. G-gnats, Renegades and P-Adams all worked well. Ended up with 20+ fish, none of any real size but all fought well for thier size. The wind, although not strong blew from about every angle possible. Great 1/2 day.



Name: BRYAN Date Submitted: 5/19/2005
Email: allamerican444w@yahoo.com
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Commments:
Fished A-18 on Thursday, started about 7:30am. Had good success with para adams and BHPT dropper. @11:00 swithed to BH wooly(olive was the only color that worked). Hot sunny day and fishing slowed until @3:00pm. Went back to dry with copper john. My guest and myself caught @ 30-40 fish, biggest 19". Great pond will come back and try float tube.



Name: Lyn Date Submitted: 5/16/2005
Email:
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Commments:
Had a good time fishing with Olive Wooly Buggers and dries. There was a midge hatch and the fish would take just about anything on top but the most productive flies were a Parachute Adams and a Griffith's Gnat.



Name: Chuck Prather Date Submitted: 7/29/2004
Email:
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Commments:
Fantastic day with s22 RS 2's in the am and ginger wooly buggers and olive damsel nymphs in pm. Used 6X tippett and had quite a few break-offs.



Name: Dennis Collier Date Submitted: 6/11/2004
Email: dcollier@jpcolorado.com
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Commments:
8:00 AM...fresh snow on the divide, cold wind blowing down the valley. Beautiful lake, actually two lakes in one! The islands provide calmer water on the North side when the wind kicks up. Started fishing with black/purple wollybuggers on slow sinking lines. A lot of missed strikes(?)but enough hookups to keep you warm and entertained. By late morning, sporadic midge activity and the Donaldson's became airborne. Switched to floating lines with midge pupae and #18 pheasant tail nymph combo's floated in the film. From 11:00 AM till 7:00PM, continual action on bows averaging 13" to 17"...almost too much fun! Saw 20"+ cruisers but 18" was our largest. No sign of the Big/bad boys tipping the 10 pound scale, but I suspect they were holding very deep in the east end. Will put my depth finder on the tube next time - and there will be a next time! Recommend this property for a small, relaxing place to float your boat and catch a lot of fish. DC



Name: Jimmy Stogner - RMAC member Date Submitted: 4/11/2004
Email:
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Commments:
A s10 yellow egg pattern, trailed with a s8 brown flashabou bugger produced a 16" German Brown and a 27", ten pound Rainbow to the net. These trophy fish were landed by a nine year old Texas boy, Kale Gregg, while vacationing with his Dad, Johnny Gregg.Both the kid, and the fish put on a show worthy of champions.



Name: Richard Bass Date Submitted: 3/27/2004
Email: rbass61657@hotmail.com
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Commments:
Since my girlfriend bought me the membership to RMAC for Christmas I have been waiting to have a go at any number of the local stillwaters available to me. As spring approached I got all my regular patterns ready and tinkered with my gear week after week. Two weeks of inclimate warm temeratures only increased my anxiousness to hit the water. After a week of tracking the melting ice on a couple of RMAC properties and determining when the first full day of ice-off would be I made my resevation to fish A-18. The weather was cold, the wind was howling and drove the snow sideways on a half a dozen occasions throughout the day. I arrived, unloaded my floatube, and immediatley started kicking for the south side, trolling all the way. I had decided to start simple and just keep my eye open for some clues as what to fish. I started out with an olive bugger which produced nothing, After I made it all the way over to the south side I began to see trout finning right at the the bank. I immediatley put on a #14 Royal Wulff as an attractor and dropped a #14 bead headed soft hackle all purpose fly that I have fished on stillwaters for the last few years, peacock herl and partridge, very simple, very effective. I cast the rig in the area of the cruising trout. The fly settled for only a second and then dissapeared. 15 minutes later I had landed in a very small net a very large 28" plus, approximatley 10 pound hook jawed brown. I could not beleive it, I thought to myself that just justified the rod fee, the rest of the day would only be gravy at this point. After gathering myself I cast the rig out in the same spot and within a few more minutes to my delight I was hooked up with an almost identical sized rainbow, also with a hooked jaw. I was astonished at the girth of these fish the day after melt off. A short time later I broke the tip off the 4 weight rod I was using and had to leave because I did not bing an extra rod. I made the 30 minute drive home to summit county and returned with my 11' 6 weight I normally use for trout of this size. I fished until 3:00 that day battling the wind and snow ending up catching another four trout that were all over 24" and fat as footballs. I only landed about 10 fish but I have never caught a finer half dozen fish in my life and doubt that I ever will again. Each of those fish weighed between 8-10 lbs. I also was broke of several times by fish of equal size. I have caught many large fish but never this many in one day, I was truly fortunate to be able to fish a wonderful spot on the one day when these big boys are most vulnerable, even to a novice. I only regret I cannot make my reservations for next ice off in 2005, but I have a feeling that is where you will find me for the next few years. Thank you Mary for such a wonderful gift.



Name: Andy-RMAC Member Date Submitted: 8/3/2003
Email:
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Commments:
Fished Great. Fish are stacked up at the two inlets. Suprisingly we caught 50/50 browns and rainbows up to 20 inches. Primarily used midges, shuck midge, griffiths gnat, but did catch a few on a bunny leech. Did get some occasional action on a hopper. Wonderful day.



Name: Dan Hawkins Date Submitted: 6/21/2003
Email: dhawkins@xstreamtrout.com
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Commments:
The morning was slow until I figured out what they were taking off the top. Take a BWO emerger, let it float in the film and have fun. Olive caddis did work as well. Mostly rainbows, 22 was the largest. Also had luck stripping a green copper john, and small bead droppers. Tried to lure the browns with an egg sucking leach, had a couple of really strong hits and did bring in a 7 rainbow. Got to admire those little ones going after those large streamers. From 4:00PM until dusk we played with the risers at the bridge. Black beetles, ants, and trico spinners worked great. All in all a great day on Empire Lake.



Name: Gene & Kris Edwards Date Submitted: 6/15/2003
Email: gedwards@tkdistributors.com
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Commments:
Great Father's Day on Empire Lake with my 2 grown sons. Neither has ever fly fished before today. Had a great day teaching them, didn't leave much time for me to fish but who cares. Caught about 20 fish total between 4 of us and of course Aaron and Anthony lost as many as they caught. I think I converted Anthony but Aaron still likes the spinners I guess. Probably could of caught a lot more if we could have solved the mystery of which bug they wanted on top. From the bridge lots of risers and 2 or 3 fish rushing your fly everytime it landed on the water. That part was really cool but the refusals got real frustrating. They were very selective today. I've fished here quite a bit and they've never really been that selective. We finally started taking fish on Pale Morning Duns and Light Cahills, and just to prove they haven't smarted up all that much one fish took a Para-Hopper(that season can't get here soon enough, huh) Did catch most fish on droppers, Red Copper John's and small Hares Ears seemed to be the bugs of the day.



Name: TJ VanderHeiden Date Submitted: 5/26/2003
Email: tj.vanderheiden@mdx.com
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Commments:
Brought 2 guests to this site for a very strange day of weather. We experienced a mix of swirling winds, dead calm, rain and blazing sun - welcome to Colorado, I guess. My guests netted only 5 fish total on small midges, which was disappointing given their 'angling' ability. I, on the other hand, had better luck netting 20 on midges, para-adams, emerging BWO's, etc... I'm not sure of the disparity in results. With the exception of me falling in the lake, a good time was had by all. (TJV)



Name: Gene Date Submitted: 4/24/2002
Email: geno2552@attbi.com
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Commments:
: Fished the afternoon only in a 25 mph wind. I did net 20 or so of the "Flying Donaldsons". On top when the wind would slow for 10 minutes at a time I caught fish on #16 Para Adams and Olive Stimulators. I had 2 really stupid fish on a #6 Orange Indicator but they both spit it out just before I got em in. Most of the fish were on #14 Hares Ears and #16 Cream Scuds. Two nice fish in the 18" size, but most in the 12 to 14" area. Pick a calm day and they'll be churning on top!!



Name: Ted Simendinger Date Submitted: 9/7/2001
Email: nobatsbbc@aol.com
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Commments:
Blustery day to float tube. Spent all day zooming and ricocheting around the little lake like I was playing crash cars at a carnival. Lots of fish, regular action, best came on #20 droppers near southern shore of the little middle island. Fish went a foot to 16." An 18-20" rainbow weed-wrapped me, also on a #20 emerger fished with 6x. Excellent fish populations. Would be a lot of fun on a less-windy day.



Name: Kris & Gene Edwards Date Submitted: 7/21/2001
Email: geno2552@home.com
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Commments:
Kris' favorite property again today. She had a rough 3 fish day so she might change her mind. I had a much better day netting 10 or 12 nice 14 & 15 Rainbows. Kris got the big fish of day, 17"+ Rainbow on a Hares Ear. Everything else caught on dry flies. We only fished in the morning and we have never been here late in the day during dry fly season, I have a feeling it's intense. It took us a long time to figure out what they would eat. We have had great success on large stimulators in the past but today they wanted small stuff. Size 18 and even 20's(This property may be for young eyes only) Adams, BWO, Caddis and a red midge dry all produced. Only 14 or 15 fish on a partial day and we can't figure out what went wrong are we spoiled or what.



Name: David Copley Date Submitted: 6/29/2001
Email: dcopley@csc.com
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Fished from about 3:00pm to 7:00pm. Great afternoon with at least 15 very strong and cooperative fish. All were taken on dry flies with fish ranging from 10" to 20" in size.



Name: Kris & Gene Edwards Date Submitted: 6/15/2001
Email: geno2552@home.com
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Not one of our better days on Kris' favorite property. I'm sure it was the wind, it must of been at least 40+ mph. It almost blew Kris off the bridge.(That would have really screwed up the fishing hole) I don't think it was because the fish are getting smarter, they were still hitting my white yarn indicator. 9 fish total (Kris 4 me 5, thats 2 in a row) 1 Brown the rest Rainbows, all the usual 14 to 16" flying Stealhead Rainbows. When wind died somewhat #16 Orange Simulators and Elk Hair Caddis produced. Kris had success with #16 Prince and Hares Ears.



Name: Rick Mann Date Submitted: 6/3/2001
Email: manns@concentric.net
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Fished a half day starting at 1:00 until dark. Breezy day with temps in the 60's. Fished down & dirty with zonkers and cone head muddlers and landed many fish including 22" rainbow. The wind died about 5 p.m. and fished a foam beetle till dark with many acrobatic rainbow takes. Some serious fighting fish (could hear my line sing against the wind on many runs). Had a blast



Name: Kris Edwards Date Submitted: 5/30/2001
Email: kedwards@jeffco.k12.co.us
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Another great day on Empire Lake. I took my 17 yr. old son along and we both caught 15-19 inch rainbows and a few smaller browns. Hare's Ear, Prince nymph and pheasant tail fished deep was the ticket. Also had some dry action on a stimulator and furry indicator with no hook on (what's up with that??) Jason got quite a kick out of the fight that the rainbows put up. And so did I - we'll be back!



Name: Kris & Gene Edwards Date Submitted: 5/13/2001
Email: geno2552@home.com
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Beautiful secluded small lake on a beautiful warm day would have been a great day even if we didn't catch 64 fish! Thats right 64(sixty four) fish, the vast majority 14" to 16" very fat and very fiesty flying Donaldson Rainbows. These fish are real rod benders that love to go airborne, sometimes 3 or 4 feet in the air. They aren't real particular about the bugs they eat either. Hares Ears, BH Prince, BH PT, Copper Johns were the nymph patterns of choice, in sizes 14,16,and 18 4 feet below with a very slow retieve. About 15 or so took dry flies that were really just being fished as indicators(since they wouldn't quit hitting our small yellow indicators, has anybody seen those available with hooks in them?). Larger Yellow Humpies, Para Adams, Royal Wulff and some big ugly thing that I don't even know what it's called, all produced. When they do go for a dry there is no doubt as they attack hard and fast with a big splash. We caught 2 very large fish, I got a 22" Rainbow on a very large Royal Wulff that took 10 minutes to land and took my line to the backing! Kris caught a real fat Rainbow just under 20" on a #18 tan Hares Ear. Better get up there while they're still hungry and stupid!



Name: Jason Price Date Submitted: 5/10/2001
Email:
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Nice day. Didnt get to fish to long, but still caught a lot of fish. 18 fb pt worked great under a para adams. Fisty fish. HAve never seen fish jump that high out of the water in my life.



Name: glenn@firchow.com Date Submitted: 6/11/2000
Email:
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Another pretty good day on this reliable property. Landed 15 fish in the 5 hours that I fished, roughly 1/2 on dries and 1/2 wet. Missed probably twice as many as I hooked. There was no concerted dry fly activity, but I took fish on everything from a griffith's gnat size 22 to a green humpy size 14. Same story on the wet stuff..... buggers, prince nymphs, muddler. Landed three browns, all about 12". The rest were rainbows ranging from 10" to 16". Spotted one of the large browns (maybe 20" - 24") at the southwest inlet. He spotted me too. Oh well.



Name: Brad Dempsey Date Submitted: 5/28/2000
Email: dempseyb@uswest.net
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Caught a dozen or so rainbows in the morning using a dark green wollybugger with flash. A few had quite a bit of fight in them!



Name: Bud Collier Date Submitted: 5/16/2000
Email:
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Three of us caught about 30 fish, mostly rainbows and a couple of large browns. WE used wolly buggers and bead head prince. This is a nice pond, lots of fish and close to Denver



Name: Bud Collier Date Submitted: 5/8/2000
Email:
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Fishing was very good. Caught lots of rainbows on black wolly bugger. Pond is in great shape and the fish look great.



Name: Robb Pickard Date Submitted: 5/15/1999
Email:
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Tried this on a whim early in summer and went with the idea of streamers. After 5 minutes on the lake with a sink tip and watching subtle rises I switched to dries and had a ball all day. Have stuck with dries each time since and enjoyed each day. Two of the days were 18 fish half days and one was less productive. The 12"-16" rainbows are fit and lively. A couple times I had multiple jumpers where I wanted somebody behind me with a camera ready! I'm still looking for the rumored big browns. Tough to beat at one hour from the heart of Denver.