Another run at 11 mile Yesterday.

[theangler]

[size 2]O.K., Its a personal challenge now!
Fished 11 Mile Yesterday and was shutout again. I saw fish being caught but didn't get any.

We rented a boat and fished Witches Cove which seemed to be pretty quite so we headed back to Coyote Ridge where last time I fished there seemed to be more fish activity (not by me). There was a single angler on the shoreline who was catching trout and I talked to for a while. He was running the same set up I ran last time for trout but had caught about 9 fish.

It's funny, the more I thought about it, when fishing new waters it seems the biggest obstacle is presentation confidence. As I was talking to the nice angler (he was sharing a lot of information about the Lake) I realized that if I had just stuck with my initial thoughts (at least on the trout) I would have probably been catching fish but I was changing presentation hourly hoping to figure out what the fish were biting on. It seems the hot ticket for the trout is Chartreuse PowerBait Carolina Rigged with about a 16" leader.

On the Pike, I threw water dogs, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, worms, spoons, and a couple off the wall stuff I had in my tackle box on the chance they just might work, NADA. At this point Its a mission! I heard from the Nice lady at the general store on the corner that sucker meats the way to go, I'll be trying that next.

Side note: If you don't have a boat, you may want to bring a float tube, boat rental is $75 for 4 hours + gas.

Anyone heading out to the Pike Tourney today? They are also having a free concert, free beer, etc..[/size]
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[Justin_COS]

all i can say about 11mile is stick with it. it's an incredible fishery but it can kick your butt on any given day. i fished it yesterday from a tube. we forgot about the pike tourney untill we arrived to a lake full of boats. fishing (for trout) was slow at first but then got better around mid day. i landed a 5lb bow and my buddy caught a 6lb cutthroat. talked to some other tubers from denver who also landed some big trout(7-13lbs!?!) not sure what they were using, but they were just bottom fishing with some sorta bait i assume. they were kinda secretive. saw alot of pike over 10 lbs caught from boats in the tourney. most of the guys i saw with fish were using a water dog beneath a large bobber and/or casting lures with their second rod. i did see a few boats trolling with decent fish, but not sure what with. for trout i think your friend from the bank was right, powerbait is pretty consistent. i may sneak back up there tomorrow, but not sure yet. i'll let you know how i do if i make it.
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[theangler]

Hello Justin,
Thank you for the info, I think I am going to give it another shot on Friday. Did you make it out on Sunday?

I heard that the west end was producing good fish on the troll? Did you here anything about that?

I saw some tubers out there last time I was out and they were doing pretty good. Maybe its time to breakdown and get a tube?
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[TroutFishingBear]

Sorry, but IMO powerbait is trash, unless it is for stockers of course. I am a troutfishing expert and why just on saturday caught 31 trout, 20 browns 11 bows on the roaring fork river. If you are fishing in a lake, a worm is good, along with a #6 panther martin, even a #9 at times. Gold is the best in clear water if it is sunny, at almost all other times flourescent orange is the ticket. Spoons work but not nearly as well as panther martins. Also, cc shad from cordell work very well too. (crankbait) I also like rattle traps.

Use powerbait if you want a bunch of dinky 8-12" stockers, its good for nothing else.
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[theangler]

Hello TFB,
Thanks for the heads up! I will definetly give that a go!
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[Oats]

Has anyone checked out the picture of the rainbow caught out of 11 mile on 11milesports.com report page, what a beast. I'd like to know what that things tips the scales at?
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[NealCO]

I will have to respectfully disagree! Power Bait when fished properly is very effective. Even though I prefer to always be casting, I have friends who use it alot. My friend Bill has caught 20 trout over 20 inchs this summer at 11-mile on Powerbait. Bill and I have beeen fishing 11-Mile for over 20 years now.

This is what I use there. I agree with you that spoons aren't effective, for one reason! If you watch most people retreive their spoons, they just reel it it. I have caught countless numbers of fish over the years (trout, white bass, perch, and Kokanee) jigging Kastmasters. A 1/4 oz Kastmaster jigged back to shore has probably caught me more fish over the years than anything else. During ice fishing season I always have a rod rigged with a blue/silver Kastmaster. In fact jigs or one kind or another are the way to go up there in my opinion (if you are using lures). Tube jigs and Vibra Fin Leechs are my favorite jigs at both Spinney and 11-Mile. 11-Mile is loaded with Crawfish! Thats why fishing is usually much better in the late evening or early morning. Big Trout move in shallow to feed on crawfish which are mostly nocturnal, thats why jigs are so effective there!

Actually, during the day a good fly fisherman would have the advantage up there! But that is a whole different subject.
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[Icedaddy22]

Man I hope those people in the pike tourney are releasing the pike. Probably just another ploy for the CDOW to destroy pike fishing. They don't hurt trout one bit in elevenmile. Maybe some in spinney because there were too many pike, but not many pike eat trout over 12". Some will try but they usually die trying.
I just want to encourage the release of most all pike, especially bigger ones over 30". Keep a couple hammer handles for dinner, and please release the rest. Pike are one of the premier gamefish in the world. Please don't buy the CDOW's anti pike idiocy.

Tyler
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[Oats]

Whats the pike and kokanee action been like at e-mile? Anyone been there lately or going. Whats the story where's everyone been fishing lately?
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[NealCO]

I was wondering the same thing also? I think I am heading that way next Sunday. I also want to fish Spinney in the late afternoon after the mud line forms.

I think just mindlessly killing Pike over 30 inchs long is stupid! Especially at 11-Mile! Like the earlier post said, keep the fish uner 30 inchs, which are excellent tasting!
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[theangler]

Hello Guys,
I haven't been back out to E-Mile in a while but will probably try to get out next Friday or Saturday. I just got back from Idaho and had a blast sturgeon fishing! Landed an 80" and a 63" Sturgeon (lost 3 others). What a blast those fish are!!! It's an amazing site to see fish that huge break water!
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[TroutFishingBear]

Great fish theangler!!! Way to go!!! Now if you could only fool those elevenmile pike and trout.... jk[angelic] eventually if you stick with it at elevenmile you will find the patterns and you will have a blast catching big old trout and pike there!

Neal, I can believe the power bait working, I just don't prefer to use it as in my experience I have found it to be ineffective for big trout. Maybe it is different at elevenmile.

Hey angler, I got a hot tip for you: This morning I got a 24", 7 lb. rainbow trout today rip jigging a crocodile back to the shore while walleye fishing at the local reservoir. Just cast out a fairly good sized crocodile, maybe 3/8 oz. Sink it to the bottom and shake the fishing rod in erratic patterns jerking the bait towards shore while picking up slack at the same time. Remember to pause every few seconds.
I also have had really good success in clear water on 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz. silver and blue rattle traps for big rainbows. If you are looking for something that will catch pike and trout at the same time besides the rattletraps, try a #7 rapala tail dancer. They have beautiful action.
All I can stress for trout is to use bigger baits than most people would, trout are the most aggressive fish there are and they won't hesitate to hit a 3 1/2" crankbait or a 1/4 oz aggressive rattletrap.

One last tip... focus lure fishing more than baitfishing for trout in big lakes, seems to work better.

Hope these tips help you angler!
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[NealCO]

I have caught walleye's at Glendo and Pueblo rip jigging that same 3/8 oz Kroc, in the silver with silver prizm tape model. My biggest Brown ever was a 27" I caught up at Pathfinder on a Blue/Silver Kroc on leadcore.

About five years ago i caught just about everthing that swims down at Pueblo on a 1/8 oz Rattle Trap. There was a huge hatch of small shad in the back of Rock Creek and everything was in there blasting them, (trout, wiper, walleye, smallie's and largemouths).
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[TroutFishingBear]

Aren't rattletraps, especially the 1/8 and 1/4 oz, great multispecies lures? Aggressive fish like trout and big smallies especially blast these lures!!!

Definitely try rattletraps at elevenmile because this spring I got a 12 lb. pike on a 1/8 oz banana colored rattletrap in the yampa, so I know pike like em a lot too!

Tell us how you guys do next time you head out there; elevenmile sounds like a cool lake[]
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[NealCO]

I love it when a fish hits a trap!!!!

Down at Pueblo when they start lowering the water and everything suspends nothing works better!

I have about 50 in a tray in my tackle bag dedicated just to traps. The 1/8th and 1/4 oz sizes catch just about everything. The 1/2 oz is great when it's windy and I have had alot of success with 3/4 oz in blue/silver on Pike. When you fish from shore alot like I do, they are really a valuable bait.
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[Oats]

I've never caught trout on a rattle trap but might try them. I have heard of a few freak rat-l-trap stories but have never seen any big trout photos so there's not much credibility. I guess thats the purpose of trial and error, I'll give them one chance if they don't work I'll quickly pitch them to what I call the bowl.
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[DonInDenver]

Hey Mike-

Congratulations!! Do you have any pictures of your sturgeon you coul post? Any idea what they weighed?
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[theangler]

Hello Don,
Thank you, I have a bunch of pictures but I lost the cord to my digital and have to take it down to Wal Mart to get a disk made and pick up a cord. Also the guys I fished with burned disks and they should be here in a day or so. But I do have a couple of pics they emailed over (below). I'll post more when I get them.

We had a weight chart but its just a "guesstimate" based on length. The two I caught would have gone about 160ish and 130ish. I hear that Sturgeon are great eating but the area we were fishing is catch and release on barbless hooks and removal from the water is prohibited.

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P.S. Up to an 11 mile run sometime in the near future?
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[DonInDenver]

WOW!!! Those things are huge! Were you on the Snake in Idaho?

As far as 11 Mile is concerned, I may wait until hard water. I've never fished it much in the Fall and I really don't have any interest in pursuing the big Fall "sport" of snagging kokanee at 11 Mile. Something about ripping a weighted treble hook into the side of a gamefish just doesn't seem very sporting to me. I understand it's legal, but it's not something I care to witness again.

I'm still chasing lakers. Let me know if you want to make another run at that.
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[DonInDenver]

Eric-

Email me at [url "mailto:fishman580@yahoo.com"]fishman580@yahoo.com[/url]
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