Chatfield 4/21

[UtahPescador]

Got to Chatfield around 10 am this morning. With the cold front that was pushing through I wanted to fish closer to home and not risk getting skunked a long way from home.

Well I couldn't have made a better decision. This was my third time there and I had mainly fished the dam area. So this time armed with my lake map and after reading an article in this months "Walleye -in Sider" about walleye movement after the spawn. I planned to fish several humps close to spawing areas and the road bed.

The lake was 56 degrees and there was a light chop on the water, but bright skies. I marked a hump of 14.5 ft with 19 on the edges. I was fishing with my go to grub for walleye. Black with a chartruse tail. First I tipped it with a flathead minnow 4 cast later a 17" little guy came to the boat. In the first two hours I had caught eight fish all under the slot. At about 1 the wind came up and I switched to drop shotting a worm over the road bed drifting. Mr walleye came knocking again three times, but no keepers. So I tried switching to a large swimbait no luck and then pulled crankbaits for 40 minutes same results. I think that I might have to resort to spearfishing to get a legal fish in this lake.

I like Chatfield and it has a good population of walleye, but I will have to let it get above 60 degrees to get my keeper. It was a great day on the water!
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[DonInDenver]

Thanks for the report UP-

Those fish over 18" are in the definite minority in Chatfield. My guess is that once they hit that magic 18" mark they get harvested by the first guy to land them. That lake sure gets a lot of pressure!
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[DonInDenver]

I know just what you mean. There's plenty of water and structure in that lake. People can find their own fish if they make the effort.
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[UtahPescador]

After posting this message I picked up the newpaper and turn to the fishing section only to read what I experianced. It was a funny read. Here is a line from the story," At 18" the legal keeper size apparently those fish graduate into some secret walleye society that advocates the wearing of hoods and probably,prowls only at night."

Last year several fisherman that he was friends with reported catching 100's of walleye over the year and only 3 keepers. I still have 15 to go until I catch my keeper at those rates.
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