Posts: 10
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Taking a family 5th wheel vacation next week. Will be starting at the Sand Dunes, then to Leadville, then to Frisco for the 4th of July.
Not taking the boat on this trip and was wondering if you guys/gals have any shore fishing tips for Turquoise Lake or Dillon. My trout gear has not gotten a decent work out in years but I'd suspect the always faithful clear bobber and Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear nymph would produce for me. Any other tips/locations for a shore fisherman and his kids for the above lakes?
[signature]
Posts: 10
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Dark side, other side, whatever.....as long as it's fishing and they pull back some.
I pull the 5th (and boat) alot now days with the PS. Probably too much, especially to tourneys. This is a make up trip to the wife and family for all the tourneys I go to with out them. Kinda "their" outing this summer.
Went to Palmer Lake recently and it is very low but the pike are still there and willing to play. Used my baitcaster and a bass buzzbait to stir them up a bit. Had two nice fish on but they threw the hook before I could get my hands on them. Had a ton of follows and "slashes" at the buzzbait. Next time I go I will use a slower topwater, maybe a popper or a soft jerk bait.
[signature]
Posts: 119
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2003
Reputation:
0
Fishing rules. I even target carp now on occasion. They sure are some picky son of a guns. Almost all lakes have some real bruisers too.
Powerstrokes rule. I can tackle any pass without putting my coffee down. Awesome!
Don't forget that we were going to go pike fishing sometime. right?
Where is palmer lake? Did you use your boat?
[signature]
Posts: 10
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Have not forgotten. Probably July sometime.
Palmer Lake is in the town of.....Palmer Lake which is just west of Monument. I fish that one from shore, even when it is full I dont think they allow boats. Belly boats maybe but it is real low and I bet the deepest spot is now only 8 feet or so. I might be making a quick trip there Sat am. It is only about 8 miles from the house. Want directions? Keep in mind, it is a small lake and even smaller since it is dropping, so it is not even a 1/2 day of fishing. You can walk around it in less than 20 minutes.
[signature]
Posts: 127
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
0
I use to fish both Turquoise and Twin Lakes about 20 years ago, when I first moved to Colorado. They are very scenic locations.
They are both heavily stocked with rainbows. The lakers will be to deep to access from shore. Turquoise has some nice Browns in it. Sneak off at dusk and early in the morning with floating raps and Husky Jerks.
Dillon Sucks!!!! Don't waste your time.
[signature]
Posts: 10
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Yep it is scenic. Kinda why I picked that area for our second stop on the tour. Heck, if I dont catch any fish, just being in the area is good enough. I'll try and remember to take the digital camera with me and see if I can snap a few fish/lake pics and post them here.
So Dillon is no good - not even for stockers on Powerbait?
[signature]
Posts: 119
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2003
Reputation:
0
So there was this lake that was producing huge fish and so the DOW thought things needed to change?
Why does this not surprise me?
What would be the reason to put the shrimp in there if the fish were already well fed?[mad]
[signature]
Posts: 127
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
0
Mysis shrimp come from the huge cold water lakes of northern Idaho and British Columbia. There the Kokes are native and spawn successfully. There are millions of them and they feed on the Mysis. The Gerrard strain rainbows this region is famous for follow the salmon schools around, just like wipers follow shad. These bows average about 15 lbs and the state record is like 38 lbs. They are also called Kam Loops. Lake is Pend Oreille in northern Idaho is famous for this!
They thought the Mysis would be a boon to the Dillon Kokes and the Artic Char they experimented with there? Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons the Mysis stayed much deeper in Dillon and ate their way thru the zoo plankton base that fueled the whole fishery. Thats why Kokes there are so pathetic looking! The DOWs heart was i n the right place, it just didn't work.
Plus Denver now pulls alot more water from Dillon and the low water levels have destroyed the forage rich weedbeds that used to be full of bugs that trout like to eat.
There are still big Browns in there, but everyone knows how hard they are to catch!
Goto Pathfinder if you want a big Brown!
[signature]
Posts: 119
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2003
Reputation:
0
You're like an encyclopedia dude!
Wouldn't a biologist know that the shrimp would eat the plankton?
What do the shrimp eat in those lakes in BC and Idaho?
[signature]
Posts: 127
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
0
I really don't remember? It was a long time ago that I read all this.
I actually worked for a magazine out of Coeur D'alene about five years ago. I had to travel there every couple of months to meet with my publisher. it makes me sick I never had time to fish!
Lake Cour D'alene is 65,000 acres and Pend Oreille is 40,000. There are so many rivers up there it is mind boggling.
[signature]
Posts: 10
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Spent a few hours fishing Turquoise over two days and the fishing is actually pretty good. Caught lake trout from the shore using yellow and red Panther Martins. I have caught lakers in Horsetooth many years ago but always released them. At Turquoise, we kept two and had them for breakfast (along with coffee and pancakes) and I have to say, lake trout meat is way better than rainbow.
Also spent some time fishing a very small pond on the Swan River beside Tiger Run RV park and caught alot of nice brown trout on a silver and purple Penn minnow.
Next weekend, off to Glendo.
[signature]
Posts: 21
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
0
Where is Pathfinder? And how does one get there from Denver?
[signature]
Posts: 32
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2004
Reputation:
0
I am thinking of ice fishing Turquoise Lake for Macks this year. How have you guys done there? Do you catch any bigger ones? I have heard this lake is mostly full of 15 - 20" jacks.
That doesn't surprise me about the CDOW bumbling like that on Dillion. Ticks me off that a lake like that now is mostly a fake trout show of small stockers. The kokanees were the forage base for the rainbows. To simply dump shrimp into the lake and not realize what it would do to the plankton base (kokanee's main forage).
Our DOW is ridiculous. They tried to introduce kokanee into Ruedi Reservoir, not even knowing that the most common fish in the lake were Lake Trout. Sherman Hebein, the senior biologist for the NW area of Colorado, didn't know this and then expressed disgust for not knowing it. "We waisted hundreds and thousands of dollars and several decades trying to introduce kokanee."
This shows how the DOW only looks at their "science" and doesn't listen to or seek approval from the angling public. They do things in a foolish, completely arbitrary way. They need to start doing their constitutional mandate to listen to the public, and also of actually listening to anglers rather than blowing us off as a bunch of uneducated nobodies.
Tyler
[signature]
] 
]