Conservative Libertarian Outpost

Anyone that reads this blog on a regular basis knows how I love the outdoors. This is an excellent piece by Ed Dentry, with link, about what to expect in the very near future. Also, from the field, Wild Turkey season is in full swing and this looks to be a banner year, including the over the counter license areas. The book that is written about in the Rocky Mountain News article is a must have. Local fishing has improved so much over the past twenty or so years that even those that live here should grab this reference, on sale from the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Big snowpacks combined with the high price of fuel should focus anglers’ attention on fishing within earshot of home this year, at least for a while.

Thanks to a wealth of well-groomed fishing spots up and down the Front Range, wetting a short line could be a good thing.

It’s likely that a tasty bass pond, also stocked with catchable trout, waits not far from your lawn mower. Just follow the daily flights of Canada geese.

Larger reservoirs in nearby state parks add to the bounty. Might as well stick close and let the deluge roll from the mountains while we apply for a second mortgage to fuel more exotic outings later in summer.

Runoff will stretch long this year (hopefully, or there will be floods). Trout streams could be high and murky until August. Trails leading to many high lakes will be blocked by stubborn snow whales.

Meanwhile, those backyard fishing holes beckon. More than 200 reservoirs, ponds and some streams are detailed in Fishing Close to Home, a $7 publication of the state Division of Wildlife’s Colorado Outdoors magazine.

With maps, directions, fish species and access information, the booklet is unequaled as a guide to metro and mountain waters along the northern Front Range.

“I use it all the time,” said biologist Paul Winkle, who manages Denver-area fisheries for the DOW.

Other DOW biologists who spilled the beans for this preview were Kurt Davies (North Park and northern Front Range), Ben Swigle (northern foothills and lower South Platte reservoirs) and Jeff Spohn (Upper South Platte River).

No one is better qualified to forecast what the fishing fates might deliver hereabouts than the professional team of Winkle, Swigle, Davies and Spohn (their hot spots are noted below by an asterisk).

Source: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/16/front-range-fishing-forecast-bottom-line-big-fun/

Tags: Co. DOW, fishing, Fishing in Colorado, Turkey hunting

This entry was posted on April 17, 2008 at 10:50 and is filed under Education, Local Politics Colorado, Men's Issues, News, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.