Start low, aim high.
This long-standing model for personal achievement also applies to an early-season angling strategy made more attractive by the recent spate of warm weather.
Fishing has broken into full bloom along Colorado’s Front Range. Mountain success soon will follow.
Denver’s three trout rivers – the South Platte between Chatfield and Strontia Springs reservoirs, Clear Creek and Bear Creek – all are flowing freely through their lower reaches. Quincy Reservoir has opened early with a combination trout and bass bite. Chatfield, Cherry Creek and Aurora reservoirs all are awaiting the final retreat of ice and should be open for boating by week’s end. All’s right with the world.
On Sunday, which stood proudly as the nicest day of the year until Monday and Tuesday happened along, hundreds of people formed a human caravan up the road into Waterton Canyon. A surprising number carried fishing rods.
They came by foot to the lower reaches, by bicycle to the area above the Marston Diversion Dam. They brought both fly and spinning rods, along with an assortment of flies, lures and bait. Nearly every one wore a smile.
Pent-up enthusiasm buried beneath months of snow and cold has that sort of effect on people.
Waterton Canyon, that 7-mile reach of the Platte between Kassler and Strontia Dam, ranks among the more remarkable spots in all of Colorado angling, as well as an emerging point of discussion for possible regulation changes.
In the longer reach above the Marston Diversion pond where a fly-and-lure requirement with a restriction of two fish over 16 inches has been established for years, Division of Wildlife biologist Jeff Spohn and his crew counted 6,096 trout, almost exclusively browns, per mile.
“There are so many fish here, my technicians complain that their arms get tired counting them,” Spohn said.
Trouble is, Spohn revealed, nobody can find one larger than 14 inches, a condition analogous to a stream full of badly stunted brook trout.
“It’s a cookie cutter kind of thing,” Spohn said. “It’s pretty obvious the 16-inch limit isn’t working.”
The couple miles below the diversion pond, where standard regulations prevail, still contain a hefty 2,456 trout per mile, including a scattering exceeding 14 inches.
On Sunday, with a fresh rush of sooty water pouring from Strontia, anglers had a difficult time connecting with all these thousands of trout, whatever the size. In better times, Waterton Canyon serves as a close-to-home learning lab for kids and anyone eager to hone their skills.
The flow diminished by half below the diversion, improving water clarity for anglers searching for spawn-run rainbows up from Chatfield. This highly seasonal opportunity attracts a large turnout eager to connect with larger trout, creating an unfortunate aura of combat fishing.
Elsewhere, parks officials at Chatfield, Cherry Creek and Aurora reservoirs are watching the final chunks of ice disappear toward an imminent opening of the boating season.
The Division of Wildlife will begin its walleye spawn-taking along the Chatfield and Cherry Creek dams Monday. The same undertaking begins Thursday at Pueblo Reservoir.
Anglers can expect an off-and-on walleye bite as fish phase in and out of spawning mode. Opportunity for both largemouth and smallmouth bass will grow along with the welcome warmth.
Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
