Ken Kehmeier has a solid notion why smallmouth bass keep climbing the ladder of popularity among Colorado anglers. He’s even more certain why Colorado might soon have a fresh state record for the species.
“We get a lot of people moving in from the north country, from Wisconsin or Minnesota, It’s the fish of their homeland, and they love to catch them,” the primary biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Northeast Region opined.
“They’re aggressive, great fighters and people like to catch them,” Kehmeier continued, adding “They’re also very available to shore anglers.”
Now for the reason for the record.
“It’s the availability of crayfish and shad in so many of our reservoirs,” he said. “With all that food availability, we’re growing really big fish.”
These food conditions, coupled with climate, cause Kehmeier to choose Colorado’s far southeast as a likely target, saying, “They’ve got the longer growing season, but it also could come from Aurora Reservoir.”
Which is why, on an early morning late last week, we find Troy Coburn nudging his bass boat on a circuitous route along the rim of the southeast metro impoundment. Coburn, another of those passionate transplanted Midwesterners, is working along the edge of the lake drop-off, a soft green carpet that looks like nothing quite so much as an Elvis tapestry.
Another aspect of topography catches the eye. Wherever we look, raised mud clumps break an otherwise even surface. These are crayfish colonies, crawdad condos, if you please. At night, school of smallies cruise these flats to pluck off their favorite feast.
With this combination, shad and ‘dads, it seems only a matter of time before a record fish appears.
“I’ve still got my eye on that record,” Coburn says of the quest that keeps him returning to Aurora, despite the facility’s sharply escalating entrance fee, in part to assuage the cost of aquatic nuisance species inspection. “I’d keep coming back if they charged $500 a year.”
The allure comes from the fact that he keeps flirting with the 5.75-pound record from Navajo Reservoir in the far southwest corner of the state, that temperature advantage again.
“Three weeks ago I caught a fish that weighted 5.6. I usually catch a fish or two each year that misses the record by less than one-fourth pound. Over the last five years, I’ve had 10 fish that missed the record by less than 4 ounces.”
As he tells this, Coburn’s eyes seem to take on an added gleam, his scan of that emerald carpet just a little intense. On this morning, he’s not disappointed. Dark shapes dart off to the side; some of them are large.
“That’s a 5-pounder for sure,” he notes a larger fish trailing the pack. Coburn aims a cast well ahead of the school, works the lure carefully past and is rewarded with a complete refusal.
Farther along, a similar specimen actually turns on the lure, follows for a few yards and seems to make a quick pass. But there is no hookup, and Coburn continues his search. Two things confound him. One is the flashbulb effect of a bright sunlit morning, casting shadows from the boat that send schools of fish scurrying off to deeper water.
The other is the aftermath of a bass tournament held the previous day.
“These fish have been beaten up,” Coburn said. “They’re really skittish.”
All is not lost. He caught one fat female, perhaps 4 pounds, along with a few lesser fish — all at sunrise before the light problem developed. And he has seen several dozen others, perhaps a couple that might bring thoughts of records.
Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com
Smallmouth hot spots
Ken Kehmeier, primary biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Northeast Region, mentions several other reservoirs that promise good smallmouth bass action, all the product of a DOW transplant initiative begun a dozen or so years ago:
Chatfield: Lots of fish, but not quite as big as in other locations.
Horsetooth: A huge catch rate, but rarely anything more than 2 or 3 pounds. It’s a great place to take kids for lots of action.
Jumbo Annex: A growing population resulting from a Horsetooth transplant a few years ago.
Bear Creek: Again, plenty of fish, but they are of medium size.
Nee Gronda: A southeast surprise that might yield big fish.
