I was out of town last week, and I’m beginning to think my timing was not great. Now, no one is going to give me sympathy for being “on assignment” fishing in northern Minnesota — — but the fishing on Colorado’s Front Range is on fire, and I am not there to take advantage.
Professional Walleye Trail Championship qualifier Dan Swanson and Tightline Outdoors Guide Matt Ensley were on my radio show on 104.3 The Fan last week and discussed fishing for warm-water species up and down the Front Range. They agreed now is the prime time.
Swanson said the walleyes at Boyd Lake were staging in the north end of the lake and could be found off the deep edge off the flats and weed beds. Bottom bouncers and jigs tipped with a night crawler or Berkley Gulp were producing numbers of fish.
Swanson said he is also on a great walleye bite at Horsetooth Reservoir. He is finding bait with his electronics and trolling over deep water with Flicker Shad crankbaits.
“I’ve been doing real well on Horsetooth. The fish are starting to kind of move into their summer pattern,” Swanson said. “We’ve got a pretty good suspended bite going on right now.”
While he’s catching fish all day, the best bite is early and late in the day with large walleyes exceeding 26 inches being caught. Horsetooth is benefiting from several years of high water, and all the species of fish are doing well. The smallmouth bass are moving out to the main lake points, and Swanson is consistently catching fish that weigh more than 4 pounds. Panfish are also coming on at Horsetooth.
Ensley said walleye fishing at Pueblo and Cherry Creek Reservoirs is nothing short of phenomenal.
Pueblo is fishing the best it has in years, and Ensley is seeing 30- to 100-fish days chasing walleyes at Cherry Creek. A Lindy rig has been one of the top presentations. There are not a lot of big fish being caught, but the action is steady. It’s a great place to take a kid fishing.
Here’s a clip of me from my television show with Troy Cobourn fishing the Cherry Creek walleye bite.
Ensley’s favorite species is bass and he said the largemouth bass at Quincy Reservoir are doing very well. They are just coming off the spawn and starting to feed very aggressively. He noted the smallmouth bass fishing at Chatfield Reservoir is also taking off. In both cases, he likes going after them early and late in the day using a variety of surface baits including prop baits, poppers and buzzbaits.
Because these fish are staging in shallow water, they are accessible from shore or a boat.
“We’re talking anywhere from 6 inches to a foot or two of water is the location,” Ensley said. “They’re on the banks, so boat fishermen, wade fishermen and bank fishermen can access these fish quite easily.”
While I enjoy traveling the world to fish, sometimes the best opportunities are right in your own backyard. I can’t wait to get back and fish the waters at home. If you live on Colorado’s Front Range and like to fish, you need to be on the water now. The action is the best you will see all year for warm-water species.
For more on the fishing conditions, listen to the podcast of the complete interviews.
Don’t forget to join us every Saturday morning at 9 for all your outdoor information on Terry Wickstrom Outdoors on 104.3 The Fan. And .
