I'm a big fisherman from Minnesota and moving to Colorado....

[CRANKBAIT_GUY2]

I don't fish for trout, but I will learn, because there's really no point to it in MN. I fish Muskie, Bass and Walleyes in that order. I was wondering if someone could give me some waters that would sooth my itch once I get out there?

The only reason I've stayed living in MN as long as I have is because of they fishing here. But, I have to move now, and it's extremely important that to me to be able to continue the passtime that has kept me sane at times, and gives me great happiness.

Any help that any of you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

[Dan DAN the fisherman]

It kind of depends where in Colorado your moving to. There are numerous lakes that hold fairly descent populations of Tigers. There are no pure stain Muskies. Plenty of Walleye lakes around, but your tactics will change a bit to catch them, especially in the Winter. Bass fishing seems to get better each year. There are also some good Pike lakes. You'll have fun, just be willing to learn some new tricks when you start fishing Co. waters. As for trout, I don't fish for them at all during the summer. I catch tons of Lakers in the Winter. Good luck on your move. Give me a shout when you get here.

Dan

[CRANKBAIT_GUY2]

I'm gonna be in the fort collins area.

[Dan DAN the fisherman]

Pinewood lake would be the closest T. muskie lake to Fort Collins. Its west of Carter Lake, which is a good Walleye Lake. Boyd Lake And Horsetooth Res. are both close, and are good Walleye and Bass lakes. Other Muskie lakes are Gross, Quincy, Arvada Res., Evergreen,and I know theres more, just can't think of them all. Hope this helps.

Dan

[SuddenlySummer]

I went from Minnesota to Colorado(Boulder)back to Minnesota.

The fishing there can be fun but the rub is that most lakes (res.) on the front range are private. If you can fish a pond in your area, you'll get a nice bass or maybe even a walleye.

It's completely different there. A pond or a hole you wouldn't even look twice at here in MN is what you're delegated to finding now. You don't have to worry about winterkill there.

Water access, rights, are completly different there than they are here.

Horsetooth is a res. that you will get to know soon enough but it's pounded "hard". Boats, skiers, fishermen, etc....

Try to make a trip or two to the big res. in Nebraska. I think it's called Lake McCannahay (sp?). Big walleyes there.

It's much different there.

Good luck.

[Guest]

Hate to say it, but fishing kinda sucks in that area. I lived in Ft. Collins and Horsetooth just takes a pounding. You also have to drive quite a bit and put up with the LOOOOOOONG lines to launch there and other places Like Carter (up the Big Thompson canyon on all the windy, uphill roads! Pretty view at the top though!). I tell ya, we are spoiled here in MN!

It turned out to be too much of a hassle to put up with so I just went sight seeing and hiking alot instead. You get frustrated putting on the miles for the fish there. The best fishing spot I found was Albertson's or King Soopers supermarket!

Sorry to be a stick in the mud! But it's a fact.

Good luck out there. Why are you moving there?

BTW take your wife or girlfriend to Canino's Italian resteraunt on College avenue, or check out the Glen Haven Inn (up the Big Thompson canyon) or the Dunraven Inn in Estes park. Killer food at all 3 spots! Intimate settings at both I should mention.

[cold one sd]

I moved to Colorado and lived 30 miles from Fort Collins. I don't know how it is now, but I had to buy a camper and boat permit in every county that I fished. I moved back to South Dakota in 1977 and I still hate crowds. I can imagine what it is like now. If ya want to hunt geese buy into a lease. Same thing with everything else.

[sparcebag]

Boy are you wrong about trout in minnesota!! in colo. I lived in Idaho Springs During construction of Eisenhower Tunnel,Chatfield Dam !970-1976.Trout are measured in inches in Minnesota by pounds.Colo largest rainbow 17 in.Mn.9.75 LBS.Colo. Brookie 16 in. Minn 4.5 LBS.The Elk hunting is better there I yet go back every other year to visit and if lucky get drawn for a elk tag,no deer thats better in Mn. also.The laker fishin was just gettin started when I moved but with the waters they have I'd bet its a great fishery.Fort collins is really scenic.

[eyehead]

I'll be moving to Denver in the fall of 2007. Any Musky lakes close to Denver?????

[Jim Bob]

There are several lakes in the area that have Tiger Muskies in them. The state record is 40 lbs! The city it was caught in is a suburb of Denver.

[fishingchef]

So I guess I am not the only Minnesotan who found CO wasn't the place for them. I just moved back from Boulder to Minneapolis in November. We lasted only a year out west, just wasn't trhe right fit, sure not MN.

Seems to me most of the negatives have been hit on the head. The urban waters are overun with wakeboarders and recreational boaters who have very little if any respect for anglers, not to mention they are very small...INSANE if simply put. As a very active walleye angler/addict, life out west was way different. I found some excellent populations of fish in the Chatfield and Cherry Creek Reservoirs, unfortunately the fisheries mgmnt. out there is horrible, but once again, it is not MN.

There is hope, people always seem to bring up the fact that you have to drive a long ways to get to fishable waters in and around Denver, but i found there really was no difference, The paralell I draw is what is the difference from driving from The twin cities to Mille lacs, LOTW, Winni, Red, Brainerd, Alexandria, Cass, etc.

Point being, you gotta do some driving to fish whether it is Minnesota or Colorado.

Yes we have better options here in the metro, and a heck of a lot more throughout the state, but there a are some decent options in Colorado.

I found the mountain reservoirs to be pretty darn cool, my girlfriend and I spent every cahnce we had up and around the Frasier Valley, Granby res., Shadow mtn.res, Grand Lake, and some others I don't remember names.

The scenery is amazing, the mountains are beautiful, and the fishing is what it is. Colorado is definately not Minnesota, so my best advice is to not compare it, just try to enjoy what the state offers and accept it.

Sounds to me you are a musky nut, sorry I can't help you there, but I'd guess you could do all right fishing the tigers, given the mild seasons and forage bases there have gotta be some some biguns, maybe not like the fatties on Mille Lacs or othe waters around here, but then again I am not sure if tigers get as big as regular muskies.

Good luck to ya, my advice would be to start skiing because that is what CO is definately known for, the fishing is less than impressive.

[quijibo]

Fishingchef, I can relate. I moved back to Minneapolis in '96 wondering why went there in the first place. Imagine my surprise when my wife came home a few months ago and told me she took a promotion that would take us to Denver. I have to be there in a couple of weeks and I know that if I think about it too much, I probably won't go.

My plan is to work as many hours as I can and take month long vacations back here or go deep sea fishing. A day pulling grouper or amberjack up from 300' usually ruins me for freshwater fishing for about 6 months.

At least they have sunshine 300+ days a year.

One other good thing is that Walleye don't seem to be a popular target fish out there. At least not like here. DOW has been stocking them there for quite a while I guess. I read an article that said that they only stocked Tiger Musky there to control other species. It doesn't sound like they ever intended them to be fished specifically.

We could all take up fly fishing. It would be great practice for Tarpon and Bonefish.

Ice fishing for Lake trout looks pretty good too.

[Perry]

Crankbait, I moved out here from MN in mid-2006. With the move and travels back and forth to MN, have not been able to get in much fishing...I also sold my skeeter...I figured when in Rome, do as the Romans - I am a fly fisherman so I figured I would focus on fishing some of CO's trout streams. I did keep my ice fishing gear and plan on doing some ice fishing as well. Drop me a line - I figure you can never have too many fishing partners... [email protected].

[so haaad]

I moved out to Crested Butte from MN in '94. Back to MN in '95. Out to Gunnison in '99. Back to MN in 2000.

[gsptbone]

Don't get too discoureged Crankbait, fishing here in Colorado is not as terrible as everyone here is making it out too be. Of course Minnesota is the cream of the crop for species like Walleye and Musky. I probably had one of my best walleye days ever at Mille Lacs a few years ago and I have been on numeous fly-ins to NW Ontario.

I lived in Fort Collins for five years, Go Colorado State Rams!. Good Walleye and Smallmouth at Horsetooth. Horsetooth does have tons of protected coves as well, so it is possible to get away from jetskiiers. Also good wiper, walleye and bass at some Loveland(town south of Fort Collins) reservoirs like Lon Hagler and Bodecker. My favorite little honey hole in Fort Collins is a small reservoir called Douglas(north of town). We did really well here trolling crawler harnesses and crankbaits for Walleye and Wipers. Only problem with Douglas is the ramp can become inaccessible when the water is low during droughts.

East of the Fort near Sterling has some more warm water prospects with Jumbo and Sterling reservoir. Also Bonny and Pueblo Reservoirs farther south have good walleye and bass. Also southeast near Lamar( Meredith and a few others I can't remember ) have good walleye, bass, catfish etc.

Colorado is of course know more its cold water fishing, fly fishing is huge. Some of the Mountain reservoirs are really cool. Elevenmile is a good pike and trout fishery and Spinney is an excellent trophy trout hideout. Taylor Reservoir, Green Mountain, Granby, are all good. I'm going ice fishing tommorrow at Granby for big(hopefully) lake trout.

Besides the mountain lakes, we have lots of gold medal waters for trout all over the state. Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroats, brookies galore. If you haven't tried fly fishing I recommend giving it a try. I just took it up last summer, after being a die hard spin fisherman my whole life,and now I think I am starting to prefer fly fishing. I'm planning on hooking up with some Northerns on my fly rod in Ontario come June.

Lastly, the Denver metro area does have some good walleye, bass and tiger musky lakes. Cherry Creek and Chatfield can be very good for walleye, I just try and avoid the weekends because of boat and skier traffic. Quincy and Aurora I believe are good Tiger musky lakes, with the state record(mid 40's i think) coming out of Quincy.

Hopefully this gives you a little hope for Colorado fishing. Their are some good places to fish, you just have to find them!

Great goose and duck hunting around Fort Collins. A friend of mine has a farm north of the Budweiser brewery and there are TONS of geese, getting access can be tricky, but their are a few state ares around Wellington that can be productive. Other good public waterfowl land can be found down south at the Alamosa and Monte Vista refugees and also off of I-76 heading towards Nebraska. A lot of these require reservations and check in, so you can get good blinds or areas without other people ruining your spread. As far as getting permission for private, the farther east you go the better. I am an upland bird hunter myself, and Nebraska and Kansas are two to three hours away and offer great pheasant, sometimes quail, and sharptails and praire chickens if your lucky. In college I hunted from Sterling to Haxtun and Holyoke east of Fort Collins and was able to get permission on a lot of private. You just have to knock on the doors and get a good speil going.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Tony

[Ely Lake Expert]

Wow, I could not of titled this better myself. Except I am out here already. I got a job offer on last friday (really couldn't turn it down) They said they wanted me to start asap so I packed up sunday and left. Started work yesterday. I actually moved in with my aunt and uncle outside of loveland. They live in the mountains just up the hill past Carter lake. I'm quite glad to hear there are walleyes in there, though I wish I could go ice fishing for them. Anyway, if anyone else has any fishing advice or suggestions that would be great.

Crankbait, we should get together to do some fishing sometime since Fort Collins is not far from here at all and it would be nice to go fishing with a fellow Minnesotan.

Ryan

[Ely Lake Expert]

Someone told me there is no fishing seasons in Colorado and you can fish any time you want. Is this true or did he not have a clue?

[gsptbone]

No seasons for fishing in colorado. You can fish year round for any species. Had a great day of ice fishing last friday at Granby Lake. Landed 9 lakers and hooked many others. Hope this helps.

Tony

[Ely Lake Expert]

Where is Granby lake? I want to give it a try. I am having ice fishing withdrawals not being in MN.

[Jim Bob]

Lake Granby is about 90 miles from Denver, just outside the town of Granby. Right there in Loveland they've been doing real well catching Perch and Rainbows!

[Ely Lake Expert]

Ya know I left all of my icefishing stuff in MN because I didn't think their was as much icefishing out here as there is. I am going to go buy some new stuff tonight and a Colorado license. Would any of you nice people of colorado at least point me in the right direction for where to go, i would like to go this weekend. I have ice fishing fever again,

[gsptbone]

From Denver take I 70 West and go for about 30-40 miles and take the US 40 Winter Park/ Granby exit. You go over Berthoud Pass, which can be intresting if theres fresh snow. Stay on 40 past Winter Park, Frasier, and Granby. There is a bait shop on Main Street in Granby on the right side of the road. They have a suckers and jigs as well as maps of the lake and directions the rest of the way. You go thru Granby and take a right towards Grand Lake at the end of town. Granby lake will be on the right about 10 miles or so. I fish in Arapahoe Bay, which they can show you at the bait shop on the map.

I usually jig a 1/4 or 1/2 oz.lead head jig with a soft tube body tipped with a piece of sucker meat cut bait. I start on the bottom with a short jig motion and experiment on my jigging motion until I get bit. Usually we are fishing around 20 feet, but I havne't had a depth finder up their in a while. Also, we have got bit anywhere from 10ft to 40 ft so depth can vary.

hope this helps. We might try and make it out later in the week so I'll let you know. Maybe you could meet us.

Tony

[Ely Lake Expert]

Thanks GSP.

By the way i have 2 gsp's too.

[Nate McVey]

Ely, I meant to write on this thread awhile ago, but got sidetracked. I too moved from the UP (Bessemer, MI) to Avon, CO 6 years ago and am now living in Duluth. It was a bit of a struggle to adjust to the mountain fishing life style, but found it a little easier when I started getting into monster rainbows and cutthroat with the fly rod. There are great streches of river in the Avon area that can be floated, drifted or waded that hold great fish. Throwing buggers against the bank and having a 20+ in. Rainbow gobble it up is something I miss a lot (even living in the land of Steelhead now). There are some great fly shops in the neighboring towns, shoot me an email if you are interested and I will give you some names (cause I don't think I can post that stuff) shiner2367atyahoo

[gsptbone]

How old are your gsp's? I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old female, mother-daughter pair. They did great this year. We might be looking to hit Granby up on Friday, let me know if you had a chance to hit it up yet.