[cool]Went to Spinney yesterday and had a pretty decent day. I caught 16 Bows and Browns between 16-20 inchs. They were all very fat and healthy fish.
The biggest was a Brown who fell for a three inch Power Craw on a 1/8 oz jig. The rest were caught on my flyrod. I had most of my strikes on a size 12 Chrononmid nymph (midge).
I had intended to fish for Pike also, but my baitcasters never made it out of the truck.
Water is still pretty low! I doubt we will be launching big boats there this year?
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That's awesome Neal!
Can't wait till we can get up there and you can show me how it's done. Trout just confuse the heck out of me.[blush]
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When those fish have seen thousands of spoons and spinners go whirling by they catch on quick!
When those big Buffalo Gnats are hatching and making everyone miserable that is the time to break out your fly rod!
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[cool] Cool Neal. That sounds like a great day. Congratulations. Thanks for letting us know.
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For a drought I sure have seen alot of bugs out. Mosquitos at Jackson, Chatfield, and North Sterling seem to be worse than I remember in the last 4 years. Maybe I'm just more aware now cuz you can die from a bite.
We figured those things at 11 mile were mosquitos. Do Buffalo Gnats bite? Do they look like mosquitos? Does a "[size 1]size 12 Chrononmid nymph (midge)." look like a Buffalo Gnat? [/size]
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They are the biggest midges. Yes those are those big buzzing bugs. No they don't bite. A San Juan worm represents the larval stage. When you see them flying around that means there are millions of nymphs darting around under water.
If you see lots of trout flashing but not breaking the surface thats what they are chasing in most cases. A size 12 is the perfect imatation and very easy to tie!
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I agree its definatly back, I've been there several times this spring and haven't had a bad day yet. Infact I think its as good if not better than it was before the collapse. I still haven't caught a brown yet, but I always seem to find more of them in June for some reason. Can't wait for the Calibetis hatch thats when they really start going for flies. When the fish were running near the dam I noticed a fair amount of 23-24" cuttbows. Has anyone caught a splake out of Spinney yet?
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I would love to catch a big Splake in the Fall!!! Sometimes the males actually take on the spawning colors of a Brook Trout.
I wish they would stock Splake every year at 11-mile and Spinney. I caught a couple at Antero over the years . They are a great gamefish!
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I wish they would stock the same amount of splake and cutthroat as they do cuttbows. Variety always makes it more fun. I saw an article in the rocky mountain news a while back that said 35,000 rainbow hybrids and 15,000 cutthroat will be stocked next fall. I haven't caught a splake yet out of Spinney but I know some splake made it to Spinney after Antero was drained because they found some in the creel/net surveys.
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They used to put 20,000 Splake fingerlings in Antero every year. Of course they probably couldn't survive all the teeth in Spinney?
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I'm gonna have to get those Gopher 1/8 oz jigs. What style are they? Are they the ones that use that big Owner hook on them?
Also, what size and style do you use for a 5" or bigger shady style bait when fishing for Pike?
I just got a package of Berkely PowerBait "Five Inch Power Swim Shads" in rainbow color from Cabelas. They look pretty good to me.[
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I swear by the Owner hooks! Big trout have very hard mouths, those Owners go right thru them.
I got some of those swimbaits also. You can buy the Owner saltwater jigheads in 1/2 oz from both Cabela's and Bass Pro.
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I'm with you Neal on those Owner Ultra saltwater jigheads. That's what I use now for jigging tubes for macks. Those Owner hook points will go through anything!
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Last year I perchesed my first pack of Owner circle hooks. they are a bit steep in price, that was untill I took them walley fishing. now I will swear by them ustra sharp hooks.
I have put them on my shopping list for my next trip to the big city.....
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