spectr17
01-16-2003, 07:22 PM
Solving the walleye winter riddle
Chill would boost chance at solution
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
January 08, 2003
The kernel has been planted for the solution to what has been one of Colorado's most persistent angling puzzles. Whether the weather will cooperate long enough to pick the fruit remains to be seen.
A close-knit band of fishermen who frequent Denver metro reservoirs seemingly has unraveled the mystery of how to catch walleye through the ice. All that's needed to realize an eventual harvest of crisp, tasty winter fish is enough safe ice to stand on. Stay tuned to the weather report.
The secret is sealed in a technique that involves deep jigging with a colorful assortment of spoons, jigs and blades designed to target aggressive walleye holding just off bottom.
After five years of trial and, mostly, error, these zealots have settled on several patterns and variations that, when conditions are right, produce bumper catches of a species whose winter feeding habits prove perplexing at best.
In recent weeks, the bite has been on at Chatfield Reservoir, which combines a healthy walleye population with what had been a solid ice cover on its southwest end. Recent warm weather diminished the ice to the point where anglers keep moving progressively and nervously upstream, where the covering is thickest.
Forecasts called for Tuesday's overnight temperature to remain above freezing, a condition that, if it persists, will at least temporarily deplete the local ice fishing scene. What's needed is a return to the phenomenon that, before planetary warming set in, used to be known as "Stock Show weather."
Time was, regular as clockwork, the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo coincided with the arrival of a blue norther that dumped a foot of snow and set the mercury rattling like a dried red pea in the bottom of the thermometer. More recently, the show presumably might feature cowboys in bathing suits, not a pretty picture all around.
"For the past 10 nights, the water hasn't frozen in my outdoor minnow tank," said Bob Hix, proprietor of All Pro Fish 'N Sport in Littleton and one of the primary sleuths in the great walleye mystery. "We need to get some cold weather fast just to keep the season going."
Along with two other local walleye enthusiasts, Troy Parson and Dave Villalovas, Hix began a breakthrough three years ago at Aurora Reservoir, one of three local impoundments (Cherry Creek is the other) with substantial walleye populations.
While the jigging technique came together at Aurora, a second part of the riddle remained.
"The ice bite is an early morning-late afternoon affair," Hix said. "The operating hours at Aurora don't allow you to capitalize on that."
That brought the experiment to Chatfield, where extended hours at the southwest metro state park fit the program perfectly. Fishing early and late, this trio, along with a rapidly expanding circle of associates, has been icing a remarkable number of walleye. The best bite generally has come toward the end of the day, between 3:30 and 5 p.m.
On Sunday, when a brisk wind sent shards of loose ice scuttling along with soft whispering sounds, the crew turned out an hour before sunrise to find both the bite and the lake covering had diminished drastically. Ice thickness in the area off the swim beach had shrunk to 4 inches - enough to safely support a man, but not with total peace of mind.
Parson, the most persistent of the group, reported catching 15 walleye on an earlier outing, none that reached the 18-inch size limit enforced at the three reservoirs.
"Most were 12 to 13 inches," Parson said. "I got 10 on each of the next two days, including a few keepers. I was getting hit hard."
The most successful tactic, Parson allowed, is to begin with spoon jigging for aggressive fish, then slow things down with a jigging shad or jigging Rapala if the fish appear less active.
The first technique involves a couple brisk upward sweeps of the rod, then allowing the lure to settle just off bottom. With the shad imitation or jigging Rapala, rod action is much more subtle and the lure often is sweetened with a minnow head dangled from the bottom hook. Surprisingly, bait alone hasn't provided much temptation for these walleye.
"Last year, I had a 45-fish night," Hix said. "I was aggressively jigging one rod, with a live minnow dangling on the other. I didn't get a single fish on the minnow."
Hix is particularly fond of two types of jigging spoons called Zapp and Dude, made by an obscure Iowa firm. A lure from Northland called Buck Shot and the Nils Master jigging shad complete his standard arsenal.
Another part of the solution involves locating the prime holding areas in the lake, generally old gravel pits dug before the reservoir formed. Now 40 or more feet deep, these pits attract bottom-hugging walleye. Savvy anglers use sonar units, typically by Vexilar, to locate drop-offs along the margins of the pits. Find a steep break line and you've likely got walleye.
Despite the group's best efforts, Sunday's morning bite turned up only a half-dozen fish, the largest 13 inches.
At this point, the story takes a long pause while anglers head home for lunch, a long nap and, perhaps, a few prayers to the weather gods.
The group returned at mid-afternoon, this time farther up the lake off the Catfish Flats parking area. Following a day of warming winds, the ice surface has melted, causing more concern for the dwindling season than for immediate safety.
"I've seen more ice than this in a cocktail," complained Dennis Kelly, who lives almost within sight of the lake.
With a storm front that ultimately would bring a bit of moisture, but not much cold, bearing down on the lake, a funny thing happened to the evening bite. Instead of the hoped-for slabs or even the smaller fish of the morning, the walleye that assaulted the lures measured half a foot long or less.
Jack Winters of Brighton, who earlier in the day caught nine good fish inside of 20 minutes, including one of legal size, landed a dozen of these little wigglers instead.
"Good for the future of the lake, not good for today," Winters groused.
Yet another mystery is why walleye, infamous for loving low-light conditions, aren't being caught at night.
"I've stayed out three nights until 9:30 without catching anything," Hix said. "I think they move off someplace we haven't located yet, maybe into shallow water."
For safety sake, Hix recommends anglers confine their activity to the upper end of the lake, from Catfish Flats south. He'll keep tabs on conditions from his shop, phone 303-795-3474.
Meanwhile, if you spot a cowboy in a bikini, stay off the ice.
Chill would boost chance at solution
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
January 08, 2003
The kernel has been planted for the solution to what has been one of Colorado's most persistent angling puzzles. Whether the weather will cooperate long enough to pick the fruit remains to be seen.
A close-knit band of fishermen who frequent Denver metro reservoirs seemingly has unraveled the mystery of how to catch walleye through the ice. All that's needed to realize an eventual harvest of crisp, tasty winter fish is enough safe ice to stand on. Stay tuned to the weather report.
The secret is sealed in a technique that involves deep jigging with a colorful assortment of spoons, jigs and blades designed to target aggressive walleye holding just off bottom.
After five years of trial and, mostly, error, these zealots have settled on several patterns and variations that, when conditions are right, produce bumper catches of a species whose winter feeding habits prove perplexing at best.
In recent weeks, the bite has been on at Chatfield Reservoir, which combines a healthy walleye population with what had been a solid ice cover on its southwest end. Recent warm weather diminished the ice to the point where anglers keep moving progressively and nervously upstream, where the covering is thickest.
Forecasts called for Tuesday's overnight temperature to remain above freezing, a condition that, if it persists, will at least temporarily deplete the local ice fishing scene. What's needed is a return to the phenomenon that, before planetary warming set in, used to be known as "Stock Show weather."
Time was, regular as clockwork, the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo coincided with the arrival of a blue norther that dumped a foot of snow and set the mercury rattling like a dried red pea in the bottom of the thermometer. More recently, the show presumably might feature cowboys in bathing suits, not a pretty picture all around.
"For the past 10 nights, the water hasn't frozen in my outdoor minnow tank," said Bob Hix, proprietor of All Pro Fish 'N Sport in Littleton and one of the primary sleuths in the great walleye mystery. "We need to get some cold weather fast just to keep the season going."
Along with two other local walleye enthusiasts, Troy Parson and Dave Villalovas, Hix began a breakthrough three years ago at Aurora Reservoir, one of three local impoundments (Cherry Creek is the other) with substantial walleye populations.
While the jigging technique came together at Aurora, a second part of the riddle remained.
"The ice bite is an early morning-late afternoon affair," Hix said. "The operating hours at Aurora don't allow you to capitalize on that."
That brought the experiment to Chatfield, where extended hours at the southwest metro state park fit the program perfectly. Fishing early and late, this trio, along with a rapidly expanding circle of associates, has been icing a remarkable number of walleye. The best bite generally has come toward the end of the day, between 3:30 and 5 p.m.
On Sunday, when a brisk wind sent shards of loose ice scuttling along with soft whispering sounds, the crew turned out an hour before sunrise to find both the bite and the lake covering had diminished drastically. Ice thickness in the area off the swim beach had shrunk to 4 inches - enough to safely support a man, but not with total peace of mind.
Parson, the most persistent of the group, reported catching 15 walleye on an earlier outing, none that reached the 18-inch size limit enforced at the three reservoirs.
"Most were 12 to 13 inches," Parson said. "I got 10 on each of the next two days, including a few keepers. I was getting hit hard."
The most successful tactic, Parson allowed, is to begin with spoon jigging for aggressive fish, then slow things down with a jigging shad or jigging Rapala if the fish appear less active.
The first technique involves a couple brisk upward sweeps of the rod, then allowing the lure to settle just off bottom. With the shad imitation or jigging Rapala, rod action is much more subtle and the lure often is sweetened with a minnow head dangled from the bottom hook. Surprisingly, bait alone hasn't provided much temptation for these walleye.
"Last year, I had a 45-fish night," Hix said. "I was aggressively jigging one rod, with a live minnow dangling on the other. I didn't get a single fish on the minnow."
Hix is particularly fond of two types of jigging spoons called Zapp and Dude, made by an obscure Iowa firm. A lure from Northland called Buck Shot and the Nils Master jigging shad complete his standard arsenal.
Another part of the solution involves locating the prime holding areas in the lake, generally old gravel pits dug before the reservoir formed. Now 40 or more feet deep, these pits attract bottom-hugging walleye. Savvy anglers use sonar units, typically by Vexilar, to locate drop-offs along the margins of the pits. Find a steep break line and you've likely got walleye.
Despite the group's best efforts, Sunday's morning bite turned up only a half-dozen fish, the largest 13 inches.
At this point, the story takes a long pause while anglers head home for lunch, a long nap and, perhaps, a few prayers to the weather gods.
The group returned at mid-afternoon, this time farther up the lake off the Catfish Flats parking area. Following a day of warming winds, the ice surface has melted, causing more concern for the dwindling season than for immediate safety.
"I've seen more ice than this in a cocktail," complained Dennis Kelly, who lives almost within sight of the lake.
With a storm front that ultimately would bring a bit of moisture, but not much cold, bearing down on the lake, a funny thing happened to the evening bite. Instead of the hoped-for slabs or even the smaller fish of the morning, the walleye that assaulted the lures measured half a foot long or less.
Jack Winters of Brighton, who earlier in the day caught nine good fish inside of 20 minutes, including one of legal size, landed a dozen of these little wigglers instead.
"Good for the future of the lake, not good for today," Winters groused.
Yet another mystery is why walleye, infamous for loving low-light conditions, aren't being caught at night.
"I've stayed out three nights until 9:30 without catching anything," Hix said. "I think they move off someplace we haven't located yet, maybe into shallow water."
For safety sake, Hix recommends anglers confine their activity to the upper end of the lake, from Catfish Flats south. He'll keep tabs on conditions from his shop, phone 303-795-3474.
Meanwhile, if you spot a cowboy in a bikini, stay off the ice.