Fort Collins Ponds 5/22

[Farmer Ted]

It was also a miserable day up here in FTC. Water temps were 66 dropping to 65 by the afternoon. (Temps were 68-71 yesterday) I tried one pond that I don't usually fish too much this time of year...I caught one lmb around 5" on a rattletrap...I decided to go to my secret pond X to see what was up.

Pond X was pretty damn slow...I caught a few dinks (10-12") on tiki stiks (senko type worm) near the reeds around the edges of the pond.

I started throwing my trusty Thunder Stick out in the middle of the pond over the emerging weeds and felt it get hung up in the weeds. I gave it a snap to clean it off but it still felt like it had weeds on it. I started reeling again intending to just get it back to the tube and clean it off but it felt kind of weird.

The reason it felt weird was becuase there was a fish attached to it and strangely enough the fish was swimming toward me at the same speed I was reeling. When I got it up close to the tube it decided to take off and go under the tube...doubling my rod over and of course I'm trying to back the star wheel off to get my drag to take some of the strain off of the rod.

When I got the fish to the side to lip it I could see how damn big it was and that it wasn't hooked very well so I scrambled with my little net trying to get the fish in the net...it didn't really fit. I managed to get a hook in the net and fortunately was able to lip the fish .

It was a beauty coming it at 19 1/2"...the biggest bass I've ever caught. The fish was extremely fat and healthy...It was much heavier than other 18-19" fish I've caught...I'd guesstimate it close to 6lb. Not quite over my 20" goal but still nice. Kind of a strange anti-climactic fight since I didn't really feel it strike and it swam toward me after that so I was a little let down by that but I'll take it.

The thing had thrown all of the 3 treble hooks off of the thunder stick except one was still stuck in her cheek and that's what saved my ass.

Of course it was released!!!!

Later I was using one of my favorite techniques of punching through weed mats with a 1oz bullet sinker and a 5" tiki snake in lime green swirl. (some of the weeds on this pond are starting to mat) I toss the texas rigged snake up in the air and let gravity punch it through the heavy weed mat. Once below (if a bass hasn't taken it on the drop) I'll jig it off the bottom for a few seconds before pulling it out and punching another hole.

I caught a nice fat 16"er doing this...had another one get off (I set the hook too early) and caught another dink (10")

not a bad day considering the water was warmer than the air by about 15 degrees and my hands were pretty numb by the end of the day.


19.5"...the blood on the fish's cheek is where one of the hooks ended up.


This thing took up the whole stripping apron on my tube!


16"...another fatty

[TxT]

Nice bass Ted!  Really a fatty.

I caught one today that was my fattest by far too.  It was about 19" and I estimated it at over 5lbs.  Huge belly on her.

[TxT]

By the way, can I ask how big the pond is you caught yours in?  The pond I was in was 38 acres.  A lot bigger than most I've been fishing.  Wondering if the bigger bodies are just now seeing the spawn as I believe the smaller ponds are probably getting close to done.

[HogMaster]

Nice job good Colorado Fish!!!!  Farmer do you carry a tape?  Measure the girth then use this formula. Length X Girth X Girth/800 it works pretty well!!

[PaulRoberts]

Great report. Thanks Ted. Nice to know someone else was out there too.

Here's my own length/weight chart for average (healthy) condition LMB from CO ponds (i.e. these are not thin fish):

12  1.0#
13  1.25#
14  1.5#
15  1.75#
16  2.25#
17  2.75#
18  3.25#
19  4.0#
20  4.8#

Above this and the differences in half inches and body condition be great.

I've taken 5 fish from 19 to 19.75 inches this year. Not one has broken 5 lbs -although nearly all were very fat, deep shouldered fish.

[Farmer Ted]

By the way, can I ask how big the pond is you caught yours in?  The pond I was in was 38 acres.  A lot bigger than most I've been fishing.  Wondering if the bigger bodies are just now seeing the spawn as I believe the smaller ponds are probably getting close to done.

This pond is one of the smaller ones I fish...I'd estimate it at about 5 acres. The bigger ponds I fish are probably closer to the 38 acres that you were on. Most of the ponds I frequent were done with the spawn a week or more ago. They're all VERY shallow with average depths being 3-4 feet and max depths around 7 feet...they warm up quickly. There are a couple ponds up here around 20 acres or so that are quite deep (10-15 feet) and lack vegetation. Those ones warm up slower and I would imagine that they may still be on the tail end of the spawn.

Nice job good Colorado Fish!!!!  Farmer do you carry a tape?  Measure the girth then use this formula. Length X Girth X Girth/800 it works pretty well!!

HogMaster...I do carry a tape...I'll try this on the next big fish I catch.

Great report. Thanks Ted. Nice to know someone else was out there too.

I've taken 5 fish from 19 to 19.75 inches this year. Not one has broken 5 lbs -although nearly all were very fat, deep shouldered fish.

PaulRoberts,

Interesting to know none of your fish over 19" broke 5lbs. I was guessing on the weight...I have caught a lot of fish in the 18-19" range and this one was noticeably heavier than the others. I noticed how much it weighed pulling it out of the water before I ever measured it...I'll have to catch it again so I can measure the girth 

[TxT]

I've been avoiding one of those digital scales because I normally pack really light when fishing.  Afterall, only thing needed is EWG #2 and a bag of senkos and one set of pliers.  I guess I still have spare pockets for a scale and camera.

[HogMaster]

SENKO'S!!!  GOT TO LOVE THEM!!!!