Ice Fishing in Colorado

Just typing that title doesn't seem like anything I would have ever write about.  Not in my lifetime did I think I would make a trip to Colorado, a state that I have never been to, to go ice fishing.  A combination of a lot of things made this trip happen.  A long holiday break from teaching, no ice in Central Iowa, an understanding wife, and a friend with a crazy idea made all this come together quite seamlessly.

Jacy and I packed the truck up at about 4pm Saturday and started to head west.  After seeing several landmarks, including the Lane Frost statue in Cheyenne we finally made it into Colorado near Red Feather Lakes.  We fished most of the day on Sunday, hitting three different small lakes.  To my surprise we only saw one other small group ice fishing.  The target fish was trout, a first for me while ice fishing, and a first in a couple decades for me to fish for trout.  We found the Rainbows really wanted a couple waxworms on this day, and that they were either close to the weeds or suspended in the five-foot range.  The Vexilar FLX-28's really helped us key in on those fish in the weeds and the suspended fish showed   This combination worked on each of the lakes.  Rainbows of all sizes and few smaller Brown trout were caught that day.  Quite a few of the Rainbows were over the 16-inch mark.  I was once again reminded how hard these trout fight.  A very solid and muscular fish gave our line and ice rod combos a test each time we hooked into one.  We decided to keep a few fish for dinner.  I filleted them out, added some garlic, salt and oregano and in about twenty minutes they were a fantastic way to end the day.

The second day we decided to hit the main lake from the first day and then hit one more before heading back to Iowa.  Nothing had really changed from the first day, fish were either directly tied to the weeds or suspended.  The main difference in this day was a large school or Brown trout that kept visiting us.  It was neat to the coloration on these fish and to watch them swim away in the crystal clear water.
To sum things up, it was quite an experience.  The scenery cannot really be put into words, the fishing was great, the company was equally great.  I even managed to eat a buffalo burger before we left Colorado...quite a whirlwind trip!

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