Honest to Pete! (Who is Pete anyway?) This rainbow trout was caught in Mother Lake and measured 32 inches, folks!  Mike Kruise, co-owner of The Laughing Grizzly Fly Shop out of Longmont, was quite excited to report, and I quote, “This monster is the biggest rainbow I’ve caught ANYWHERE, EVER!” But then wryly commented that it sure sets his bar high for fly fishing the rest of the season!

He caught this on a small crawdad-orange colored squirrel leech!  (See below for more hot flies.)  Thanks for the photo, Mike, or some readers may not have believed you!

A picture is worth a thousand words…

Submitted by Ted Meredith, Ranch Guide 970.215.2816 ~ March 3:

“Mother Lake was fishing well on Friday with big trout taking light Clouser minnow patterns and crayfish worked on the bottom very slowly.  Some Chironomid action was noted with midge larva suspended below a strike indicator.  Midges were hatching on Saturday, as new adults could be seen hovering in the sunlight.

No noticeable takes from the trout were seen on the surface yet, although the fish were seeing the food activity. There is no ice on Mother Lake and the water level is at full capacity.  Island Lake still has a large percentage of ice covering the surface of the water.   Weldon Pond is 75 % open.  Long Lake, Hourglass and Big Pump are covered with ice.  For bass fishing, Little Pump and Snapping Turtle are ice free.

Big Lake is still covered with ice.   The Lower Valley River is mostly free from ice although the flow and water levels are minimal.  River fish can be spotted concentrated in pools waiting for more water to allowing them to explore to other areas.”

THANKS TED!

Happy March Angler on Mother Lake!

By Season Member, Glen Colton:

I fished Mother Lake twice this week realizing that the ‘good’ weather was coming to an end but I still had a few days of fishing left before it gets too cold for my liking.

I fished one day with my buddy Dave and one with Frank. On both days the weather was great; 50 degrees or so with little wind (except the wind came up late afternoon one day).

The water temperature was around 43 degrees with no ice on the lake. I tried fishing Island Lake for a short time the second day with no luck, but did not really give it a chance because the fishing was too good on Mother.

The fishing was great both days! If the lake does not freeze over, I would recommend anglers who are looking for a fishing fix to get out to Sylvan Dale soon and wet their lines!

Rainbow Trout Drawing

Glen Colton, Season Member, and his friend Dave enjoyed fly fishing Tuesday: “It was a beautiful day; overcast, with little wind. We mostly fished Mother Lake. The fish were midging most of the day — we caught some on various midge patterns during the day — challenging fishing for mostly picky fish. Dave picked up 4 in the early afternoon.

Moonrise Autumn

Towards dark I caught a few on a zoo cougar. At dark, Dave and I both used big flies on the bottom — Dave a big black bugger with rubber legs and an autumn splendor. I tied on a Kelly Galloup Big Hole bugger. From about 6 to 8pm we fished under a beautiful full moon and each caught a number of nice fish, while losing an equal number.

As usual, the fish were very nice size — my largest being a 23″ rainbow. We didn’t fish the Big T. — it was running very high — probably the source of the flows into Boyd Lake. In the late afternoon we were treated to a large herd of elk that came down to the meadow to feed and get water at Mother Lake. All in all, a great day!”

~Thanks, Glen!