The temps are dropping quickly here in western
Colorado. I absolutely love this time of
year. Watching the seasons change is a
wonderful experience, and a good reminder that change is often necessary in
life. Though hard, change is usually
good.
I really wanted to hit up a few lakes on the Grand Mesa
before winter took its grasp. However, I
was a weekend too short. A few storms
have pounded the mesa and snow is present already. I decided to brave it anyways, but the mighty
ford focus wasn’t built for the backcountry.
Ice and mud quickly made me change my mind. I was limited to the main highway. I decided Island Lake would be my best chance
for quality fish. I put my float tube on
my back and trudged through the snow.
Ah, I was the only one on the water today. Island is a beautiful place, but gets hit
pretty hard due to its location and ease of access. However, there are still some monsters
swimming in her depths. It seems a 10lb+
splake is brought in every so often. The
old splake record (1976) of 18lb was caught out of island. It has potential to be an amazing fishery.
I rigged up a worm to drift while I kicked out to deeper
water. Almost immediately I was met with
the ever-annoying planter bow.
On the other pole I rigged up a jig and dropped it down
deep. Soon I found my first splake of
the day.
Moving from shallow to deep produced many fish that looked
almost identical to that one. I did run
in to a few brook trout though their size was dismal. This one was the most colored up.
I used a variety of techniques looking for the bigger fish. It never really happened. I had one splake at about 18" slip away before I could get a picture, but other than that I could not find any of the older class splake.
However...splake are really neat.
It turned out to be a fun day. The weather was a bit on the cold side, but fast fishing helped keep me warm. If this age class of splake has enough food to grow and thrive Island will be amazing in the coming years.
life is short...live it well
