Spinney is Back!

[NealCO]

It wasn't fast fishing, but the fish are big! I caught 6 Bows that ranged from 3-7 lbs. The big fish was 24 inchs. Took almost 10 minutes to land him. Got them all on jigs (Vibra Fin Leech). They were all released.

It was so windy I had to use Fireline with a floro leader just so i could even have a little control of my line! The South Park express started about 10:00 AM and never relented! It got so bad at one point I had to get out of the water, because there were three foot white caps crashing into shore.

Unfortunately I wasted three hours in the morning fishing for Pike at 11-Mile.

Next weekend the DOW is stocking 60,000 11-14 inch Bows and Cutbows into Spinney. Maybe that will get the pike going? I am afraid they thinned them out to much at both Spinney and 11-Mile? The guy who owns Chapperall store said he hasn't seen any pike all summer from Spinney except an occasional big fish.
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[DonInDenver]

Hi Neal-

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you caught some great fish. Congratulations.

I've never fished a Vibra-Fin leech. How do you rig and fish them? Regular lead head jig? Hop it back?
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[TroutFishingBear]

That's too bad about spinny mountain and elevenmile about alll the pike being gone. Its too bad the dow is that bad to hate pike so much. I am tired of their anti-pike bullpoop.[mad]
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[NealCO]

I bought a package of them about five years ago at WalMart. I threw them in my warm water bag and forgot about them. I was cleaning out my stuff and for some reason threw some in my trout box. About a year later i was up at Spinney getting my butt kicked. Not one strike in 6 hours. I saw a kid catch two nice Cutts on regular old garden variey twister tail. I had been using Gizzits all morning. Out of Desperation I tied a Vibra Fin on. Two six pound Bows and three Pike later I was sold. They have been producing since. I never even tied anything else on yesterday.

The company that made them in Lousiana, is a salt and bass fishing marketer. I actually called the owner and talked to him for about a half hour. He was really dissappointed in the sales of the Vibra Fin and stopped production of them. To make a long story short i bought 200 of the three inch black model he had left. The reason they work so well is that the whole body ripples just like something alive. Fish just cream them! Nothing subtle about it!

I fish them on a Gopher 3/32 oz or 1/8 oz mushroom head w/Owner 1/0 hooks. Every one of those fish yesterday was hooker right thru the bony upper part of their mouth. The only way they could of gotten away was to break my line!
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[DonInDenver]

Thanks Neal. I was afraid those things were out of production. I haven't seen any reference to them in catalogs for a long, long time. Now that I think about it, I think maybe you posted once before about how you got your current stock and that the company had quit making them.

Keep up the good work. That was a great day you had.
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[NealCO]

If we ever meet up on the water Don, I will be glad to spare some.

I am also going to try to get my hands on some more? I gave some to some of my friends at Walleye Central, but I don't think any of them ever tried them.

I would like to get some in red and orange to try on spawners! I have a feeling those colors would work also?
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[Abomb]

I posted earlier this year about the pike situation at those two lakes and I don't think anyone thought I was serious. The tournament at Spinney in June was a joke, and a few nice fish were caught at the 11-mile tourney in Sept, but all those fish were killed. And last time I was at Stagecoach a local told me the damn CDOW was gill netting them there as well. The only restrictions I have seen on pike at a Colorado lake is at Williams Fork where they are saying to release the ones 24"-36". Everywhere else is no restrictions. I am tired of the anti-pike bullpoop as well. Every year thousands flock to Canada and pay top dollar for trophy pike/muskie fishing. Why cant we have a few good lakes here?
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[NealCO]

I wish they would inact that same slot limit at 11-Mile!

I really think what has happened at Spinney is good! Two years ago you could catch about half a dozen small pike a day with out trying. But they were swimming sleletons and had destroyed the one of the best trout fisheries in the world! Since they started stocking only 12-15 inch trout they have effectively starved out the hords of medium to small size fish, and now the big Pike have nothing to eat but their own off spring!

Spinney is on it's way back to being a place were a good trout fisherman can catch 20 fish a day between 18-24 inches, with even bigger fish possible each day if you get lucky! To me that is worth the tradeoff! That said, there is still plenty of big pike left in there, and that will keep the sucker numbers way down. They are just very hard to catch!
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[TroutFishingBear]

COlorado has some of the biggest pike in the lower 48 states. The pike here are huge!!! Most people would give anything to catch the average size pike that we get. The only problem is the CDOW not helping us out. I have heard and even seen a few pike caught over 30 lbs here, which is unheard of almost in the lower 48. We should have more fisheries for pike; what the CDOW and USFWS did to the old great yampa fishery is inexcusable. I used to get 20+pike there a day, with many fish over 30". This year I only got 1,albeit it was a 34". Pike are some of the most saught after gamefish in other places... and for good reason. They are the best fighting freshwater fish for sure; they put trout and bass to shame. They are also really excellent on the table, second best only to walleye. Pike are GREAT

Spinney is not one of the top trout fisheries in the world either, but it is nice there are less pike there now. Too bad the EUTHENIZED them and didn't PUT THEM IN stagecoach or other fisheries, such as the huge pike lake harvey gap reservoir. the population there is devasted now due to the super low water and no bag limit. ITs dumb, they manage harvey gap, which is far too warm for real trout, as a put and take stocker trout fishery, when it used to be the best pike fishery bar none in the state. (pike average 28-32" there now, with a guy I know on another forum catching one icefishing on a icefly that when he fileted it had 4 5 lb. bags of filets! But a 1-2 pike day is great now)

I get a little tired of the mismanagement of almost all fisheries by the CDOW
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[NealCO]

When Spinney was at it's prime, it had no equal in the west! I have fished all over Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. No where I went could I catch as many trout over five lbs a day, as I used to at Spinney. It is a long way from those glory days, but they have it on the right track!

What they did on the Yampa is unforgiveable!!!!
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[TroutFishingBear]

I am glad spinney is improving, I was just commenting on the fact that instead of euthanizing the pike, they should put them somewhere else.

Hopefully spinney keeps improving!

And if you want to find the actual best areas in this state you gotta be willing to explore and tough it out. The black canyon of the gunnison, with its class V rapids, I float every year and most of those holes never see a lure or fly ever. I got 3 browns over 10 lbs in my one trip. I guess they are there though because most people don't want to do the grueling 4 hour portages and climbing over rocks. 100+ fish days are common, even though you are fishing only a few hours each day because of length of float and portages. That I think will easily make spinney seem like nothing. But I agree for just a day trip spinney mountain is one of the best places for big trout; I believe the lower colorado river after the roaring fork dumps in is the other day trip area where spinney can be beaten for big trout. Exit 114-Exit 105 the trout avg. 3 lbs with many, many, many larger ones EVERYWHERE!!!

Good luck neal and it seems as if you sure know your stuff!
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[NealCO]

That Gunnison trip sounds like a blast! I wouldn't mind treating myself to a guide for that one!

Have you ever fished Strawberry?

Another great trip if you have three or four days is Pathfinder in Wyoming. It is 26,000 acres when full, so you need several days to find the concentrations, but when you get it pegged the fishing is unreal for big trout and pretty good for walleye. The miracle mile above Pathfinder gets a huge run of Browns in late November to early December, but the weather is miserable.
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[TroutFishingBear]

pathfinder sounds like a blast[]

I have another lake (reservoir) that I have mentioned me fishing before but I won't list it by name. I fish for primarily walleye there but if I target trout where the cold stream comes in or off of the bluff like when they are pushing the baitfish (some weird kind not supposed to be in there, no idea what they are fathead minnow I think) I get big fat rainbows that average 20", and in this lake they are so fat from the minnows and the abundance of crawfish that they are 6 lbs. when that length. Too bad the CDOW doesn't come when I tell them poaching is going on here (it is a hike in lake). often times some jerks will come and keep like 30 of these big bows between the two of them (usually bows in the 18-26" range). This lake would be even more amazing if the CDOW would listen to me about the poaching and be willing to have a officer monitor it instead of just saying I'm lying. This lake I am talking about is a toughy to crack (sort of like elevenmile) but if you fish it enough and get the patterns you can catch tons of big bows and some decent walleye too. Sadly those 2 poachers have the lake's patterns down too.

There are even more amazing lakes out there, such as this 4 mile hike in lake called Y and S reservoir on the mesa. It had mostly 3-4 lb. cutts and a few bows as well. But during the big drought year, 2002, they drained it without even salvaging the huge trophy fishery and putting the fish in the creek below. I found that out when I walked there and found an empty lake with hundreds of skeletons of huge fish. It was and still makes me almost want to bawl to this day[]

Hopefully spinney is not poisoned or drained or something... that would be bad. Antero was drained but at least those fish were salvaged right?
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[Icedaddy22]

I haven't fished Spinney, but I think that is the only place really harmed by pike in this state. Those fish should have been salvaged and placed in other pike lakes. I hate the CDOW so much it's not funny. What they and the USFWS do to the Yampa River is inexcusable and they should be beaten with clubs for it. They have got to reinstate bag limits for pike and manage some lakes for pike rather than all for trout. It pisses me off so much I'd like to see a lynch mob assemble sometimes. Spinney sounds awesome, but the Glenwood section of the Colorado and the Gunnison Gorge have it beat. Too bad in the gunny gorge you have to wade through tons of 12 - 20" dink browns when it used to be mostly 20 - 30" rainbows before WD hit it hard. Now you will catch 20 browns to every rainbow. Though the browns can get big too, have seen ten plus pounders every trip, the rainbows average a solid 3 - 12 pounds with bigger ones possible. Not a great fly fishing river in the canyon because the holes are so deep, but the most awesome spinner river around. However the shallow pocket water below the canyon is great for fly fishing. Big fish are there too, just more smaller ones. It's also time that the CDOW and Aurora were defeated and ice fishing was allowed on spinney. All one would have to do would be to circulate a petition to place the measure on the ballot. Once passed, neither the CDOW or Aurora could do anything about it.

Tyler
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[TroutFishingBear]

Yeah, that and DOW wants to manage lakes that have good populations of pike that are far too warm for real trout as catchable stocker trout fisheries? What a joke! What do you want, harvey gap is a perfect example. Do you want a lot of 30" plus pike with bigger very common, or do you want a scummy 10" stocker rainbow? DOW wants stocker rainbows obviously even though all the anglers that fish there prefer the pike. (which the pike are now fewer thanks to no bag limit bs and spearfishing being allowed there a year ago I heard)
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