CoBass

Yeah, we do have some giant trout here if you know where to go. State record rainbow is 19 lbs. and for browns it's 30 lbs. If you want to go after the really big boys, state record for lake trout is 50 lbs. Unfortunately, the type of water that grows big trout doesn't do the same for bass. Around here, any bass over about 3 lbs. is considered a pretty nice fish.

If you are only going to use it only when you go fishing for stocked trout, I wouldn't even bother with the braided line. Why spend the money on more expensive braided line to catch a bunch of twelve inch fish? I use 4-6 lb. mono on my trout combos and most of the time I'm fishing for trout that are much larger than your average stocker.

Nice fish, but your dog looks thoroughly unimpressed.

Probably a hybrid of some sort. We have a fish around here called an orange spotted sunfish that looks very similar to your fish but without the green markings near the mouth. They do naturally hybridize with other pan fish to create some pretty interesting fish.

I wouldn't even do it if it was free. I don't need my name in a book to prove I caught a big fish. As long as I know I did it, that's all that counts.

Reminds me of a pond by my house. It has some decent sized pan fish and a lot of stunted bass as well as some decent ones. There's about a 3 lb. bass that sits on the drop off about 10 ft. from shore and he will attack and steal the small bass if you're not quick about getting them to shore. Strange thing is, he doesn't go after the bluegill or crappie, just the smaller bass.

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet. Many people deny permission to fish because of liability issues. How do they know you're not the kind of person who will sue them if you get hurt on their property? I have gotten permission to fish a couple of ponds by printing off a generic waiver of liability form where you can just write in the names and location of the property and sign it. People tend to be more accommodating when they know there is no chance they will be held responsible if something bad happens.

Very nice!!! I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kind of jealous. His first fish is bigger than most of the fish I've caught.

I proudly claim the title of best in town with a bobber. A three inch hair jig fished float n' fly style under a bobber is a bass slayer at one of the ponds I fish regularly. I've had many 20+ fish days with that rig while others fishing around me struggled to get a fish or two.

I do most of my fishing in community ponds like that one. If they don't have a fence around them or no trespassing/no fishing signs, I consider them fair game.

If you go to YouTube and search on "Boilie recipes" you'll find a bunch of videos. fyi...boilies are what the British carp fishermen call their dough balls.

Depends on when you're fishing for them. Typically, they will only be in the shallows during low light conditions. Early evening through early morning is your best time to catch them using things like jerkbaits, crankbaits, and lipless cranks. You can still catch them during the day, but they will be a lot deeper(20-40 ft.), and you will have to switch to much slower presentations like blade baits and spoons jigged off the bottom. A gulp minnow on a jig head worked slowly along the bottom is another daytime presentation that can put fish in the boat.

My favorite way to catch bluegill and crappie is a trout magnet hung a few feet below a bobber. Nothing brings the little kid in me out like watching a bobber slide under the surface. Bass are still my favorite fish to target, but I always bring an ultralite rod with me for panfish just in case the bass aren't cooperating.

The best way to guarantee you won't catch any fish is to not go fishing. Fifty degrees with a little rain isn't really that cold. My biggest bass last year was caught during a snowstorm.

I used to fish a pond that was in the middle of a trailer park for retirees. It was loaded with 2-5 lb bass, giant crappie, and bluegill in the 12 inch and up range. You had to have permission from one of the residents to fish there, so it got very little pressure. Unfortunately, it suffered a severe Winter kill about 10 yrs. ago and never recovered. The pond is still there, but now it is overrun with nothing but stunted, 3-6 inch bluegills and crappie.

I think both fish you posted are splake, just not the same type. The one on the ice looks like a standard male brookie/female laker hybrid. The other fish looks like an F1 hybrid which is the result of a male splake/female laker hybrid. The F1's are 75% laker and 25% brookie so they tend to have stronger lake trout characteristics. Both of the fish you posted have round markings and the tails are not as flat as a brook trout, and not as deeply forked as a lake trout. They both look like splake to me.

If you're going after stocked trout, I wouldn't worry too much about fishing different parts of the water column with bait. Berkley makes power nuggets in a hatchery formula that is pretty much the same thing they are fed in the hatcheries. Put a few of those on smaller sized bait holder hook using the Carolina type rig you described and you will probably have your limit in a hurry. As far as lures go, inline spinners, kastmasters, or a trout magnet hung a couple of feet below a bobber and retrieved slowly with some occasional twitches have all worked for me. A small gulp minnow on a jig head can be deadly too. Coming from a state where trout are as common as flies, it always cracks me up when I hear about states with a trout season.

I live south of Denver so I don't get up north very often, but Horsetooth reservoir which is just outside of Ft. Collins is good for smallies. For largemouth, smaller ponds are going to be your best bet. Colorado bass fishermen tend to be pretty tight lipped about their favorite spots but if you use Google Earth to find the ponds in your area chances are you will find a few that produce.

Trout magnets, any color.

My go to for gills is an UL setup, 2-6 lb mono or floro, and a trout magnet a couple of feet below a bobber. Toss it out, give it a few twitches and watch the bobber disappear.

That's pike bait.

That's nothing. Friday and Saturday nights we were right at or a little below zero. Tomorrows weather: High of 62 and sunny.

Lots of good suggestions so far. I would add that a light or ultralight spinning rod and 4-6 lb line is what I have found to work best on crappie. Also, they have very thin mouths so when you get a hit, don't go with a big hook set like you do with bass. Just reel into the fish and slowly raise your rod tip to avoid ripping the bait out of their mouth.

Run a baby bass colored lipless crank through there. You'll catch a lot of the smaller fish but there's sure to be some bigger fish hanging out on the edge of the school looking for an easy meal.

The only one that comes to mind from that time period is Beat Charlie Moore. He would fish against regular guy on his own turf.