(CO) JohnFinney
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Posts posted by (CO) JohnFinney
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Stunning looking mirror's, Congrats on some nice catches!
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Since using Trilene 17 lb big-game XL, not been cut off - though have had to replace the line once it gets worn down and checking for frays/nicks in the line. Only issue with the XL is the line memory is pretty pronounced. My issue since moving to the XL and "better" reels has been hook-pulls, a different topic entirely and loosening the drag has helped somewhat with that.
John
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Nice work ! Congrats !
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Welcome Tom !
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A pair of real nice beauties there - congrats!
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Friday 31st August, 2012
Spent a morning down at Quail Lake again today with Patrick from work who was hunting for rainbow and cutthroat trout.
Weather was nice, about 82F and little wind. Fished using two rods, both rigged with a 2oz pear sinker on a safety clip to a 8" 12lb fluro leader, size 2 octopus curve hook, loaded with my favorite panko/creamed corn packbait, today flavored with banana! Hook bait was white corn with a hint of orange - yummy!
This is my 3rd time fishing at this lake. The water level was up slightly from a week ago though the lake was quiet, very few people fishing - probably due to it being a school day and a Friday morning. Fished about 20' out from some reed beds to my left and about 30 yards straight out. Location ( B ) on revised map.
The morning was quite productive, in quantity, if not size. After starting with a hook pull managed to bring in a 6.5 lb common, a 5.5 lb common and then 4 more ranging from 3-4 lbs each. Ended with another 2 hook pulls ! Arg ! Seems this Lake is pretty well populated with commons 7 lbs and under - I am sure the fish can only be a few years old so my new quest here is to locate their "parents".
Sadly my colleague blanked out on his trout quest, even after trying some "Hail Mary" corn and pack off the bottom with an egg sinker for his last hour of fishing . Guess the trout gods did not favor him today! Yes, I know, deep down inside he wants to catch carp!
Certainly planning to return to Quail, I am sure there must be some monsters in there somewhere !
All told, was a great morning out and a steady haul from Quail.
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Insane ! Excellent vid, thanks for posting!
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A true monster carp that would make Jabba proud ! Congrats !
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Aye, there is a no chumming rule "State Wide". If the DoW catch you tossing out handfulls of bait, chum, groundbait, spodding, etc, then may get a ticket. Of course, I do cast out with a very loose "packbait" before getting into a serious session - now if that comes off, and requires a recast, or three, four, then not my fault
I think with all things common sense applies, if you have a bucket of bait and are tossing it out there with gusto with the DoW offical in sight, you should expect to get ticketted ! The DoW also enforce the "no live bait or scented lures" rule that applies to many lakes & rivers in the State - though I have only observed them enforing the "no live bait" portion personally - not sure if they are going to request you reel in and start "sniffing" your lures! -
Once/when I get a true 12ft carp rod, I may very well rig one of my existing rods and old reels for float - lighter line, etc. I have tried float fishing a few times at this lake and so far all all I have snagged are trout which devour just about all baits suspended in the water.
You would be surprised at how large a hook bait those rainbows will attack and swallow - i've had small ones take a size-2 covered with corn as big as the poor trout's head - no clue how it got the hook inside the mouth ! I may also try my hand at some fly fishing, though as a youth, I darn well sucked tremendously at casting a fly - also the effort, rather just put my feet up, pull down the lip of my cap and snooze, waiting for a carp to take the bait ! Yes, im getting lazy in my old age!
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Overview:
An 8 acre lake just off from Garden of the Gods road beside the water treatment plant. The lake is primarily used as a trout fishery and as such receives stockings a few times a year for this purpose. Reported species of fish include bluegill, channel catfish, largemouth bass, saugeye, rudd, wiper, goldfish, tiger muskie, red ear sunfish and last, but not least, common carp. A very popular fishery with the locals that is heavily fished, especially at weekends and on public holidays.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife:
Stocking of trout was on this year was on weeks of 9th April and 5th June - no stocking reported since June. This is a "wakeless" water though often anglers are out on the water a variety of inflatable craft, paddle or self-propelled. There is no Fish Management Survey data available (that I could find that is!).
Map:
Current Conditions:
August 2012: Water levels are fluctuating almost daily though typically the lake is down a foot or so, expanding the "bank" access around the Lake. Locals are pulling mostly trout from the waters with some anglers I have spoken with catching small large mouth bass, catfish (channel) and saugeye.
This is my “local” lake and where I have had the most success far in Colorado Springs catching mid-doubles on a regular basis. The size range for the commons at this lake for 2012 varies so far between 9 – 24 lbs, with 12-15 lbs being the average. All my carp were caught on my panko/creamed corn pack with corn on the hook – flavored or un-flavored, the carp do not really seem to care! I have also landed a fair number of rainbow trout (10-15”) and a few channel cats (10-16”) from here this year.
The carp I have observed generally are patrolling between the two piers (A on map) and often are no more than 5-20 yards from the bank. Earlier in the year I did manage to land a few fishing perhaps 50 yards or so out towards the aerator but none from that vicinity recently. I have observed carp breaching over the NE side of the lake in shallow water (B on map) early morning just after dawn. Once I feel agile enough to climb down the rocks, or there is sufficient bank access, I may try that NE corner out. There are large schools of either rudd, or hybrid carp, patrolling the NW and W sides of the lake - oblivious to all my attempts to entice them with corn so far!
I have seen many anglers fly fishing on this lake, generally they are up on the north side with the rocks or the east side amongst the weeds and bushes by the lake edge.
The only thing about this location that bothers me is trash, more trash and heaps of trash. For my regular spot I usually spend some time picking up what I can, from bottles, beer cans, bags, empty bait containers, line, more line, line with hooks, line wrapped around trees, dead fish (trout) etc. I do wish people would be more respectful of the area and at least take a few minutes to pick up after themselves. Enough said.
The local DoW officers are just down the road and I have seen anglers being "card'ed" on numerous occaisons - my favorite being a few that were in my "favorite" spot and obviously did not have a valid license, were ticketted, left abruptly. Of course, I just had to move into the recently vacated area !
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Note: 17 Acres in size, not 33 as previously stated.
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Current Conditions:
Sunday Aug 26th 2012: Water levels were down a foot or so, expanding the "bank" access around the Lake. I saw many locals pulling trout from the waters and one angler nearby reported catching some wipers from the lake - though I was unaware the lake even had wiper! Fished from around 11am - 3pm, caught two small (4lb and 5lb respectively) common carp from location (A) on map using panko/creamed corn pack with orange flavored corn on the hook.
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Overview:
A 33 acre lake on the south side of Springs that is mainly used as a trout fishery. The lake receives stockings a few times a year for this purpose. Reported species of fish include black bass, crappie, sunfish, catfish (channel), northern pike, small mouth bass and of course, common carp. A very popular fishery that is heavily fished, especially at weekends and public holidays.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife:
Stocking of trout was on this year was on weeks of 2nd & 9th & 23rd April, 8th May, 5th June - no stocking reported since June. This is a "wakeless" water though often anglers are out on the water a variety of inflatable craft, paddle or self-propelled. There is no Fish Management Survey data available (that I could find that is!).
Map:
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Great video Shawn, thanks for posting - almost makes me want to acquire a fly rod now ! *almost* !
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Robert,
A Brit, President / VP - highly doubtful (I think some would likely die in horror at the thought!) - perhaps in a few years time when I have a lot more knowledge and experience of the modern sport especially here in the USA ... thanks though...
However, Robert, you'd make a great VP, though I understand your time is limited somewhat - that's likely most great candidate's problem, limited time, certainly not passion!
Of course, for my future consideration, the positions would need to be rebranded as "King" and "Prince" for VP,
JF
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Delkim's are like Apple products. They do the job. They cost a fortune. They work. They are good quality. Will another vendors product the same job at half the price?, for sure they will. Will people continue to pay the high prices for Delkim's, oh yes - just to see those that Delkim badge on their tackle.
John
ps: Will I get some Delkim's when finances allow, of course - no different form the majority of other consumers here !
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Ironic, rarely drink tea nowadays, since moving to the US - I have become a coffee addict, infact, lack of coffee is almost worse than lack of nicotine for me ! I do occasionally sip a cup of tea, white, sugar and still get a smile from the horror folks here have at the sight of pouring some "milk" in there. btw, what the heck is "ice tea" ? some tea like syrup concoction!!
I know, off topic, but hey, it's always tea time somewhere!
John
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Being both a newcomer to these forums this year and a tech geek, I can say 100% that what goes out there in Social Media space, is out there for all to see and very hard to take back once you hit "post". When looking for source of Carp'ing information I searched, Google, Youtube, Facebook, read posts on both CAG and "other" websites forums to get a feel of what the community via. that portal was like. I must say, some of the older CAG "vids" still on youtube even made my sick sense of humor raise an eyebrow.
After joining, paying my dues, I must say that the people in this community are are outstanding, helpful, knowledgeable and generally gracious with the advice they offer. For me, it was certainly worth the membership fee and my knowledge, catch rate and PB are growing almost monthly.
Individuals need to decide for themselves if the value of membership, private forums, etc, is worth it to them. If they don't want to pay, then don't. There are as has been mentioned a ton of "vendor" sponsored or even hosted sites out there with information - you get in life typically what you pay for. Personally I prefer the lack of overt advertising here and the community spirit offered.
As far as fly fishing goes, I know there is an avid group of carp fly fishermen here in Colorado, generally up in Denver where they just had the Carpslam event. Knowledgeable and skillful for sure - would I like to see most information on Fly fishing here (private or otherwise) ? of course. That would be a _value add_, again certainly worth the membership dues to learn from others with more skill and knowledge than I. Is it going to be the end of the world?, solve world hunger, prevent the hext hurricane, if there isn't, no! I have a browser, search engines, if I am that interested in finding out information on fly fishing for carp, pretty easy to facilitate with the tools vailable - just type in "carp fly fishing" into youtube and see how many hits you get!
Would it be great to have ALL the Carp communities and information in one place, one happy family, all playing nicely together, yes ! Will that ever happen, very doubful ! My 10 british pennies worth of thoughts, FWIW.
John
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I have an RTA alarm, from Resistance Tackle - it's basic, it goes "beep", and is cheap enough $20 or less, that if it breaks it is basically disposable and just get another one ! It has a couple of sensitivity controls and volume/tone. Given how hard I am on equipment, a perfect alarm for this Brit !
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Now that's one huge truck for hauling the carp tackle with !!!!
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Robert, i've been telling you you're an addict for month's now ! You are making good progress though, admitting you have a problem is the first step to a cure ! Not sure a support group would help though, especially as you all will likely hold the meetings at the bank side, to get a few hours fishing therapy in at the same time! multi-tasking eh ?
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Congrats on the new PB, very nice indeed !
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After breaking my last net, due to improper use, I replaced it with the same one Robert mentioned.
https://www.resistancetackle.com/catalog.php?mode=publicviewitemdetail&ref=2896
So far, so good.
Only thing I wish it had was a telescopic or 2-part handle - that darn 6' section only *just* fits in my car!
John
Colorado Springs Report: Pikeview Reservoir
in CO
Posted
9/3/2012 - Labor Day
With a few hours to spare went down to Pikeview this morning around 8am to get some Holiday fishing in at my favorite spot. So far the carp have seemed to love the orange infused pack there. With some banana flavored pack to spare I decided to give it a go before the "masses" arrived at the Lake.
Fished usual spot ( A ) on the map beside the jetty - conditions were cool and overcast though the day was forecast to be in the mid 80's bright and sunny by lunchtime. It had actually rained for a while overnight - much needed here in Colorado !
Around 8:30am, perhaps 20 min after I cast out, the bait running was screaming and the RTA4 alarm chirping away happily. A rather brief battle later and a nice fat 22lb common, 31" long, was literally swimming into the landing net ! Perhaps the Carp wanted to give me a Holiday break for a change as I was fishing alone?
Sadly my usual "camera operator" was missing today so all I have are a "in-net" pic. I need to consider getting a bank/stick adapter for my camera so I can achieve some of those great shots you all get of holding the prize ! Knowing me I would likely get an empty frame shot, or one of my falling face first into the water trying to wrestle the carp upwards before the camera timer goes off !
With the 22 lb'er released back to the waters the next hour passed by uneventfully. I did get to watch many hot air balloons heading up into the sky from nearby Memorial Park. This holiday weekend was a 3-day balloon fest and about 80 or so balloons were launched skywards. Watching the news on Sunday it seemed as though some of the balloons were trying to hover or just touch-down upon the waters of Prospect Lake in Memorial Park, before lifting off again. I believe a few of those balloons touched down a wee bit too well and ended up with their baskets in the water ! Oops !
About 9:45am another good run and hooked into the 2nd fish of the day. This fiesty fella turned out to be a 14 lb common who just did not want to come quietly and made many strong runs as he saw the net. A surprisingly good battle to finally get him netted. I have noticed that is seems the smaller the carp, the stronger or perhaps more enthusiastic and often they run.
By 11am, the sun was out, the masses had descended upon the lake for their holiday fishing and I had forgotten (as usual) the sun screen. Time to head home before incinerating myself again for the Nth time this year. All told, a good couple of hours on the waters and confirmation that banana pack can also get the job done.
Hope you all had a good day out on Labor Day and got some fishing in !
John