Down in the industrial town of Commerce City, Colorado there is a wildlife refuge full of life. Bald Eagles, huge deer, foxes, coyotes, and many species of fish all share this land. Three days of the week, the refuge is open to fishing with accordance to some very strict fishing laws. You may fish the refuge with a reciept of payment, a signed fishing regualtions brochure, a current Colorado state fishing license, and a rod laced with a barbless hook (not to mention this is a catch and release only fishery). There are two lakes open to fishing; Lake Mary and Lake Ladora. Lake Mary is a smaller, shalllower lake and is known to hold smaller fish. Lake Ladora on the other hand, is known for it’s aggressive Pike.
We arrived at Lake Ladora early and were already set up with some streamers the size of our hands. It wasn’t very long before my brother had a pike follow on his retrieve. He couldn’t get the Pike to commit, so I ran over to show him a different fly. On my first strip, he laid into the fly with no remorse and put up a fight that I had wanted for a long time. The Pike lacked some girth, but measured 30 inches on the button.
After that, we managed a few hammer handles but were still in search of fish pushing the 30 inch mark. Eventually, I remembered a spot with some serious cattails and a very steep drop off near shore. I walked the shore trying to spot something big. Low and behold, sitting high in the water column, edged up on the cattails, was a big 32+ inch pike. My friend and I had landed a few Pike at this point in the day so I yelled for my brother to take a shot at the big one. Tate and I chased this Pike up and down the shore (I felt like I was chasing tailing permit on the ocean shore) and after switching flies four times he finally took. Tate really showed off his skills and played the fish well; headshakes an all. Tate landed his first pike on the fly, and although we didn’t put the tape to it, I would say 32+.
After that, we averaged Pike in the 23 inch class and had a blast bringing these super aggressive fish to the shore. The best suprise of the day didn’t come from a Pike though. While hoping to lure a small Pike following my fly on every cast, I let my fly sink really slowly by the structure he was sitting on. I set the hook with the feel of a tug and the drag went wild. I thought I had hooked the small Pike, but when it came to the top I realized it was a LARGEmouth bass. This monster took me for the ride of my life and after many praises to land the fish, it actually happened. The bass measured 17 inches withe a girth of 15. This beauty was 4.8 pounds and set a new personal Largemouth record for me.
Sometimes things just work out and you end up having a great day. But it’s Sunday and time for me to go and hit the water yet again. (Sorry about the picture quality, I only had my phone’s camera.)
