Is there a way to go about making a place or even suggesting that a place be catch and release?
I'm thinking about St. Vrain State
Park in Colorado(formally Barbor Ponds). As some of you know, they are working on turning a 4 pond park into an 18 pond park. That
is why I'm hoping this could be possible, as it's an unfinished project.
St. Vrain could be an excellent fishery (and is late fall
and early spring). I have fished there in the spring w/ Bald Eagles perched in the trees right next to where I've been fishing.
I've taught people how to fish at these ponds, and probably had my best day ice fishing there.
I know it's bad there in the summer
and usually avoid it. However, Sunday Ron and I went. We were fishing Union and it was really windy and slow (I'll post the report
later, Kara has the camera in her car)(no Wipers yet though). Anyway, Ron was in the mood for a little more trout action, and we were
right down the road so... Do any of you remember the commercial with the Native American man crying when he saw all the litter? Well,
that's how I felt.
I'd bet money that if the stocking truck ever pulled in and offered to trade a stringer of fish for fishing poles,
everyone there would line up with their poles ready to trade in. I have nothing against keeping fish...that's not my point.
I hope to talk Kara into cooking fish more often for me this season, and I'll never turn down a fish meal from Ron's wife!
This place is just sad. Stringers probably outnumber licenses by 50%, and fish on those stringers probably outnumber the limit by
the same percentage.
Sunday was unbelievable though! From the crowd at the 1st pond you would have thought they stocked it w/
golden Trout (14 carat). There are 2 wide docks on the pond. I'm not kidding you, the docks were full, and there were people fishing
under...directly under...those peoples' lines. If I had a video camera, I would have forgotten fishing and just taped about a half
hour of that. I would have for sure gotten some footage for America's Funniest Home Videos!
We ended up at the back of the large pond.
Ron caught one right away. When he released it, you could hear everyone on the pond gasp simutaneously. It was a small fish. Right
away this guy walks up, looking mad. I honestly thought he was going to complain that the fish was released. He asked...demanded to
know...what Ron was using. Ron told him "worms" and showed him his set-up. The guy still seemed mad, and complained that he and
his family...a ?wife?, 3 kids...one in a playpen...and 10 rods all in the water...were also trying worms on about half of their 10
rods, and hadn't caught anything all day. I was at the car getting a lure, or I might have suggested to the guy that it just might
be because he was using 50 pound line as a leader and 10 foot salt water rods. Then the guy said that they were there because
"supposedly" the ponds had just been stocked, but he was thinking "that was a crock". Meanwhile, the people on the other side of us
were moving closer, as was the guys wife (moving their whole camp). Using a lure was now impossable, as we were at a bend. We could
have moved, but I just wasn't feeling it, so we left, but not before Ron caught another 10 inch Trout, further infuriating the masses.
I've kinda gone off on a tangent here, but my point is this. St. Vrain has good potential. With 14 new ponds being added, it
would be awesome if they would make half of them strictly catch and release...with signs up in every language. It's a State park,
does anyone know who to write, e-mail, call.. Is this even a possibility?
Sorry about swaying from my own subject, but I have one more
complaint. Last time I was there, the ranger said the front pond was going to be accessible only by a walking path. Now, you
can park practically on the bank!! James Putnam
