Horsetooth Reservoir

Unfortunately I’ve missed out on some great fall weather the past couple weeks, as business duties have required long hours and burning the midnight oil. A friend of mine was kind enough to pick me up with his boat right in my backyard for a couple hours of fishing before dinner one afternoon. I managed to hook up with a good smallie, and a decent rainbow too. A nice reprieve! The other pics/video are from being out and about running errands sometime in the past week or so. Hopefully will be back on the water soon.

One “downside” since moving to my favorite lake is that I’ve only been fishing the end of the lake where I live. Since my kayak was still on the roof of my truck, I decided to head to the other end after our kids’ cross country meet. The fish are still deep, but they’re starting to look upward. The fall bite is beginning. After missing a handful of short strikes, I added a single stinger hook and that was the ticket. Caught a bunch of decent trout and a smallie on the jig. A couple were cutbows, but most appeared to be pure rainbows. I was happy with a nice-paced afternoon, and some good catches, but I’m always after the jumbos in my home lake. I decided to troll deep during the paddle back, and that’s when it hit! An absolute stunner of a cutbow! The sun was low on the horizon, casting me and the fish in a warm magic-hour glow. It almost looks fake, but I swear it’s not! Easily in my top 5 fish photos of the year so far. All fish released to be caught again someday.