Byline: Ed Dentry, Rocky Mountain News
Fishermen who aren't too busy trying to figure out if spring has arrived or whether it's still winter (the seasons are optional and interchangeable in Colorado) might want to abandon other temptations and brush up on fishing techniques at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World this weekend.
The shiny big-box store that opened at Stapleton in November will stage its first 'Spring Fishing Classic,' Friday through Sunday. The event will muster in professional fishermen and how-to artists to demonstrate talents that have won tournaments, caught bragging fish and called in spring gobblers.
Naturally, bassing is on the agenda. But Colorado fishing being what it is (warm-, cold- and cool-water opportunities optional and interchangeable), many other fishing specialties will take center stage - walleye fishing, for example, which is second in popularity to the trout complex among Colorado anglers. Seminars will be given all three days, with demonstrations of live-bait rigging, jigging, use of slip bobbers, trolling and where to go to find walleyes.
Trout topics include techniques for western waters, women in fly fishing, lake trout and how to catch trophy trout. There also will be seminars on fishing for panfish and using electronic gear.
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World is located north of Interstate 70 at Quebec Street. For a complete seminar schedule, visit www.basspro.com and choose the Denver store. Scroll down to Store Events and click on Spring Classic, then Seminar Schedule.
WALK-IN FISHING: Wyoming continues to expand a fishing-access program that should serve as inspiration for Colorado's newly appointed Habitat Stamp committee.
The Cowboy State's Walk-In Fishing program pays private landowners to open their waters to public angling. Funds come from voluntary 'Access Yes' donations, from anglers and hunters buying licenses. The program expanded this year to encompass 100 stream miles and 276 lake acres.
With Colorado's public stream segments growing ever more crowded and a new $5 Habitat Stamp set to generate $2.3 million a year for habitat and access, Colorado anglers should demand some money for a program similar to Wyoming's Walk-In Access.
The Colorado legislature stipulated that 60 percent of funds from the new Habitat Stamp must be used to acquire big-game winter range and migration corridors until 2010. If chosen wisely, some of that land also could benefit anglers. There also should be enough left in Habitat coffers to pay for much-needed fishing access elsewhere.
To see what Wyoming has done with donations alone, check -http://gf.state.wy.us, under Public Access. The maps are there and in the 44-page 2006 Walk-In Area Fishing Atlas, which is available at license agents and Wyoming Game and Fish offices.
CLEAR CREEK OUTLOOK: Fishing improvements to Clear Creek are among three Colorado watershed restoration causes that have won grants totaling $18,900 from National Trout Unlimited.
The West Denver chapter of TU will receive $2,000 for the Clear Creek improvements. Clear Creek, the nearest cold-water stream fishery to metro Denver, supports brown and rainbow trout. But it suffers degradation from road work and old mines.
In partnership with Golden, the Upper Clear Creek Water Authority and state and federal agencies, West Denver TU chapter members plan to install fish structures and plant vegetation that will improve water quality.
The two other grants will aid with inventories of greenback cutthroat trout and their habitat in Rocky Mountain National Park and also monitor water quality in the state's eight major watersheds.
The Colorado TU Council will receive $9,400 to further its work restoring greenback cutthroats and $7,500 to enable water analysis in watersheds where no data currently is available.
The grants come from TU's Embrace-A-Stream program, which funds grassroots conservation efforts. The money comes from TU members, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, corporate partners and foundations.
BEST BETS: Division of Wildlife fishery managers will conduct an angler forum April 6 in Colorado Springs to preview the best bets for fishing in 2006 in southeastern Colorado, including the upper Arkansas River and South Park.
Biologists will answer questions and provide information on various topics.
The meeting, at the division's Colorado Springs office, 4244 Sinton Rd., will start at 7 p.m.
