After a long day of work, my good friend Anderson and I decided to go out for some evening fishing.
We took off at 7 p.m. and arrived at Douglas Reservoir at around 7:30 p.m. and got his canoe wet.
Usually, I always fish from the shore. I don't own a boat, raft or canoe--though I'll be buying an inflatable two-man raft at some point this summer--meaning this was a special venture for me.
It was only my second time fishing out on a canoe all year, and it was incredibly relaxing and fun.
When we arrived, it was perfect outside; around 80 degrees with the sun beginning to rest behind the mountains and only a light breeze coming from the south.
We went straight out into the middle of the lake and got our lines wet as soon as possible.
I started with a countdown Rapala that's blue and silver, which got me a few bites and I hooked a medium sized bass only feet from the canoe. He got off the line before I could net him, but an angler friend of mine said it counts as catching the fish and an "easy release" because you don't even have to touch the fish. So I count it as my first catch of the day.
After that, I tried my brown trout colored Kastmaster, the clownfish Mepps and many other lures to no avail.
As the sun set behind a giant cloud, and some smoke from the High Park Fire that's still burning out of control, I used a big trout colored spoon.
While I retrieved quickly, I thought I had a bite, but it was only the action of the lure in the water--until one hit!
I hooked this one much better and let him run with my line for a bit--he even went under the canoe--the drag did its job while I reeled him him.
After Anderson netted him, I saw a beautiful little brown trout, at around 6-8" long. (No picture this time because I left the phone on shore in case we tipped the canoe, sorry.)
A little while later we paddled back into shore, content with the wonderful night out in northern Fort Collins.
In all, it was a blast!
I love the experience of fishing on a boat/canoe as you can use much bigger and heavier lures without too much risk of them running bottom and catching something other than fish.
Douglas isn't the deepest lake I've been on, but it's certainly at least 10 feet deep in the middle, and I suggest using big spoons out there if you ever get on the reservoir.
Happy fishing!
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist. Follow him on facebook and/or twitter.
