Antero Reservoir -
March 17th,2011Wounded Warrior USA
Hartsel Colorado, located in the middle of the Rocky Mountains is home to Antero Reservoir.
Antero Reservoir is home to the fresh water shrimp that is in massive quantities supplying food for the trout population. Four to Five ponders are no problem for this lake to produce.
Our day began at the boat ramp where we met the five soldiers from Fort Carson at 6:30 .The guys were very excited as they arrived right on schedule for a late season bite. The group ventured out about 100 ft along the rocky shoreline where we found a bunch of Four to Six Pound Rainbow Trout. The day could not have been better. The guys all received bran new Ice Armor gloves and Mitts from Clam Corporation. It was a windy morning and the soldiers were hammerin nice trout left and right. The fish were full of eggs as the soldiers released them carefully back to lay their eggs. The Automatic Fisherman did the job as we loaded the tips ,and let the Lindy Genz Worms do their thing. The calm morning did not last long as the wind did pick up. Snap!!! the Automatics Hammerd -em , even with the wind and they guys chased their dead sticks on the 8 inches of ice. After about an hour of the Automatic Fisherman making their mark we decided to start jigging. Each soldier got dialed in on the Vexilar and the game was on.
Talk about fun these guys were really enjoying their new ice fishing buddy - FL8.
By 10:00 am we had landed 30 - something nice trout. The guys were not showing any king of
fatigue. A few snow balls did fly but not for long as the Antero Trout wanted to keep the guys busy. As I learned from previous ice fishing trips, don’t ever start a snow ball fight with soldiers because they will win every time. Our snow ball fights were always fun and sometimes lasted for a half hour. It always seems to bring the group together and share some fun.Today, the fish interrupted us and that was just fine as the guys did not miss a beat with a hook set.
The Lindy Genz Worms put the Hammer on these fish as we often say, this presentation is a no brain-er. One of our soldiers made some great jigs in our lure making class and his secret weapon was pounding big trout. Jerry from Do-it Molds has made our Lure making program a complete success. When it comes right down to it I tell everyone that the products we get for our programs are great, but working with great people is what it is all about.
The day ended at 2:00 Pm as we were all wore out. We got the soldiers back on the van and headed back to Denver. Today was a day to remember as we ended up releasing over 60 fish and made some new ice fishing friends. The hand shakes at the beginning of the day ended with big hugs and smiles.
