A Great Family Adventure

Here is a great story by my partner Bill Miller. Bill was contacted by this family.

As you read on you will see how important the wounded Warrior Program is to

the community. Through our Outreach programs (Lure Making, TV Show, Family one on ones, group trips.) It is great to see this family enjoy the day.

Enjoy Bills story as we are working with more families for future trips.

I also included a very touching thank you letter from Alex.  Bill and I thank all of

Our sponsors and great supporters.

The call for ice fishing…The phone rang, is there still ice for ice fishing?  If so can you take my son Andrew ice fishing?  The caller, Lisa a mother of two trying to find a fishing guide service in Colorado to take her 13-year-old son ice fishing.  She said that would satisfy his quest for catching a fish through the ice.  His father a Special Forces Soldier is out of the U.S.A. and in the war zone will not be home until sometime in late 2011 missing the winter ice fishing season.  Lake Ice USA has a perfect first timer lake located at Lower Lake Ranch, Pine, Colorado.  The schedule was set meet in Conifer for early breakfast and pre-meeting at Wendy’s.  Talking with Andrew he quickly identified himself as a knowledgeable fisherman, training his father taught him except for one category ice fishing.   

We caravanned to Lower Lake Ranch and moved on to the lake to start drilling ice.  Andrew large smile came about when I asked him if he wanted to operate the auger.  Experience one the feeling achievement drilling through 30 inches of ice.  Scoop out the ice bait the small Lindy trout jig with a minnow, set the depth of the line and place the bobber in the 10-inch hole.  His mother and sister were next to begin the experience.  Lisa lowered her reel line and jig below the ice and was immediately hooked with the first fish a nice 17-inch rainbow.  The family excitement was set for the morning.  Then sister caught a 14-inch rainbow.  Andrew was excited for them, but why not my prime hole?  Then his patients paid off, got one he yelled out with a big grin from ear to ear, a nice 17-inch rainbow.  He handled the fish like a professional, released it and went right back down the hole.  Lisa feeling a little cold went to the SUV and returned with her home made hot chocolate for everyone.  What a treat.

As time was drawing to an end and some nice rainbows, one brown trout and some cutthroats Andrew was looking for the one last big fish.  Lisa said time to go as the wind was starting to cool the air, Mom just 5-more minutes.  OK, just 5-minutes.  Andrew was hovering over the 10-inch hole, as if talking to any big fish that heard his mental plea, “Get on that hook fish!”  Andrew learned the Vexilar that morning and was watching the flasher, “look the red marks”, is indicating a fish.  Then he pulled the bait up to the mark as he was taught, set the hook and WHAM the battle was on.  About 10-minuts later and following the ice catching rules he landed a 20-inch brown trout.  The biggest fish that I have ever caught, WOW I am excited.  Thanks for the experience and instructions.  He gladly packed-up and left the ice.  Oh, by the way his mother and sister now want to do more ice fishing.  There is something about fishing uniting the family with shared fun.  Pictures and a video followed the outing. 

Wounded Warrior Trip- Antero Reservoir

Antero Reservoir -

March 17th,2011

Wounded 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.

A Day with Fox 31 Jennifer Broome

A perfect day of weather was forcasted by our favorite weather man. The Fox 31 crew from Denver was on thier way to Monument Colorado. Home of Monument Lake this town is well known for it's strong support of the military and home of Wounded Warrior USA.
The day was set and Jennifer Broome was on her way to try some ice fishing. Arrivng at the Lake at 11:00 sharp started the early lunch bite or late morning bite for the advid ice angler.
It didnt take long and the fish were doing thier thing. The Lindy Genz Worms tipped with minows did it again.
The day ended with a great story and a new friend as we headed out and off the 8 inches of ice.

http://www.lakeiceusa.com/media.html

Spring Medows Ranch - Pike Haven

Gordon Nebraska

The xtreme cold temperatures did't stop us from hammer-in 100 Northern Pike in 2 and a half days.
Sunday mornig we pulled out of Parker Colorado on snow packed roads with high winds it did not look good for our upcoming trip.
With Gordon Nebraska in our sites the 360 mile venture improved as we hit dry roads in Fort Morgan.
By the time we hit Spring Meadows Ranch we encountered some 20 mile an hour winds and we were excited to get started on our qwest for giant Northern Pike.
Justin Simmons greeted us and pointed us to the east end of the lake. We set our Automatic Fisherman and tips ups and played the wait game.
thirty minutes into the trip we had released two nice six pounders. Justin had mentioned that the jig bite was happening so we shifted over to the Lindy Darters and the game began. We ended up with fifteen fish before our first half day of fishing ended.

Day Two began with some calm over cast skies. We started fishing the north east side of the lake right along the rushes and pockets of open weeds. It didn't take long and the flags were flying. Bill Miller and Dale Hyiat had landed fifteen fish in the first hour. Most of the fish were very small. We changed our plan of attack and went with big spoons on our tip ups. The bigger the presentation we presented the larger fish we caught. Bill Miller did some shallow water jigging with the largest of the Perch Lindy Darters. By the end of the day he had landed 7 giant females.
The other thing we realized is none of us ever saw a Perch. Justin claims they are in there as there have been a few showing up in the bellies of the big females.
This is a great trip to do. The drive from Denver is worth it as we will be making another trip to our favortie Pike place at Spring Meadows.

A Great Colorado Adventure

Lake Ice USA recently had the privelidge to fish with Outdoor writer, Jaff Samsel and his son Nate.
The trip was a great adventure as we experienced a fathers son first ice fishing adventure. It was a great experience to see Jeff  Samsel work with his cameras and share some his great adventures he has taken.
Our first day was spent at Lower Lake Ranch where we caught some great fish and really worked the Lindy Tackle Products .
The following day we headed up to Antero Reservoir where we caught soem very nice fish. All in all, what a great experience for us. Here is a shot of the gang!

We can't wait to fish with Jeff and Nate again!!!!