April 7th, 2019 was a day to remember! It was the day of our very first outing as Rocky Mountain Sportswomen. With the ice fishing season quickly coming to an end I wanted to make a solid effort on squeezing this event in before it was too late. This was also the perfect time to renew fishing licenses since the 2019 season started on April 1st. The rangers at Stagecoach State Park were generous enough to reserve 20 rods, a couple of gas augers, and some bait for us to use. The week of the event, I was starting to get nervous about the amount of ice on the lake, and the accessibility for getting out there safely. However, the ice remained about 18-20 inches thick, with some slush on the top. Thankfully the weather was beautiful, warm, and sunny, and encouraged us to tough it out and trudge through the slush with our high top water boots. Thank goodness for those.
Walking onto the ice was a little bit nerve racking with the surprise of stomping through slush, but we managed to find some hard spots to set some chairs up and start drilling holes. We were even able to stomp through some holes that had been made before and froze over again. Shout out to our buddies Mike and Jarrett for drilling some extra holes for us with the augers! After the nervousness and anxiety of walking onto the ice wore off a bit, we handed out some rigged up poles and started fishing! The young girls that joined us with their mothers were superstars and had a blast scooping out the ice chunks in the holes. A few of them even felt the thrill of a fish biting the bait. It was so amazing seeing these girls sharing this new experience with their mothers. They were hands on the whole time and even braved holding some of the fish that were caught throughout the day.
The first fish caught was by Lauren! This was her first time ice fishing as well, and you could see the excitement in her face! I was so happy to see she was the first to catch one. That moment, in my mind, was what made me feel like the event was a complete success. Caitlin, one of our most experienced ice fisher out there, caught several, and was a huge help teaching different techniques and tying rigs. Several of us went empty handed, but still had an amazing time sharing the company of new friends, enjoying the sun, and experiencing this adventure together. Jaime even caught a crawfish!
We are so excited about the community we are building among us Sportswomen here in the Colorado Rockies. The goal is to encourage each other, teach and learn together, and have fun! This was a great event, and we are looking forward to many more summer activity outings this year, and for a winter full of more ice fishing together! If you ever have any ideas, suggestions, or would like to help host an event, please contact us. We are open to all ideas, and are always looking to grow.
I would like to give a special thanks to Stagecoach State Park for their support in this new journey as a sisterhood we are taking on!
