Many anglers enjoy fishing their favorite water on a regular basis, sometimes to the point it appears they hold title to a specific spot. Personally, I prefer to fish a wide variety of waters, rarely fishing the same reservoir two days running and, when I do, I rarely fish the same spots. One reason for this is it’s rare to have the same success as the day before. Conditions change quickly and so your tactics should also. In fact, I’m more likely to return if I had poor success rather than good. I like a challenge on occasion.

Another reason I don’t return to the same spot is I like variety in my fishing. I especially enjoy fishing new waters. There’s great satisfaction in visiting a water for the first time and piecing together a successful fish-catching strategy. Part of that strategy is researching the area beforehand, such as visiting websites with information on the water. Often, there are several. I pay close attention to information on species, management, access, and regulations. Visiting a mapping site, such as Google Maps, and viewing the satellite photo can provide insights on the pond’s depth, fishing structure, access and more.

When you visit a new water, it’s tempting to grab your gear and head to the water, but it’s worth the time to read any area signage and walk around a bit, with camera in hand, before fishing. I’m especially interested in visiting with my fellow anglers and any management staff I encounter. I’ll ply them with questions such as: Do you fish here often, what fish do you catch, how has the fishing been and more. The answers I get, coupled with my observations of the water, guide my initial choice of rod, reel, line and flies, as well as my starting spot.

Over the years I’ve fished a goodly number of area waters, waters within an hour or so of Fort Collins. Still, there remain a number I’ve yet to fish. Last weekend I put in time on four such ponds. One was Dragonfly Pond within River’s Edge Natural Area, the other three were Blue Heron Reservoir, Pintail Pond and Coot Pond at St. Vrain State Park. Beforehand I suspected these warm water ponds would likely hold bluegills, bass, crappie and catfish. At the water, through signage, anglers and workers, I discovered that redear sunfish, bullhead, walleye, northern pike, carp, yellow perch and tiger muskie were also present in some.