Ridgway State Park hosting smallmouth bass fishing tournament

By Staff
Sunday, July 5, 2015

Smallmouth bass anglers will be going for more than $5,000 in prizes at a fishing tournament July 11-19 at Ridgway State Park.

There is no registration fee, and the contest is open to all anglers who have a Colorado fishing license. The top prize will be a fishing boat, complete with engine, trailer and life jackets. Other prizes will include fishing rod combos and lures, especially suited for smallmouth bass anglers.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be tagging 10 smallmouth bass of all sizes. Every smallmouth bass an angler harvests affords an opportunity to win a prize. Tags are not visible and all smallmouth bass will be checked at the boat ramp to determine prize eligibility. Live fish cannot be checked.

Anglers are automatically registered in the tourney when they present a smallmouth bass at the check-in area at the boat ramp.

Smallmouth bass are plentiful in Ridgway Reservoir, said Eric Gardunio, aquatic biologist for Parks and Wildlife in the Ridgway area. There are no bag or possession limits on smallmouth bass at Ridgway Reservoir.

�The water temperatures in mid-July should be ideal for pursuing smallmouth bass at Ridgway,� Gardunio said, adding the fish become extremely active as the water warms up to about 55 degrees.

Anglers should target rock outcroppings, submerged logs and any prominent structures that smallmouth bass favor. The fish will hide and then ambush small fish, crayfish, insects and well-presented lures.

�They are fun to catch, and they are very good eating,� Gardunio said.

For more information on the tournament go to cpw.state.co.us.

For more information about Ridgway State Park, call
970-626-5822 or go to cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Ridgway.

Darned shame to have to kill them, though.

I smell a fish fry..

I guess,seeing how it was over before you posted.

yes I new it was over my son lives in the Denver area and he sent me this info , said the lake was way overstocked with smallies and that was a way of management. With a no limits tournament and no live fish weighed just thought it sounded funny

are they trying to remove the smallies from that lake.. Non-native or some other stupid reason??

cpw.state.co.us/.../parks/Ridgway/Pages/Smallmouth-Bass.aspx
copy and paste this link and it will lead you to the story on this lake, and yes they are in fact trying to eradicate the smallmouth in this lake.

Did a canoe trip in the boundary waters years ago, smallmouth are plentiful there and are excellent eating!! Cast iron skillet over an open fire and some fat smallmouth fillets and fried taters and onions...yum!!!

P.S.
I am mostly a catch and release guy but eating a few fish here and there I think is healthy for a fishery!