This has been a fantastic summer! Taking up prospecting has not only increased my knowledge and skills, it has also probably saved my life. I lost 57 pounds of fat, and gained about 3 grams of gold during this first summer of recreational prospecting. I want to expressly thank everyone out there who has offered suggestions and helped me out! I've learned a TON thanks to those who took the time to answer my questions and point me in the right direction. The remaining fair weather before snow starts to fly will be used in scouting and sampling locations for next summer and stocking up of some raw materials to get us through the winter when the fever is burning inside of us.

My wife and I are unsure what we will be doing with ourselves this winter. We are definately going to continue our yearly ice fishing adventures, but other than that....

What do y'all do when the creeks are froze over and the ground is too darn hard to stick a shovel into?

Fantastic work Boogie! Congratulations! Sounds like you and your wife are really enjoying the great outdoors. Dont give up on the prospecting just yet, there are many areas in Colorado where the weather is good for digging all year round. One has to love the versitility of the areas and climates Colorado has to offer, and the gems and minerals that can be found here. I personally enjoy looking for Thundereggs, agates and Jaspers in the winter.

I remember one winter getting the "get the gold" urge and dragging the family out to please my hunger with some
"winter dredging" (including video).
Wow, what a great day that was, with alot of learning. Some things I learned the hard way, but would never trade that day with the family for anything.

If its gold your wanting, you just need a good rockbar to break through the ice (and dry waiders), and your good to go.

Thanks! I still have a long way to go on the weight. I showed my partner your winter dredging post and, well, it didn't help convince her much. She might go for some rock hounding in southern Colorado as long as it's not too cold or snow too deep or too muddy or..... We'll see...

You'd think that a woman who loves to ice fish, wouldn't mind frolicking in a frozen creek lookin' fer gold, but... She's fine until her feet get cold. Once that happens, it's all over. Thankfully, we have a nice, warm ice fishing hut and she loves it! In fact, that's what we did for our wedding anniversary a few years ago. We were out on the lake clear into the night and it was awsome!

Click to view attachment

It's not about keepin' the fish, it's about catching 'em!
Actually we caught some pretty nice ones. They weren't all as small as this one.
Click to view attachment

Her seal of approval!
Click to view attachment

Cool pics Boogie, sure looks like fun! Well, you can tell her that other than dipping my hair in the water , I stayed completely dry in the dry waiders. You can get a pair fairly cheap (for dry waiders) at Walmart, and its a one piece..........booties included. You just need to slip on a pair of shoes over them. It was a blast being in the icy water working, and not really feeling the cold. The harder you work the warmer you feel.


Southern Colorado has alot to offer! I remember one January when we were digging Thundereggs. No mud or snow, and I even had to take my flanel off because I was getting too hot working. Great time also because the rattle snakes aren't out then. Some places we wait till after summer just for that reason.

Boogie,
Sounds like you and the wife had an excellent summer of prospecting! I continue to learn also and this site is always a great reference. Fall is possibly my favorite time of year to prospect so I'm gonna keep on diggin til the snow sticks! I don't have any cons stashed for winter so I really need to get busy. This has been a very busy work season for me and I still have about a week's worth of chinking left at the ranch. Wish I could have gotten out more but have to make hay while the sun shines. I'm happy to say though, each of my trips were well planned and high quality. I do a little ice fishing in the winter as well but there is also open tailwater through the winter below Parshall on the Colorado. You can't prospect there (Gold Medal Trout status) but the flyfishing is good and I usually have the river and critters to myself.... heated waders of course. All catch & release in that area and can be really fun.
So.... hopefully I'll manage to gather enough cons before winter to stave off the cabin fever this year.
Lemme know if you and the wife come up to ice fish Lake Granby this winter. I can probably get you into some Macs or Kokes depending on conditions and time of winter. I occasionally like to hit Williams Fork Res for monster Pike through the ice but that can be hit & miss.... all or nothing. Still need a 40+ incher for the wall!

Mrs CP, the mention of Thundereggs perked some major interest!

Hey Swizz, we've been wanting to hit Granby. Any problems finding some deep water sort of close to shore? I'm a fat guy with an ice fishing hut and no snowmobile, so...

Williams Fork sounds really good too! How do you like Green Mountain Res? Do you know if ice fishing is allowed there?

We usually go to Dowdy. We typically stay at Beaver Meadows Resort. One time we were the only ones there except the staff. Man, we sure felt pampered. Really good prices in the off season too.