Moving to Colorado

D

dgeorges

New member
My Family will be relocating to the Denver, Colorado area right after the first of the year (2020).

I was wondering if ya'll have any tips and tricks for me on boat/motor operations at elevation and/or in general for the area and/or the mountain west.

I'll miss catching all the great trophy salmonids out of the great lakes, but as we all know "the only thing in life that is permanent is change". I just gotta deal with the change and lower my fishing expectations from 30 pound fish to 5 lb fish. I'm hopeful that the gorgeous scenery and crystal clear waters will make up for the smaller fish.

I've done all the pre-cursory research and understand that my carburated Honda BF90 (2006) will need to be re-jetted for elevation, and that I will lose HP and speed in the process (their is a re-power in my future with a fuel injected engine or twins).

Many thanks to the CO C Brats that have been so helpful so far sharing their plethora of knowledge via email.


Any additional info from ya'll would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers to all and safe returns to port.
:xlol [/b]
 
You'll probably need a flatter-pitched prop, or even two. Our 22 with a Yamaha 90 2-cycle had one prop for sea level, another for Lake Powell (3,700 feet), and another even flatter-pitched for higher lakes like Flaming Gorge (6,000) and Yellowstone (7,700).
 
We lived in Western Colorado for 6 years during the 1980’s & one of my sons & his family has lived near Denver since 2006. While there, I looked at the lakes, but spent my off time in the mountains & the Denver area not a bad place to visit. Now we spend considerable time there with the grandkids & sure wished they lived elsewhere. Due to its sunny skies & close beautiful mountain scenery, Denver’s traffic like many other metro areas is about as close to gridlocked as a city area can get without complete collapse & still a steady increase in population with very few improvements to handle it. Few people move to Colorado for the boating & lake fishing opportunities & you’er coming from an area where it’s just the opposite. That said there are some nice reservoirs & mountain lakes with a longer drive to some real scenic & fishing gems like Powell & Flaming Gorge & several large lakes not to far away in Wyoming with good fishing.

As Richard advised you will likely need a flatter prop, but maybe re jetting isn’t necessary. In the last 17 seasons with carbureted motors, I’ve run about 50/50 between the high mountain lakes & sea level with only needing to do minor adjustments with the idle. Now if most all your planned boating is going to be above 6000 feet perhaps it would better to replace the jets.

Jay
 
If you can, run your boat at the highest elevation you will be using boat. Get a WOT rpm. From that you can get an idea for a prop. Also see how it runs. You may not need to change the jets. If you change jets you will have to change them back for sea level again.Going up in elevation just makes the engine run richer. that is OK if it runs good. Going down in elevation makes it run leaner. That is NOT good. Have fun going slower. Lew[/list]
 
Huge thanks for the great advice so far. Great tips.

I'm moving due to my bride of 32 years getting the job offer of a lifetime. I'm retired, so......

I was aware of the prop issue, but have never had to worry about it before. I do now. Additional prop discussion would be appreciated.

There doesn't appear to be any certified Honda mechanics in the Denver/Colorado Springs/Boulder areas of CO, so I'll be out on a limb for a good mechanic should I need one. I do all my own simple maintenance (oil, filters, lubes, water separators, lower end, plugs, etc). That will weigh into my repower decision. I've been following the threads herein about Yamaha and Suzuki for re-power (both single and twins). However, everybody out in CO sells Merc and Evinrude/Johnson's. I asked my Honda mechanic here in IL why their are so few Honda mechanics, and he replied "because their's no money in fixing them, they run forever".

Some of the lakes with the best fishing are at 8900 ft elev. In addition I DO intend to make pilgrimages to Flaming Gorge and Strawberry Reservoir, both trophy trout/landlocked salmon lakes in UT. Both are the same elevation as the CO lakes. Both lakes are about a 9 hr drive from my future home.

D
 
There was a guy who had a C-Dory on Lake Pueblo in CO, don't know if he was a C-Brat or not.

CO is not really a boating place. You might find some decent trout fishing in the mountain stream though.

Lots of places in CO are pretty nice. Not sure Denver is one of them though.
 
Welcome to Colorado! While the fishing is not like the Great Lakes it is a fun place to spend time and the 22 can be easily trailered to many locations. Lake Powell has already been mentioned. Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison CO has great fishing including some very large Lake Trout. There is a lot of angler interest on Blue Mesa. Kokanee Salmon as well as brown and rainbow trout.

Yellowstone Lake is within reach in a days drive. Other smaller Colorado lakes as well that the 22 will work very well on. Twin Lakes south of Leadville CO is an option in a beautiful setting.

Lake Oahe on the Missouri River near Pierre South Dakota has great Walleye fishing. Lots of options if you don't mind traveling a bit. Pueblo Reservoir is known for small mouth bass. Chatfield Resevoir in Denver is your closest lake. Dillon Reservoir near Frisco CO is about 2 hours away. Lake Mcconaughy in Nebraska. Guernsey Reservoir in Wyoming.

Flaming Gorge in NWColorado/Wyoming has large Lake Trout.

It won't be the same but you can fish and boat in the region!

Check out Jim's Prop Shop in Denver for information as to how to approach a prop change for elevation and what some options are for the Honda.

http://www.jimspropshop.net/5001.html
 
You mentioned re powering in the future. Be sure to visit with Jay of Hunky Dory who has replied to your thread here about powering with twin 60 hp. Others have gone to the newer design single Honda 100 HP or 115HP. Many options with different engines for a bit more HP to make up for what you lose at altitude. If you are not at Lake Powell or Flaming Gorge you won't be running as far as you might have in the Great Lakes so a high cruising speed may not be as important for you?
 
Many thanks Phil Barnes for your great tips and tricks.

I fully intend to be fishing all the lakes you mentioned. Nice to see that we think alike in the fishing dep't. I'm sure their will be a learning curve on all the high mountain lakes, but my only saving grace is that I fished (trolling) for Kokanee and salmon for 30 years in CA lakes. Mothballed the gear when I moved to IL, and should be able to pick it up pretty quick.

Thanks for the reference on the prop shop. That really helps.

Your outboard ideas are great too. I'm sure their will be some equipment solutions to all this move from lowland to highland and I'll make sure to post what the ins and outs are so others can benefit.

Cheers.
 
Congrats on the dream job and the move to Colorado...

I wouldn't change anything on your boat until you try it out at the higher elevation for a while to see how the performance is effected. It may be ok as it is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Jim
 
Thanks again for all your continued sage advice. I will be doing quite a bit of experimenting and reporting on my adventures once I move to CO next month.

I'll be doing some trials with the carburated outboard, and how I met the challenges when going from low elevation (600 ft) to high elevation (5900 at the house, and 10,000 ft at some of the lakes). Can't believe I'm acually going to do that.

Should evolve into an interesting thread as I run a Honda BF90 4 stroke, a pretty common OB for 22's.

Safe travels to all 'till next time I report.
 
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