The dart that opened Jon B's seventh 24-hour challenge was launched off the bow of his Lund, blindfolded, with a deliberate change in technique to escape the Midwest streak that had cost him his last two videos. The dart found Colorado on the very first throw.
"24-hour dart challenge number seven starts now," Jon said.
The rules were familiar. Five species or 10 fish, 24 hours, no leaving the state. The forecast was less familiar.
"Today is going to be a high of 78. Beautiful... However, tomorrow, our all day fishing mission. So, it's going to go from 70 to 27° F. It's going to snow. It's going to blow 20 mph and it might even sleep. Freezing rain. So, in other words, we're screwed," Jon said.
Day one was the warm-window day. The plan was to bank species on shore fishing before the front rolled in. Jon picked up a bycatch fish early, then took a tip from a Denver local on a higher-elevation reservoir that held a species he wanted. The drive was 90 minutes on a mountain road with what he described as a "straight drop off of pure death" running off one shoulder.
The water at the end of it was closed.
"The lake's closed. Wow. Why is that the case?"
The reservoir was a 1 November to 1 May closure. Jon was one day too early.
"This is why you don't take risks. We drove an hour and a half on just up a mountain. Looks so good, too. Dude, this happens to us so much."
A small cutthroat trout stream below the gate took a few finesse drifts and refused them all. Jon's read on the situation was straightforward.
"These trout are going to be cunning, especially on a roadside spot like this. Like these fish are smart. They've seen a million flies in their lifetime."
The day was rescued at a small Denver-area reservoir where the back of the lake had been drawn down to a mud flat. Jon worked a finesse jig along the remaining water and put species two on the deck.
"My first ever Colorado/Denver largemouth bass. Just had to slow things down with the old longer log. This is fish number three, species number two. Not a big one by any means, but a fish that felt much needed after the day we've had."
A pair of smaller largemouth followed. Day one ended on three species short of complete.
Day two arrived in line with the forecast. The wind came in. The snow followed - heavy enough that the production crew put the main camera away mid-session. Jon walked off alone to a small dam he had spotted on his phone, and left his videographer Asher in the car.
"I'd rather one of us just suffer than the whole lot."
"I'm just essentially doing everything opposite as to what I did yesterday. And with that in mind, I'm throwing the most finesse tactic that I know possible," Jon said.
The first cast in genuinely deep water produced the fish he had spent two days chasing.
"This might be my smallmouth. Yes, it is. It's my smallie. Species number three. Oh my gosh. We did it. Ah, we did it."
A second smallmouth came on the same jig in the same general line. The third hit on the very next cast.
"This is it. This is number 10. Next cast after. Next cast after. Oh my gosh. We freaking did it, folks. 10 fish done and dusted."
The clock had 55 minutes on it. Three species, 10 fish, in a state that had thrown a closed reservoir, freezing rain, and roughly four and a half hours of driving at him in two days. Jon's parting line was the one he ends every video on - but in Denver, it carried.
"Keep fishing. Never stop.
