Lake Hattie Reservoir

Went up north to do some evening fishing. Stayed the night as well. Windy and cold but we stuck it out. Ran into Mr Extreme Eric Holmlund. The Guy knows how to catch the Biggies.

An interesting day, which started with our smoke detectors false alarming at 4am. Then I had to deal with some business-related hassles which delayed my fishing departure. When I arrived at my destination in Wyoming, I scouted out a kayak launch location, drove onto the beach (as I’ve done at least a dozen times), and promptly broke through the crust and got STUCK. Should have taken the high route… or my jeep. Called a tow company. Got rescued. Paid dearly for it. Finally got on the water around 2:30, after originally planning for 10am. The water temperature (47F) is ideal for Kokanee spawning, and I was hoping to find them. With the lake level being extra low, they’re unable to spawn in their usual places. Paddled 9.5 miles scouting for gravelly areas in an otherwise muddy lake bottom. Did NOT find them! Talked to others, and no one knew where the Kokanee were, although they are guaranteed to be spawning in the most suitable location. I spent much of the afternoon without a line in the water, but it was one of the glassiest days I’ve had on Hattie, making it a nice paddle. Caught around 8 trout. Mostly dinks (rare for Wyoming, they must have been stocked recently). A couple decent fish, and one big rainbow as a measure of consolation for the day’s efforts. All released. I paddled back in the dark. On the one hand shivering in the rapidly declining post-sunset chill, on the other hand enjoying a star-filled sky with the Milky Way brilliantly visible. It was a day of paradoxes. It was a bad day, but it was a good day. I suppose that makes it a good day.

Took a trip north of the border, somewhat expecting the Kokanee spawn to have started. Nope, the water needs to cool another 10 degrees! But the fall trout bite has begun. In typical Wyoming fashion, the wind exceeded the forecast, and I soon found myself paddling in whitecaps. Once I dialed in the depth of the fish, it was on! Got around a dozen rainbows to the net, with some fatties in the mix. Saw several shore anglers but didn’t see much catching, as it’s tough shore conditions with the water level being very low. Didn’t take pics or video during the windiest times, and even skipped photographing some catches because I had to keep a hand on the paddle. Could have kept catching, but after three hours of battling the wind, I was pretty tired. So I packed up and headed to the slightly less windy Twin Buttes, which I’ll cover in my next post. And oh yeah, bought the hat! Happy with it, good quality!

Went up north for a quick camping trip with my buddy. Brought a few back home for the smoker.

Great day north of the border. Ran into the legendary Martin Valenciano and his friend Wayne on shore right where I was planning to launch. I knew it was a good sign. Paddled over 9 miles, mostly trolling. Landed 7 or 8 rainbows, 3 kokanee, and 1 big sucker that attacked a crankbait! I consider 1 fish per mile to be a good day, so this was above average. The kokanees were all males with a kype forming, but not yet showing any colors. So I think they are in a prespawn stage, and are already acting aggressively toward invaders. If I’d been targeting them with smaller lures and hooks I could have probably caught more, as I was getting a lot of aggression strikes. As usual, the Wyoming clouds were magnificent as storms rolled through.

Fun quick trip

My first big catch ever!!!!