May 2009 Outlook

April is almost over and it is time to look towards the month of May. May is a great time to catch spawning rainbow trout, pre-spawn large mouth bass and pre-spawn bluegills. Luckily I have access to all these fishing opportunities within an hour of my home. If you live in the rocky mountain region, chances are you will have a lot of the same opportunities somewhere close by.

Boysen reservoir offers a wide variety of fish for Wyoming anglers. Right now is prime time to fish the northern part of the reservoir near the dam for spawning rainbow trout. The fish will run the shoreline in large schools and are often fairly easy to catch. My recommendation is to use bead headed flies or powerbait. The key is to put either one of the presentations in front of the roaming fish.

If you have a reservoir with large mouth bass, you should have an opportunity to sight fish them while they are preparing their spawning beds. The females will be extremely territorial and will attack your bait if it comes too close to the bed. I would recommend using tube jigs to catch these fish. Just cast the bait out and work it slowly through their bed and you will most likely get a strike.

Bluegills are similar to the large mouth bass. They will be defending their nests and will strike at just about anything. My good friend Seth and I caught a bunch of spawning bluegills at Renner Reservoir near Ten Sleep Wyoming. It was late May and we had great success using bead headed flies and small tube jigs. I think Seth caught around 100 fish with his fly rod that day. The key is to put the bait right in front of them and they will attack it to defend their nest.

Those are just a few of the opportunities that will present themselves to you in the month of May. If you haven't taken you boat out on the water make sure that you have all the safety equipment before you do take it out. The Game and Fish department will be out there checking and it is never safe to leave the dock without your life vests, fire extinguisher and other safety gear.

Be safe out there and good fishing.

Walleye Fishing

Here are my walleye pictures from last fall. I am expecting the fishing on Boysen to be great for these big brutes again. Last year I had never caught a 27" or better walleye. In a two week period I was able to land 4 that surpassed that mark. All four of the fish are listed in this article.

So, you may be wondering how in the world I was able to catch these brutes? Well, the answer is simple, I learned from someone who knew the pattern and then I adjusted to select for bigger fish. One of the keys to fishing is to pay attention to what people share with you and then refine it. I don't want this to sound like you shouldn't experiment on your own, because you should. But you would be missing a lot of key information if you don't pay attention to what experienced anglers tell you.


Walleye are like any other fish, they need food. If you can find the food, you will find the walleye. In my case, I was able to learn where the emerald shiners go to spawn in the fall on my home body of water. By learning that I was able to select what type of lure to use. I used both #8 X-Raps and Suspending Rattlin Rogues. I found that the Rogues produced the largest of the fish but I am sure that a #10 or #12 X-Rap would do just as well. I will be testing and refining more this fall.



I catch my biggest fish at night. Lots of people wonder why I would go at night or why it would make any difference. I don't know how many long days I have put on the water burning my flesh in the UV rays without much fishing success. The fish like it just about as well as I do, not very much. So, the only alternative is to fish at night or in low light conditions. I know that this year I am going to take advantage of the night bite. Night fishing provides the advantage of stealth. Big fish often come into the shallows at night to stalk minnows, perch and other small fish. When they do this, they put themselves in easy reach of fisherman that throw crankbaits and other minnow style presentations. The key is to know where the bait fish will be and cast similar imitating baits until you put it in front of a big fish.

So, if you are going to target walleyes make sure you take the smart approach. Don't burn yourself up in the sun and catch a bunch of small fish. Instead, head out at night and catch the big ones. But remember, release those big fish. If you don't, you will hurt the fishery forever. All four of my big fish are still in the reservoir and hopefully had a good spawn this year.


Be safe out there and good fishing.

2 Cutthroats and 1 Sucker.

I did end up going fishing this past Sunday. I had a less than average day and only managed to catch 2 yellowstone cutthroat trout. My cousin Danny was able to land 5 yellowstones and one splake for a limit.


We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had sunny skies, and the wind didn't come up until we were already headed back. It was nice to finally feel the sun, and have the temperature find it's way into the 70's.


We decided to head home for the day, and that is when things got interesting. We had to motor across the lake and decided we should get all of our gear packed up before we headed back to the boat ramp. I started picking up all of my lures that were laying around the front of the boat, and noticed that my 9' rod was in the way. I reached down and picked it up to move it over to the side so that I could finish picking up my lures. When I tried to pick up the rod I noticed that the spoon I had tied to my line was caught in the carpet of the boat on the floor. Now, this is where I thought to myself, "I should set down my fishing rod, release the tension on the line and pull the hook free." But...then I thought, "I'll be fine, I don't need to set the pole down." Stupid decision. I reached for the lure, and just before I could grab it with my left hand, it came loose. Here is what happened.

As you can see, I buried the hook in my left hand. I thought for a minute that it wouldn't be so bad. My cousin cut off the other part of the treble hook and I started to try and remove it myself. The only problem was that there was 1/4" of the hook in my finger, deep in the muscle, and the barb was buried. It became apparent to me that I would have to go the hospital and have it cut out.

So, we headed for the boat ramp and found the game warden from Cody sitting there. Danny backed in the boat trailer and I loaded the boat onto the trailer. The warden asked for our licenses, and I asked him if he had any advice on how to remove the hook without going to the doctor. He looked at it, cringed and told me, "good luck." I just looked at him with a look of irritation.

He finally let us go on our merry little way. Danny drove me to the Thermopolis ER, which on a Sunday, is virtually dead. There was nothing happening and I think my little accident was the talk of the day. They cleaned around the wound and stuck painkillers in my finger. Then the doctor took a leatherman...yes, a leatherman and pushed the hook all the way through the other side. I won't lie, it hurt...a lot! I just hope that I learned a lesson from all this.

As for the fishing, it was pretty good. We caught all of the fish but one on an 1/8 oz chartreuse marabou jig tipped with a 3" GULP! minnow. Here is a picture of the stringer. Don't forget to be safe out there! Don't catch a sucker.

Spring Time

Spring. That is a word that gets my juices flowing. I find myself tinkering with my warm weather fishing gear even when the ice hasn't quite released its grip on the reservoirs near my home. The period where there is just enough ice to make the water inaccessible, but there isn't enough to walk on is the most frustrating time for me. Then, finally all the ice goes away and its time to get out, launch the boat and find fish.



This year is no exception. I will be putting my first day on the open water this Sunday the 19th and hopefully I will land my first fish of the month of April. I am planning on fishing Lower or Upper Sunshine Reservoir near Meeteetse. I need the splake and yellowstone cutthroats to bite because my fish supply is awfully low. I guess all the fish frys and smoked fish will do some damage to the stockpile I had going.



I don't think there is anything better than taking the boat out on the water for the first time after a long, cold winter. It is like a shot of hope that the weather will improve, and that there will be big fishing days to come. I have a mental image of holding up a huge fish after only a few minutes on the water. Maybe that dream will come true here soon.



This spring will be different from years past however. I am going to start this season without my dad for the first time. I am not sure how I will react to that feeling but I have to keep the traditions alive. I know he would want me to.



In closing, here is a photo of my dad with the last fish that he caught. Be safe out there on the water.