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LAKE  FISHING

​FISHING REPORT May 31st, 2020

June 29th-Eric Dailing

Lake fishing has been good to excellent depending on where and when you are fishing.

• Palisades Reservoir  continues to fish fairly well, especially in the mornings and after about 5pm. Kamloopers, Kastmasters, Jake's Spin-A-Lure and Krocodiles have all been producing lots of fish in the 14-20+ when fished from the banks, the key is to let them sink deep and then vary your retrieve on the way back in. The slower the better right now. Fishing around tributaries and points, as opposed to coves seems to produce more fish. Rapala Countdowns, Storm Twitch Sticks and other similar lures have been working as well, especially when the browns come into the shore to feed on minnows. In the case of these lures you want to fish somewhat parallel to the bank and take a pause now and then before reeling back in. Spinners are working okay, but you are much more likely to catch chubs and smaller fish with these. Evenings .are also a good time to try fishing a la fly. There are a lot of flying ants around as well as some evening hatches of caddis and mosquitos coming off and I have been seeing quite a few fish come to the surface later in the day. It's definitely worth a shot. 
• Jackson Lake Jackson has been fishing very well recently from the bank, although after yesterdays record setting high temps I wouldn't be surprised if it slowed down a bit. Gear guys should follow the same suggestions above. The name of the game with spoons is low and slow. As for fly fishing the lake, having a boat is much more ideal than fishing fro m the bank, but if you are willing to fish later into the day you can get into some nice cutty's and cruising browns on black gnats, flying ants and mosquitos, the key is to fish to rising fish. 

​Other tips for lake fishing

Your best bet for bank fishing is to concentrate on the confluences with feeder streams like the Snake, Salt, McCoy Creek and Bear Creek on Palisades, If you choose to fish elsewhere my advice would be to target points and fish the drop-offs. If you are an early riser you can do pretty well fishing parallel to the banks, especially for browns and cuttys. The Mack's are going to be down deeper and the kokanee you'll most likely have to downrig for. I'm not sure how the boat fishermen have been doing, but I've been seeing more and more fishing boats hitting the water. 

I  primarily use spoons like Kamloopers, Kasmasters, Pixees Lil Jake's when fishing Jackson and Palisades. Low and slow seems to be the most effective method, at least for me. You can still do fairly well catching browns and cutty's along the banks if you are fishing earlier or later in the evenings, but if you go out in the middle of the day it's going to be far more challenging, unless it gets cloudy and/or rains. The fish are still a little bit lethargic so a slow retrieve is the tactic that seems to work best. 
 
If you like fishing bait and are looking for a meal, you can't go wrong fishing worms. And if you want even better luck, catch yourself a sucker, cut it into strips and fish it. It's hard for fish to resist these tasty strips of meat. 

Drop by the store for daily updates and tips on what lures or flies to use. 
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Star Valley isn't loaded with smaller lakes like you might find in the Wind River Range or further north, but we do have a decent amount spread out around the area and with a few exceptions, they don't get a ton of pressure. This type of fishing isn't for everyone, this is true, but lake fishing can be unbelievably productive at times and some of these lakes hold some very large trout.  .

Some semi-local smaller lakes that are worth checking out are; Strawberry Creek and Swift Creek Reservoirs, Stump and Murphy Lakes, Lake Barstow, Middle Piney Lake and Lake Alice (fairly long drive from Alpine) and many more are fairly accessible and within an hours drive of Alpine. And if you ever have the time to check out the lakes in the Wind River Range you won't be dissapointed.. 



 Drop by the store and we'll give you some pointers on where to fish and what to use. .