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Lake on BLM land- Wyoming

by Elaine and John Cook

Planning to travel and fish during Covid has been more challenging due to so many folks choosing an outdoor vacation experience. So we find timing of locations, and reservations a necessity. We so much prefer being nomads. Our first destination in Wyoming, a place we have been to many times, is a sweet lake that we have camped at and fished for many years. It always provides us with wonderful, powerful rainbow trout up to 22”. 2x tippet and 6 wt. rods are a necessity if you plan to land any. No reservations are available on BLM land so timing was imperative. RV and forest service reservation we made in route and arrival late on the 4th was perfect. A short wait and we hade the whole campground to ourselves. Few people fished the lake all week. What makes the lake even more special is that it’s catch and release and when we go a massive damsel hatch occurs. Adult damsel fly patterns are the ticket. The insects are crawling out and hatching all over your tube, and clothing as well on vegetation and the sandy shore. Adults are everywhere and in times in swarms where numerous  males are in per suit of a few females. The pursuit is on, looking for backs and tails of sipping trout and getting a fly into their path and fooling them. Such fun! Now just to be different, John likes using big flies, so he wants the wind to come up which is when they will take something different. Well this year he decided to be ridiculous and use a mouse pattern. Oh my, it actually worked!!