My buddy Scott and I fished Cheesman Reservoir today. Normally I don't fish stillwater but every once in a blue moon I get a hankerin' to throw spinning gear instead of flies. At those times, I either head for any of the big reservoirs around here and chase pike, or any of the hundreds of small streams and look for smaller trout (bows, browns or brookies if you go high enough). Today we decided to target something even different.

Cheesman Reservoir re-opened last year when the Department of Wildlife got things squared away after the fire. A lot of work was put into this water and it's closely monitored. It's stocked with kokanee salmon, rainbow trout, northern pike, probably some lake trout and smallmouth bass. When it's full, it's a tough body of water to fish due to the really steep banks and no kick boats or kayaks are allowed. The DOW has not released water from the 2 reservoirs that are upstream yet so it was really low today. Despite the low levels, we had a good day and landed about a dozen fish between us. If you haven't fished for this species...I would put it at the top of your list. Hands down, they are one of the hardest fighting freshwater fish out there.

My first one of the day:



Scott's first:




You can see where the water levels normally are.


It was good to get off the bike after yesterday but the long hike was still a good workout.