Jackson Reservoir

Went out to Jackson in hopes of finding the wipers. It took four and a half hours, five miles of paddling, and several hundred casts to find the first one. Another few hours and miles brought me into contact with three more gray ghosts, for a total of four on the day. All of them were big, and had no problem pulling my kayak around. Worth the drive and the hunt!

First time at Jackson Lake. It was a tough call to pass up my beautiful local lake that sits 15 minutes away, for a 1.5 hour drive to a lake on the plains without much scenery. But I heard the wipers were biting! My first catch was an unplanned but nice carp, probably 15 pounds. The carp were spawning and very active in the shallow areas. I then went in search of the wipers. It took me a couple hours, but I found them. The rest of the afternoon was epic. I landed 7 hard-fighting wipers, and lost at least as many. All good sized. The last time my reel drag and forearms got such a workout was probably Pyramid Lake last year. Every one of them went on screaming runs, and every fish (including the carp) literally pulled my kayak around. A fun day, spoiled only by watching the Nuggets dismal performance against the Timberwolves when I got home.

Smallest fish of the day