Fishing at Bosler Reservoir, Wyoming → Explore Fishing Spots & Catches

Recent Catches At Bosler Reservoir

I was hoping for a hot ice-off bite, but apparently I missed it, as the surface temp is already 43. The weed growth did not dissipate over the winter, and much of the lake is filled with weeds nearly reaching the surface. There is a deeper section easily reached in the kayak, but the wind made that challenging today too. Caught and released a plump Bear River Cutthroat trout, which ended up being my only catch. The bite was slow, and finally I hooked up with a big one; a nice rainbow trout in the 5-pound range. As I reached the net under it and the fish began to slide into the net, one of the treble hooks got caught on the netting near the hoop. Consequently the fish was then stuck TO the net, but not in it. Knowing how a trout like this will start thrashing and quickly get free, I made the split-second decision to lift the net up, hoping the fish would come with it. With a smaller fish, I’ve seen it work. But this one was too big. With one strong whip of the tail, it was off the hook and back in the water. For a stunned moment, it hovered near the surface, within reach of my hand. Then it was gone. My favorite part of the session was spending some time watching the pelicans and gulls go to work. I’m not a birder per se, but I appreciate them. I was surprised that the gulls were equally adept as the pelicans at fishing, and both species scooped up wriggling fingerlings with reckless abandon. I was hoping they were gorging on the brook stickleback which inhabit this lake, but looking at my pictures now I see that they were indeed feasting on trout. With the rate they were sniping fish, I bet that flock decimated at least a couple hundred trout today. I just checked and Wyoming GFD just stocked it with 4900 4.3” cutthroat fingerlings. That makes sense, as that rate of loss wouldn’t be sustainable, and the older fish are smart enough to hide deeper in those weeds.