Thursday, May 8, 2008

Button Rock Reservoir Opener

This entry is a bit late. My brother, Nick, and I hiked in to the inlet of Button Rock Reservoir on Sunday. The hike is about 3 miles of downhill on the way in and uphill on the way out. I had done a section of this hike before so I knew what we were dealing with. The hike out is very taxing, especially after a day of fishing.

We only had a half a day to work with, but it was opening weekend to fish the lake so I had to go check it out. The inlet flow was super low so we just went right up to the spillway and fished that. Nick took this long and slender cuttbow on an Elk Hair Caddis. We didn't have time to wet a line in the lake, but I got a good idea of where I want to fish for next time.

Pretty cool outcome for only 30 min. of fishing. It will be interesting coming back to this place on future trips. I forgot to snap a photo of the lake, but it's huge.

I've gotten reports of the mountain snow runoff beginning to muddy the rivers today. Several streams are already blown out, including the Ark, which I was going to do a 2 day solo camping trip at this weekend.

I have Monday off this weekend so I may drive up to Wyoming to fish the Gray Reef Sunday/Monday if it isn't blown as well. If it is looking dicey then it will be lake fishing until July when the flows settle back down. Since we got record snow in Colorado this year people are saying that the runoff may last longer than usual, so we'll see.

Here is a photo of how I rig my pack when I do hike-in fishing. This is a ski pack that has a band designed for holding skis that functions perfectly for holding my net. I put my waders and wading boots in the pack during hiking, and then swap them out and pack up my hiking boots when it's time to fish. It holds lunch, rod tube, chest pack, camelback bladder, rain jacket, and a few survival tools; all the essentials. In addition, I use the leash that came with my snowboard bindings to attach my net to my pack while I fish. The quick disconnect and swiveling action are perfect for this application.

3 comments:

  1. Hello,

    Looks like you had a nice trip, can you share any info with me??

    I want to do the same, maybe in a few weeks, I fished the lake as a kid and slayed the trout..lol


    lyonsden1980@aol.com

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  2. Forgot to add, that a long time ago, I guess in the 70's the fish in the lake had a really big problem "heads were too big for body", if you notice in the picture, you can kind of see what I'm talking about. I think, that's what the ranger said, also sais that the lake had a stocking of golden trout in the 80's and graying too.

    Great looking fish all around:)

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  3. Yeah, "head too big" usually means that the fish is old but its body isn't filling out. you usually see this in small streams where the trout just don't get that much food. It's very strange to see on a lake fish...

    Sorry, I just saw your comment now. I have my email listed on my profile if you have any questions.

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