Fishing in Laramie Plains Lakes should be best in many years

Fishing in Laramie Plains Lakes should be best in many years

 

LARAMIE – Anglers in southeast Wyoming should enjoy some great fishing at the Laramie Plains Lakes this fishing season due to full reservoirs, successful annual stocking and effective management.

The Laramie Fish Management Crew sampled Gelatt, Meeboer, Leazenby, Twin Buttes, and Alsop lakes in April to assess overwinter survival, trends in abundance, average length/weight, and overall condition. Fish managers are pleased with the findings.

At Gelatt Lake rainbow trout averaged 18.7 inches and Snake River cutthroat averaged 17.1 inches. Twenty percent of the trout sampled at Gelatt Lakes were larger than 20 inches. The average length of rainbow trout at Twin Buttes Reservoir was 17.4 inches, and 81 percent were greater than 16 inches in length. Rainbow trout in Alsop Lake averaged an impressive 22.3 inches in length.

 Meeboer Lake was full of rainbow trout between 16 and 18 inches in length, with one exceptional fish measuring 22 inches and weighing 6.5 pounds. Laramie Region Fish Biologist Steve Gale said aerators installed in Meeboer Lake in 2013 helped prevent winterkill by keeping parts of the lake ice free and providing adequate amounts of oxygen over the winter. “The aerators have been doing a fabulous job over the last two years and we’re really seeing the results of that in our sampling,” he said. The aerators were made possible by a $35,000 donation from the Laramie Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter.

 The Laramie Plains Lakes are generally quite productive. “We can stock a 6- or 7-inch fish in April and it will already be 16 inches by September. We see this is a lot of the Laramie Plains Lakes. There is tremendous fish growth every year,” Gale said. Biologists credit the good fish growth to shallow conditions at most of the lakes and an abundance of aquatic insects that provide food for the fish. It also helps to have plenty of water. “We’ve got good water storage from last year’s snowpack and good carryover from water of previous years,” said Mike Snigg, Laramie Region fish supervisor.

 It all adds up to exceptional fishing opportunities for anglers. “We anticipate that this year will be one of the better years for fishing at the Laramie Plains Lakes in recent memory,” Snigg said. “If you were considering whether to purchase a fishing license this year, I would highly recommend that you do because we’ve probably got the best fishing available that we’ve had in many, many years.”

Several new fishing regulations went into effect at the beginning of the year. The new fishing 2015 regulations booklet listing all changes is now on the Game and Fish website wgfd.wyo.gov. Printed copies are available at license selling agents and the new changes are highlighted throughout the booklet.

 

                        -WGFD-