Little Dell - 03/06/2020

[Joe_Dizzy]

Sorry for the delay here (had log-in issues)...

Fished Little Dell Reservoir on Friday afternoon, beautiful day, but unfortunately only the middle (~40%) of the lake is open. Both the upper end and lower end were still completely locked up as of Friday.

Maybe it was "too nice" a day as the bite was really off for me. I managed one (really nice) Cutthroat on Rickard's Seal Bugger but that was it... 1 hit, 1 fish from 1:00-3:00p. Others I spoke to were struggling as well. Felt good to get back out there though... won't be long now.

One noteworthy item... the reservoir has been at/near full pool for almost two years, but they appear to be re-filling the lower (Mountain Dell) reservoir so the water levels are very pretty low at Little Dell which should make for plenty of casting room for shore-bound anglers once things do open up.

[Riffle]

Sorry for the delay here (had log-in issues)...

Fished Little Dell Reservoir on Friday afternoon, beautiful day, but unfortunately only the middle (~40%) of the lake is open. Both the upper end and lower end were still completely locked up as of Friday.

Maybe it was "too nice" a day as the bite was really off for me. I managed one (really nice) Cutthroat on Rickard's Seal Bugger but that was it... 1 hit, 1 fish from 1:00-3:00p. Others I spoke to were struggling as well. Felt good to get back out there though... won't be long now.

One noteworthy item... the reservoir has been at/near full pool for almost two years, but they appear to be re-filling the lower (Mountain Dell) reservoir so the water levels are very pretty low at Little Dell which should make for plenty of casting room for shore-bound anglers once things do open up.

Just curious if you tried any nymphing. Water is probably still very cold. Maybe not alot of midge action yet?

[Joe_Dizzy]

Just curious if you tried any nymphing. Water is probably still very cold. Maybe not alot of midge action yet?

I tried drifting hare's ear, scud, and chironomids under an indicator (usually quite reliable this time of year) but no action. Tried a balanced leech as well... no bumps.

In hindsight maybe a chironomid larva (bloodworm) would have got a look.

[kjox21]

Just curious if you tried any nymphing. Water is probably still very cold. Maybe not alot of midge action yet?

I tried drifting hare's ear, scud, and chironomids under an indicator (usually quite reliable this time of year) but no action. Tried a balanced leech as well... no bumps.

In hindsight maybe a chironomid larva (bloodworm) would have got a look.

I've always struggled at Little Dell, its just such a deep lake with not much shoal area. The one good day I did have was on a hare's ear near the inlet.

[_6x_]

Thanks for the report!

[Joe_Dizzy]

Just curious if you tried any nymphing. Water is probably still very cold. Maybe not alot of midge action yet?

I tried drifting hare's ear, scud, and chironomids under an indicator (usually quite reliable this time of year) but no action. Tried a balanced leech as well... no bumps.

In hindsight maybe a chironomid larva (bloodworm) would have got a look.

I've always struggled at Little Dell, its just such a deep lake with not much shoal area. The one good day I did have was on a hare's ear near the inlet.

 It is a steep-dropping lake, but the food is shallow and the fish will be there. Trust the process and plan to fish no more than 7-10 feet. Most fish I catch there (once things open up, warm up) are within 1-5 feet of the surface. I've had a lot of fun there Apr-Jun and Sep-Nov. I leave it alone during the heat of summer... fish are stressed enough under those conditions.

[chuckbigflies]

Sorry for the delay here (had log-in issues)...

Fished Little Dell Reservoir on Friday afternoon, beautiful day, but unfortunately only the middle (~40%) of the lake is open. Both the upper end and lower end were still completely locked up as of Friday.

Maybe it was "too nice" a day as the bite was really off for me. I managed one (really nice) Cutthroat on Rickard's Seal Bugger but that was it... 1 hit, 1 fish from 1:00-3:00p. Others I spoke to were struggling as well. Felt good to get back out there though... won't be long now.

One noteworthy item... the reservoir has been at/near full pool for almost two years, but they appear to be re-filling the lower (Mountain Dell) reservoir so the water levels are very pretty low at Little Dell which should make for plenty of casting room for shore-bound anglers once things do open up.

Good info. Thanks!