03-11-2012, 05:30 PM
Its been an annual tradition for me going back about a decade now to head down to Oster Lakes as soon as the season opens after March 1. Typically during that first weekend, the fishing in the lakes can be pretty good for stocked trout and it's not all that unusual to hook and land a few albino trout in addition to the more traditional looking Rainbows.
This year I discovered that there's some decent fishing in the outlet to one of the hatcheries in the area. Part of why I love to fish is the discovery of new places to try. After all the years of heading down there and only fishing in the lakes, I never realized that there were other options in that general vicinity. It's interesting to me how the water quality varies so significantly in the same general area as well. The water in the Oster lakes with maybe the exception of the first one that is closest to the main parking area is always kind of greenish and semi clear and then the water in the Snake river itself is just flat out chocolate milk looking murky. But of course, being that it's the 1000 springs area, there are also numerous small streams that are as clear as any mountain stream in other areas of the state. I managed to hook and land this pretty decent sized hybrid in one of those small streams. Another thing I found interesting is that the fish that you catch in the lakes are always obviously stockers but this Cuttbow looked very native as all the fins were intact and the coloring was definitely that of a fish that grew up in that stream.
I also spent some time exploring the full length of a canal that was built to carry some of that same outflow of the hatchery down into the Snake. I was walking along the edge and caught a few small Rainbows when I saw something swimming along that was so big it actually made me feel a bit uneasy. At first I thought maybe it was a carp but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be about a 4 foot Sturgeon. I've attached a pic and although the image is not as clear as I would have liked, you can still get the idea of the size of the fish.It seemed kind of strange to me to come across a fish that large that is living in this canal that is only about 10-15 feet wide in most places and not more than about 6 feet deep. And in case you were wondering, no I didn't even try fishing for it with my trout gear.
If you've never visited the area around Hagerman, I think that it's worthy of exploration.
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This year I discovered that there's some decent fishing in the outlet to one of the hatcheries in the area. Part of why I love to fish is the discovery of new places to try. After all the years of heading down there and only fishing in the lakes, I never realized that there were other options in that general vicinity. It's interesting to me how the water quality varies so significantly in the same general area as well. The water in the Oster lakes with maybe the exception of the first one that is closest to the main parking area is always kind of greenish and semi clear and then the water in the Snake river itself is just flat out chocolate milk looking murky. But of course, being that it's the 1000 springs area, there are also numerous small streams that are as clear as any mountain stream in other areas of the state. I managed to hook and land this pretty decent sized hybrid in one of those small streams. Another thing I found interesting is that the fish that you catch in the lakes are always obviously stockers but this Cuttbow looked very native as all the fins were intact and the coloring was definitely that of a fish that grew up in that stream.
I also spent some time exploring the full length of a canal that was built to carry some of that same outflow of the hatchery down into the Snake. I was walking along the edge and caught a few small Rainbows when I saw something swimming along that was so big it actually made me feel a bit uneasy. At first I thought maybe it was a carp but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be about a 4 foot Sturgeon. I've attached a pic and although the image is not as clear as I would have liked, you can still get the idea of the size of the fish.It seemed kind of strange to me to come across a fish that large that is living in this canal that is only about 10-15 feet wide in most places and not more than about 6 feet deep. And in case you were wondering, no I didn't even try fishing for it with my trout gear.
If you've never visited the area around Hagerman, I think that it's worthy of exploration.
[signature]