Jim Johnson from Hi Country Snack Foods, in Lincoln, went over to Holter Reservoir to try his luck at filling a smoker full of trout. “It was a good day”, said Johnson. We got on the water at about 10am and left with our limit of 15 trout by 3 that afternoon. “We ended up boating over 20 trout for the day and threw the smaller ones back so the 15 we kept were close to 20 inches and over,” Johnson reported.
They caught almost all of the trout on Rapalas in orange/white, blue/white, firetiger, and brook trout colors. Johnson used downriggers set at about 11 feet and long lined with a small bullet weight that he figured put the jointed J-7 rapala down about 6-7 feet. They caught all their trout within 200 to 300 yards from Split Rock in deeper water. The fish that were that were shallower weren’t quite as active.
“We would go about a half hour without a bite then hit a pocket of fish and catch 3-4 when we trolled by that area,” Jim recalled.
All the boat ramp docks are now in both campgrounds on Holter Reservoir and folks are fishing near the boat ramps and catching fish from shore.
(Post written by the Captain)