Visited Offut Lake Resort again for a little spring breaking with the kid. Fishing was slow, but we finally managed to snare a couple of cutts. It was raining most of the time, but it did not slow us down too much. We rented one of their aluminum boats with electric motors and cruised around in the wind and drizzle for hours.

We trolled two poles set up with the popular kokanee troll pop gear, wedding rings, and half worms, no weights. Then, for extra luck, I threw out a trout-patterned daredevil spoon, on a swivel clip, no weights, flat-lined out the back in the center next to the motor. It was a risk to not tangle the three lines with each other, but wanted the bonus presentation.

Finally, after getting no action but weeds, with the 4 hour rental time just about up, that center daredevil pole starts rocking. I get to it pretty fast, and feel a solid hookup. Woo doggy! I manage to fight the fish, steer enough to keep tangle free, and get the fish to the boat. With no net, I carefully hoist a 14 inch cutthroat trout into the boat. Triumph!

But I see a look on my daughter's face of not all joy. She says she wants to catch one. With not much real confidence, I throw the daredevil back out, and tell her that the next fish is hers. I start to settle down and get things back into their proper places when that same daredevil pole starts thrashing again! It must have been in the
water for only about 30 seconds. Woohoo! I grab the pole, and feel some nice tugging as I quickly hand it to my daughter. She cranks on it and says it is hard to reel. Good sign! :) She gets the fish to the boat, and I see it is a little bit bigger fish. Niiice. I grab the line and carefully lift the 15 inch cutt aboard our vessel. Victory!

By this time, we have about 20 minutes left to get back to the rental dock, and the battery on the motor is showing next to no juice left. So I put the oars in the locks, and row us back. It was some work, but did not matter at that point. Neither did the wind or rain. Catching those two fish made our day.

There were not very many other anglers out, the weather was dismal, and we had no fish finder for temp, depth, or to mark fish.

Great fishing yesterday from my one man pontoon boat. Launched at the public launch and after the corner turned right. Trolled down to the wooded are, where I anchored, about half way down the woody area. Caught 4 right off the bat, one a fatty at 17 inches. Using worm and marshmallow, or power bait. It was so hot, it was hard to keep a gooey marshmallow on, so switched to Powerbait. A great day on the lake with my bestie!!

What a great day! Met with friends of mine on the Offut Lake Resort dock around noon. Fishing was a bit slow, but consistent. The gal next to me was using green, sparkly power bait with garlic! I'd never heard of it, but she caught more fish that almost anyone on the dock. Stock up at SunBirds before you hit the lake. I caught 4, lost two. She had a hefty stringer of fat rainbow trout. Love the resort and the owners.

Tried out Offut for the first time with my daughter, who I don't fish with much anymore. Was spontaneous and decided to rent a boat for 4 hours from Offut Lake Resort. Trolled wedding rings with half worm behind kokanee troll pop gear. Kid got a strike pretty quickly, but no hookup. It was a joy to watch her go from jabbering, holding her pole, to suddenly snapping her head sideways to eye her pole, holdring her breath, then excitedly say, "I think I got a fish!". That is why I fish -- that moment of contact that changes everything. :)

She eventually hooks into a fish, while still holding the pole. Reels it in, but not sure it is still on, until it gets close to the boat and bends the pole good. After some thrashing and fish going under boat, she finally gets it to where I can net it. Fish landed, a stout 13 inch rainbow trout. High fives. Magic. :)

Then the wind kicks up and the battery on the minnkota fades. I end up rowing back to the dock for a fresh battery. Right after the battery is swapped out, the dark clouds that came in start to dump rain. I propose stopping for the day, but the kid want to go back out for the last hour in the rain! So we head back out and proceed to get wet, but still having a good time. I finally catch an 11 inch bow after a few strikes. Not much longer after that, we decide to pack it up.

There were several other boats out, and quite a few dockers, before the rain drove them away. Saw a pair of bald eagles. And the resort staff was great. We will be back! P.S. Anybody remember that wine label? We bought a bottle for the WALakes.com nostalgia. :P

My husband and I arrive at Offut Lake Sunday around 10:00 am. We bottom fished the SE end of the lake at about 12 ft in depth, and averaged one trout every 30 minutes or less. We had good luck, healthy looking fish, and a beautiful day. Fishing action slacked off around 2 pm, then picked back up around 3:30.

We trolled awhile with no luck, and went back to bottom fishing with pink sparkling power eggs. I personally added shrimp oil to my bait. We both limited and enjoyed delicious pan-fried trout that evening. Thanks Offut Lake!