If you’re OK with seeing the fish, but not catching them, and doing it against the backdrop of snowcapped peaks, pay a visit to Hosmer Lake in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest.

Ironically, Hosmer was originally called Mud Lake because a large population of carp stirred up the bottom causing muddy water. It’s a good thing the name was changed, because today Hosmer is so clear that one fishing expert says you “get clear views of one denial after another”. The average depth of the lake is only 3.2 feet. Maximum depth is 12 feet.

A catch and release, fly only fishery, Hosmer is a large figure-eight-shaped lake with two major pools. It is connected by a channel about a mile long and at the north end, water drains into a porous rim of lava.

There are big Atlantic salmon (averaging 16 inches) and brook trout almost that large. In fact, Hosmer is one of only two places in Central Oregon for the Atlantics. It’s at an elevation of almost 5000 feet, so major hatches don’t start till May and are usually over by mid-October.

To fish the best areas you need a boat (electric motors only), float tube or canoe. The banks are heavily vegetated wi ...[continued]