Ralston Reservoir Fishing Guide, Park County, Wyoming

• Overview

  The Park County end of Wyoming holds Ralston Reservoir. The water sits 4,603 feet up. The water covers some 110 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Few waters listed in Park County are bigger. Powell sits 7.3 miles from here and is the nearest stop. It is 76 miles to Billings, the nearest city. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Ralston Reservoir

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. Across Park County, recorded fish include brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout and black-spotted cutthroat trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Ralston Reservoir before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 68°F and January reads 21°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near late March. In an average year the thaw lands around late March and the freeze near late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Ralston Reservoir fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Alkali Creek Reservoir, 11 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Ralston Reservoir in particular, ask before you travel.