For years, Game and Fish fisheries biologists have had a tough time finding warm water species to import into the state to help offer diverse fishing opportunities for area anglers. While working on a plan to rear their own, they got creative, finding a quick fix by turning to a recent success story to share its wealth with area ponds.

“We just haven’t been successful in getting largemouth bass for the past seven years,” said Cody Region Fisheries Supervisor Sam Hochhalter.

Invasive aquatic species, including New Zealand mud snails and Asian clams, were discovered at two out-of-state sources for warm water species used in the past. Other sources were having a hard time producing enough fish to stock lakes and rivers inside their own borders and weren’t in a position to trade for healthy trout raised at hatcheries in the Big Horn Basin.

The department has been looking into expanding capacity at the Speas Hatchery, near Casper. But the project will take years to complete. In the interim, local fisheries biologists decided to turn to a recently completed project where bass are flourishing to help repopulate local ponds with the hard-fighting species.

“Now, with Renner Reservoir being back online, we have fish,” Hochhalter said.

The crew spent six years completely refurbishing Renner Reservoir, on Buffalo Creek near Hyattville, after the popular warm-water fishery was lost following a near complete winter-kill in 2014. The team, including Habitat and Access Supervisor Brad Sorensen, took the opportunity to drain the facility in 2016, expecting the project to take about two years to complete. But they faced several challenges that cost time and money, frustrating anglers. 

One of many challenges encountered during the project was the presence of natural springs under the reservoir. Once drained, several natural springs were discovered, causing dry time to take substantially longer than expected, said Joe Skorupski, fisheries biologist for the department, when the project was near completion in 2019.

Draining the facility not only allowed them to rid the vegetation-choked water of stunted bass and sunfish, but it presented an opportunity to add structure to improve conditions for newly stocked fish. “It allowed access to replace the outflow structure and added a water feature at the inflow pipe and accomplished dirt work to improve fish habitat,” Skorupski said.

A new concrete boat ramp and a fishing platform were also constructed, giving anglers better access to the 70-acre reservoir. Now, fish are thriving and anglers are flocking to one of the few area fisheries offering the sought-after species. Flathead minnows were also stocked as a baitfish for the quick-to-reproduce bass.

In a state internationally famous for its Blue Ribbon trout fishing, it’s important to give anglers some diversity, Hochhalter said. “The reality is we live in the Rocky Mountain West, but we do have some lower elevation impoundments and lakes that are conducive for providing these types of fishing opportunities for largemouth bass.”

Renner Reservoir has proved to be a great success for the department. “We ran into a family that was fishing yesterday afternoon. They had fished it four consecutive days in a row, and yesterday they had their slowest day of fishing and they caught 22 largemouth bass. The best of the four days was Saturday, when the father and son landed 66 largemouths between them,” he said. 

“Renner is very much back. It’s very fishable. Most of the bass are going to be the smaller ones. But you know, give it time and they’ll grow.”

Currently, the creel limit on largemouth bass at Renner is six per day or in possession. No more than one bass can exceed 12 inches.

Hochhalter and Skorupski spent the past few days camping at Renner to accomplish the translocation of bass to Big Wash pond, near Lovell, and Worland Pond, adjacent to the Washakie County town’s airport and golf course. After sunset, the two biologists cruised Renner by boat using small amounts of electrical current to shock the bass — just enough to temporarily immobilize them. Then, after netting, checking and counting their catch, they headed to the ponds to introduce hundreds of them to their new homes.

Bass from Renner are currently undergoing testing for disease at the state’s lab in Laramie. Once determined to be 100% healthy, the bass can be used for a broader stocking plan. Neither of the ponds stocked this week have an outflow that can reach other waterways, which meant less testing was needed to get bass moved.

“The risk that disease spreads to other populations of fish is zero,” Skorupski said.

Few nearby waters have warm water species. Deaver Reservoir is a “great walleye fishery,” Hochhalther advises. Sauger and channel catfish are native to the Bighorn River. “It just takes a lower elevation and a little bit longer growing season and warmer temperatures for these species to thrive.”