Reports for Green Peter Reservoir 2000

Went to Green Peter with my brother and his son for their first kokanee experience. I'd been really wanting to go based on recent reports. The action was as good as it sounded, we had consistent fishing from 7 until 2, on the south side by the points. We fished two poles on downriggers and one with a weight setup. Early, the one rod that was fishing a little shallower did better, about 30-35 feet down with a cowbell and red wedding ring. The downriggers did better later at the magic 42 foot mark, and the depth finder showed fish typically at 40-50 foot, but really scattered in depth. Big and flashy seemed to work best, with beer cans and large ford fenders also producing. We used brass and nickel blades, orange and green wedding rings, all worked fine. I did have one wedding ring tied with double hooks and that did seem to work better. I tried the beer cans on the downrigger ball, with a dodger and wedding ring on the main line. This worked okay, but it was a lot better to put the gang troll right on the main line. Next time, I think I'll try bigger dodgers as I really dislike having the large gang trolls on the main line. Due to our inexperience, we managed to beat several fish off with the net. Lost many more to jumping and the normal just getting off. Lots of short bites taking the corn. We wound up with 36 total and that reflects our lack of experience more than the fishing. Wound up smoking a batch of them on Sunday and everyone really enjoyed that. I filleted them, but left the rib bones in. The smoked fish come off the bone pretty easy. If anyone wants to know more or has good suggestions, let me know.

The fishing at Green Peter is really good. My son borrowed the boat on Friday and went to Green Peter to fish. He got there about 700 am and fished until about 1200. He limited with really nice kokes. He was using my gear so it was the same beer cans and wedding rings with corn. He fished at 42 feet. The fish still very firm with good red/orange meat. My wife and I were suppose to meet him there friday night, but our plans were changed when my daughter could not get her car to run. Soooo, dad spent the evening changing glow plugs and beating his head against a wall until it was discovered that the ground cable to the battery was loose. Oh-well, that's what dads are for. I could not talk my wife into getting up at 200 am so I went by my self and fished the lake. A lot of fishermen on the lake Saturday. Quite a few were there bright and early too. The fish were really schooled up off some of the points south of the island. I caught most of my limit just trolling a circle off one of the points. Fish are 11 to 13 inches for the most part. Fat and fighting hard. Some of the males are just starting to show signs of the hook jaw, but over all these fish are in great shape. If you want some great Kokanee action, you need to get up to the lake soon. These fish will start to change soon, just had a hint of red along their latteral lines.

Well, this day Green Peter was Kokanee Heaven. It was one of the best days I have ever experienced at GP, for size and numbers. Fortunately, the timing was perfect because it was the Saturday that I had to take some folks Kokanee fishing, who had bought a Kokanee fishing trip at my sons Youth for Christ Auction in Eugene this last spring. The day started at 500 am. It was a beautiful morning with a light wind. Bruce, Sally, Becky, Bou, and Grandpa Gene showed right on time for their first Kokanee fishing trip. My son Shea also came along to lend a hand and instruction. As it turned out I could not of handled it without him. We ran four rods all day. One on a down rigger and three with my normal weight and flashers. It took us all of about 2 mins. to get the fish fish in the boat and the action stayed that way all day until we took out at about 230 pm. There were multiple times that we had two and three fish on a one time. The bite stayed hot all morning until we broke for lunch at about noon. Even after lunch, we went back out and wind drifted with about the same success. The fish are in great shape. Still firm and excellent color. 80 percent of the Kokanee we caught were in the 11 to 13 inch length. Fat and still very bright. We used the beer cans flashers, wedding rings and shasta sling blade dodger with white corn of course. We fished at 42 feet. We fished off the points on the south side of the lake. The highlight of the day was when Becky had a hook up but lost the fish and out of seemingly nowhere this bald eagle came swooping down and picked up the fish about 100 feet from the boat. What a sight!!! The eagle flew back up into a tree on the shore line and we were able to watch it feed on the Kokanee. This was just a great trip. We made some new friends and enjoyed a very special day of Kokanee fishing. Oh, our total for the day was 1 trout and 105 Kokanee.

Took my daughter to Gp friday night and Saturday morning. We got to the lake about 4:30 Friday evening. We did not fish hard just cruised around and fished a little down by the dam. We had about 10 good bites and landed 3 kokes. The biggest one was 12 inches. Beached the boat and had a quiet evening just enjoying the lake and watching the sun set. We got on the lake shortly after day break and had our first really quality fishing at GP this year. Quality in the size of the fish. We really got into some very nice 12 to 13 inch kokanee. We finished fishing at 12 noon and had 32 kokanee and two trout. Fish are in very good shape. Still firm and good color. We fished with a down rigger and my usual heavy weight method. We probably split the total between the two methods. This is the second time I have used a down rigger and I must say it kind of grows on you. It did not take my daughter long to figure out the ins and outs of using the down rigger. She manned it all day. We used beer can spinners on each rig and wedding rings with corn. On the down rigger (at Roberts suggestion) I used a shasta sling blade dodger and wedding ring. We had a little trouble keeing fish on when using the down rigger, so I added a snubber and it seemed to help keep fish on. All in all a great day at the lake with my daughter.

As planned, my youngest son and I went up to Green Peter Sunday evening to camp out and fish. We fished for about 1 hour Sunday down by the dam. We had a few take downs but no hook ups. We quit early and beached the boat and made some chili before turning in. We got up at daylight and set up the down rigger and new pole and started out. I also had my normal set up in the water as well. The fishing was some what slow all day for us. We fished until about 3:00 PM. We finished the day with 25 kokes. Sizes ran from 8 to 12 inches. With the majority being closer to 8 inches. The water at Gp appears to be blooming. It was dirty looking. You could not see very far down into the lake. With being my first attempt with a down rigger, I spent most of the day learning the ins and outs. I must admit it is fun to have kokes on with no weight. We probably split the number of fish caught with a down rigger and my normal method of weight and beer cans. We fished at 38 feet and covered just about the whole lake. We caught fish everywhere but really had to cover a lot of water to get bites.

Took Friday off from work and went to Green Peter with one of my sons. Got there just before daylight and watched the sun come up. What a beautiful morning. We started out south of the island fishing all the points. My son caught the first 8 kokes without old dad even getting a bite. It is always amazing to me how fish will pick out one rod when the other rod or rods are the exact same set up right down to reel, line and everything. My side of the boat finally started to produce and we caught fish all morning. We Fished until about 1:00 pm. We ended the day with 30 kokanee. They varied in size from 8 to 12 inches. We fished at 38 feet. Beer cans and wedding rings served us all day. One word of advice, make sure you periodically change you water/fuel separator, if you have one.. It is an awful long troll back to the dock when your motor does not want to run because there is more water getting into the fuel injection than gas. Yes , it is also embarrassing. I'm going back up Sunday night with my youngest son and we are going to sleep over in the boat and fish Monday. It is an experimental day for me. I am going to try my luck with a down rigger and new kokanee rod made out of a fly rod blank. If I can not figure it out I well fall back on my tried and true method.

My friend who taught me how to fish for kokes at Green Peter came up from California for a visit. He is a home grown Oregonian, but had to make the move south for a better job. He and his family came up for a week before the fourth. They spent the week at foster camping, but managed to fish four days at GP.

True to form, they experienced a very good week of kokanee fishing. They caught 153 kokes for the week. He said that about half were small, but the other half were very nice kokanee. They used the standard beer can spinners and wedding rings with corn. I don't know what depth they were fishing, but probably in the 35 to 40 foot range.

I have some long weekends coming up with vacation that I have to burn before the end of July, so I am going to make my push to fill the freezer with Gp kokes. If any of you see a green Boulton Power boat, stop by and say high.

A friend and I went to Green Peter and were on the water about 6:30. Fished for 6 hours and kept 8. Fishing seemed to be quite slow and the bites were light. Hooked few of the bites we did get. Best part was virtually no wind the entire time, maybe that was the problem. Never marked many fish in any one area. Not too many people out fishing and they were as scattered as the fish. We mostly stuck around the island and on the south shore. The fish around the island were all about 9". The only decent fish were off the points, two at 11". Best combination seemed to be a Ford Fender with a red wedding ring, corn and one egg, fished at 40-45 feet. We tried many different lures to try to get a better bite, but never much luck. Anybody having consistent luck with something different?

This is my first year with my own boat and downriggers. I noticed most people with downriggers fishing their lake trolls on the main line. I was hoping to fish these off the downrigger ball with just a wedding ring on the main line. That did not seem to get many bites at all until I switched to the troll on the main line and kept the lure 20 feet behind the ball. Any counter opinions or suggestions out there? It's still nice to keep the lead off the line, though. Hope to be out there many times this year. I'll be in a very blue Hewescraft, so say hello. I am always willing to tell you what's not working.

My brother in law Dan was visiting from California which gave me a good excuse to go fishing. On Saturday [6/27] we took a 1 day break from cutting ryegrass and headed to Green Peter. We put in at Thistle creek at noon and headed out to the island. After locating a school at 45' Ipulled the downriggers out and put out both poles with willow leaf flashers & wedding rings w/ a little chunk of nite crawler tipped w/ 2 kernels of white corn. Kokes hit us quickley as we fished along picking up some nice fat fish measuring into the 12"-13" range. I've fished this water for 20 years now and these are the nicest fish I've ever seen here. We worked around the island and on up the Santiam arm picking up fish from 45 to 65 feet deep.At the end of the day we had 27 kokes & 1 trout in the cooler.

June 24, 2002
I went to Green Peter June 24th. Got in the water about 8 am. Started trolling east of the island, caught a couple and lost some fishing about 30' with down riggers. Kokanee were small, 9-10". By 9 am it was so windy we went up Quartsville arm, but it was even windy there. Gave up about 11 am. There was more wind and whitecaps on Green Peter then when I fished out of Winchester Bay for chinook on the 23rd.

June 22, 2002
Got on the lake today at 4:30 am . Toady was a different kind of day on the lake. Windy right off the get go and chilly. The clouds never really left at all today. Maybe it is just me getting older, but mister heater was going most of the morning.

We (my youngest son and I) managed to catch about 34 Kokanee. I say about because we brought home 24 and I quit counting the ones I released somewhere around 6 or 7. We caught some very nice Kokanee and some very small Kokanee. I was fishing at 30 feet. I guessed on the depth because my fish finder quit and I had to send it into the shop to get it repaired. We stayed at 30 feet the whole time and had consistent action most of the day. I used the stand by beer cans flashers and wedding rings. We found most of the fish in the mouths of the different arms and the points that come off the arms of the lake.

Hopefully by the end of July and August these critters will put on a little weight and length.

My wife, daughter, and I went up to green peter today and had a real good time. We got on the water about 10 a.m. and started fishing across the lake from the Thistle Creek inlet. Within 5 minutes we had our first Kokanee in the boat and at 12:30 when we had to leave we had 4 total in the boat (all 10-12 inchers). I only wish we could have stayed longer. I'm new to Kokanee fishing, so it was nice to catch some. My previous trips up there last week and the week before we only caught rainbows, but that's because I had things setup wrong. Today, I was fishing with a downrigger at 40 feet using anise/shrimp flavored corn and a red potski egg. I found all of the tips on this site to be extremely helpful, particularly the pictures of how to setup your rig with the dodger and flashers off the ball. To those who posted the tips, thanks from me and my 6 year old.

Beautiful day with very few people on the lake. I did not know what to expect because of some of the reports and I talked with one group at the lake who had fished the day before and did not get a bite. He told me that they did not think the kokanee were in yet. I'm not sure where he thought they were coming from, but I listened just the same. I started down by the dam and worked my way up the lake. I fished all of my usual spots and caught fish in all of them. It was not the fastest fishing I have experienced at GP, but I caught fish all day.

I went home with 11 kokanee after releaseing 9 because they were on the small side. The kokanee I kept were in the 10 to 11 inch range. The small ones were 8 and 9 inches or smaller. Lots of bites without hookups. All of the bites were very soft. You had to pay attention to your rod tip to see the hits. I am guessing that the abundance of small fish might be from the stocking that took place last year. I fished all day at a depth of 24 feet. The fish appeared to be scattered all over the lake. I would see fish on the fish finder but usualy just ones and twos. I got off the lake at about 400 pm. So it was not a limit day, but close. I also caught three trout, but released them as well. For the first time out and early in the season, it was a great day.

I did run into a friend from church who was up at the lake with his daughter and grand daughter for the day. They had 17 kokanee. He told me that last weekend he was catching larger fish 12 to 14 inches, but today he was catching the same size as I was.

It should be a good later in the summer after the fish put on a little bulk and grow up a little.

We have been to Green Peter a couple of times in the past week and fishing remains slow there in our experience. People seem to be catching a few (2-6). We haven't seen sign of any schools or grouping up of the kokanee. Where do they go??!! The ones we do get are in 20-40 feet of water. Sizes averaging 10-11 inches. The lake is just 6-10 feet below being full, and the Whitcomb landing is open. Let's hope things pick up in June.

Sometimes you do things right, and sometimes you do things wrong. Today was a day of both. My Wife and I decided to get the boat wet just to see if it floats. We were greeted by a full parking lot when we got to Thistle Creek ramp about 1:00 PM. Had to park the trailer out by the road. The lake was, as expected, almost at full pool. What we didn't expect was for me to forget the electric downrigger, a fishing license for my Wife, a net, and tie downs for the boat. So I fished with the manual rigger and one pole. The weather was absolutely perfect! In the first hour of fishing I kept 5 fish and lost 2 on the South side of the lake by the points there. The fish seemed to be around 35 to 45 feet deep. After that I got into a dead area (time) and didn't get any bites. We decided to go up the Quartsville arm to see what was there. ZERO. No fish marked on the finder, so we didn't drop a line. The five kept were about 11 inches and a little skinny. Not bad for this time of year. Considering the time of year I'd say the lake should be pretty good in June and July. I'm sure there are limits waiting to be caught now though. We didn't fish very long (maybe 2 hours) and talked on the cell phones more than anything else. Next time we'll take it more seriously and remember both licenses. The wait to pull out was about 30 minutes. When we arrived home the smell of barbeques was irresistibly thick in the air.

I had to have another go at those kokes, so my wife met me after work and we got to the lake at around 9:30. It took several hours to get a bite, and we missed the first 2 strikes. They all came on the same pole as all but one of the fish in my last 2 trips. I decided to really examine this setup and what I found was the silver willow leaf blades were slightly tarnished, and the wedding ring had 2 extra chartreuse beads just above the hook.I switched the other pole to a tarnished cowbell and added 4 chartreuse beads above the hook.I also went to 2-hook setups. It was 2 o'clock before I made these changes and in 1 hour we had 11 fish in the boat. We were fishing 30 pulls out, most of the fish came around the island and in the mouth of the Thistle creek arm. I will be tying up more wedding rings and heading back up Monday to see how well I can do with blacked-out flashers and chartreuse beads. I am a true convert to the 2 hook setups, we landed 11 of 13 strikes with them this afternoon.

This report submitted by Mark

I fished for Kokanee Friday and Saturday. Fished hard all day both days. Friday there were 2 of us, we caught 13. Saturday, even worse, 6 fish for 4 people. Trolling 30 feet deep got the most fish, and the best concentration seemed to be between Thistle Creek and the Island, both in the deeper water and off the points.

Went to Green Peter Res. friday, the lake is almost at full pool. The weather was better than expected, west wind didn't kick up till around 2 pm. As for the fishing, it was great, catching was a little slow. I did manage 3 Kokanee, 2 10 1/2" and one 11 1/2". They were fat. Looks like they maybe running a little smaller this year, but it is early yet. I Got them around the dam fishing down 40' with a wedding ring dogger combo. The fish were scattered, no one place better than another. Talked to some other people and they where doing about the same.

Bill and I made our first trip of the year/season to Green Peter yesterday. Rain had been predicted but it turned out to be blue sky, 50 deg temps, and an absolutely calm lake. The lake is down to normal winter levels and Thistle Creek landing is still open. We were out a couple of hours in the middle of the day and caught 2 kokanee, much to our surprise. Bill caught the first one of our season.

We were trolling around the point just south of the Whitcomb landing, with 1 ounce weights and 40 pulls of line.

One of those real nice February weather breaks with the lake and lakeside beautiful.
This report submitted by Lee