Oregon Miscellaneous Kokanee Reports 2000

September 7, 2000

Suttle Lake

Went up to Suttle for one last time this year, fishing Wednesday and Thursday. There were alot of fish feeding on the surface so started out trolling with flashers and wedding rings. Did well for first several hours catching about half the fish we hooked. The fish went to the bottom in the afternoon so we switched to jigging buzz bombs tipped with corn. In a day and a half we ended up with 35 fish, most in the 10 to 11 inch range, and most of the fish were still bright. Andy

This report submitted by Andy

August 2, 2000

Wallowa Lake

I have not been doing much kokanee fishing eventhough I now live only 25 miles from Paulina. I have had poor luck lately and have been having fun fly fishing below my house on Fall River.

However, I did get to fish Wallowa lake for 4 hours on the 2nd of August. I had trouble finding fish. I finally managed one 14 inch fish that was just turning color. I thought the fish would be staging to spawn up the river, but very few were around that area. I have read that the fish were turning color around the first of July, but this fish was still in good shape and made for good eating. BTW, I caught the fish on a purple and white hoochie with corn behind a dodger.russellb@ava.bcc.orst.edu

This report submitted by Brian

July 9-15, 2000

Wallowa Lake

My family and I fished and vacationed at Wallowa Lake July 9th through the 15th. This was my first time kokanee fishing at the lake, and to say I was impressed would be a big understatement. The fish are big, and fight hard. When we arrived at the campground I was told that the kokanee fishing had ended two weeks ago by both the park rangers as well as the people who operate the marina. I didn't drive six plus hours to be discouraged so we set up camp and had dinner. I launched my driftboat about six thirty on Sunday evening and started trolling up the West side of the lake. I was amazed by the lack of fisherman. There were a few boats, maybe three anchored by the Wallowa River inlet still fishing but only a few trolling. Most but not all were not using downriggers which probably explains why the fishery is over for most people when the fish are over fifty feet deep. I marked fish on my fish finder from twenty-eight to one hundred feet. I let out about sixty feet of line with a 3/O dodger four feet of leader with a red and white apex and anise scented corn. I fished for about twenty minutes making S turns and changing depths but only had one light hit. I switched to a flame orange spin and glow with double hooks red hooks and drooped to thirty feet. I hooked a fish as soon as I put my rod in the holder and landed a beautiful seventeen inch koke as wide as the palm of my hand. I fished for another hour but the bite seemed to stop. I was back at it Monday morning and worked hard for five nice fish that averaged over fifteen inches. I couldn't find a consistent or lure. I hooked fish on everything I tried but no depth or lure was red hot. Pink hoochies were very effective. Wee Tads, Apex, all caught fish. By Wednesday I started to use a homemade wedding ring style with double glow hooks. My good friend Mike Kent had success with it at Odell. He uses size1/0 silver plated blades. After the first ten minutes fishing with that spinner tipped with single kernels of scented white corn I never used anything else. That spinner accounted for fish from seventeen to twenty-two inches. My last morning was Saturday, and I couldn't have scripted a better ending to my trip. I caught four nice kokes that measured sixteen, eighteen, twenty and twenty-two inches and lost four or five others and was back for breakfast by seven thirty. The bucks in particular are in pre spawn now but I found many chrome bright fish. There are many other attractions near the lake. Miles of hiking trails and some of the most spectacular scenery in Oregon. The ride on the Wallowa Lake tram offers a view of the Eagle Caps and several miles of trails with overlooks in all directions. For big kokanee this lake outstanding. The bad part is having to leave and knowing you won't be back for a year. I will be putting that spinner to work at Paulina in a couple of weeks. Good fishing...

This report submitted by Kirk

June 29, 2000

Wallowa Lake

After being informed by a coworker about the wonders of Kokanee fishing at Wallowa Lake my fishing buddy and I decided to take the trek up to NE Oregon and give it a try. Our original intent was to go a month or so earlier, but because of family and work schedules we kept putting off the trip until the past few days. I kept hearing reports about large kokanee being caught, from the articles here on the Kokanee page to reports from my coworkers' relatives catching fish up to as large as 5 lbs. 2 oz. (missed the state record by an ounce!). We endured the 6 1/2 hour trip from home with anticipation of a great time fishing. Once in Joseph we stopped at the Sports Corral and topped off our already bulging kokanee arsenal with a few local suggestions. Monday late afternoon we took out trying to decide which option to go with? I had been prompted earlier to try the left side of the lake from eagle point down - in the general area of the white buoys. We fished for 5-6 hours and netted 5 eight inchers. Not exactly what we came for! We had a hard time marking any fish at all and the few that we did find seemed to be in the 50-60 foot deep level. Except for the para-gliding that goes on much of the day (two of the three days we fished) the lake was wonderful for wind and water conditions. For the most part the large boat doing the para-gliding seemed to keep some distance between where we were fishing - which only occasionally resulted in rocking back and forth from his wake. Tuesday we went out for the bulk of the day, with only a brief rest in the heat of the afternoon. One of our theories has always been to not start fishing until we find a number of fish on our finder. We spent an extended period of time looking and finding nothing. So we ask ourselves, are we looking in the wrong places or are the fish extremely scattered or are they fished down to smaller numbers or is our fish finder not working or ????? In the entire day of fishing we managed to find another 6-7 eight inchers and one 13 incher that we reluctantly decided to keep to eat (all other small fish we returned to the lake to grow up). We also caught two rainbow (rejects!) about 10-11 inches long while fishing a little more shallow (say in 30-40 feet) that we also released. Wednesday the decision of whether or not to fish at all was a difficult one. I reluctantly went out to make a last attempt to find some more fish. We tried fishing at every depth from 40 to 100 feet with no success. I kept hoping we could mark some fish and then we would know what depth to fish, but other than a very occasional solitary fish, generally but not always around 60 feet down, we had nothing but a blank screen all three days. We talked with other fisherman all three days and found no one who was finding it any easier than we were to catch fish. The person running the marina on the lake said we should have been here 3-4 weeks earlier! The story of our lives, so it seems. Should have been here "yesterday". On the brighter side, the campground at the lake is wonderful - green, tons of wildlife, facilities that include full bathroom facilities like electricity, flush toilets, showers, etc. It was unusually quiet and everyone seemed to be very respectful of the park rules and regulations. Highly recommended. If you have the time (and money - $15.50 each) take the tram near the lake if you go there. A 15 minute ride up to the top of 8,000 foot Mount Howard provides some great views of the mountains, lake and valley below. If one of the photo's I took of the lake comes out I will scan and send a picture of the lake for general interest to those who may not have visited before.   Happy fishing!

This report submitted by Mike Ayres

June 16, 2000

Wallowa Lake

I asked our fish biologists in Enterprise to answer the question that was posted regarding Kokanee in Wallowa Lake. I think that the response should be posted to your forum to stop some rumors before they get spread too far.

Great (and very informative) web page!!!

Respectively,

Joel Hurtado Wildlife Biologist Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Ecological changes in Wallowa Lake resulting from the introduction of lake trout and mysis shrimp remain the greatest threat to the lake's kokanee fishery.

The large kokanee caught in Wallowa Lake recently are an indication that things are changing in the lake. Kokanee size is generally directly related to abundance in nutrient poor lakes like Wallowa Lake. Extensive creel data from the kokanee fishery has documented a gradual decrease in catch rate over the last decade. Both the size and catch data suggest declining numbers of kokanee. This evidence from the lake and findings elsewhere suggests that introduction of mysis shrimp to Wallowa Lake in the 1960's set in motion a gradual ecological shift. This shift is primarily the result of the interaction between introduced lake trout, introduced mysis shrimp and kokanee. Similar changes involving the three species in a number of Northwest lakes have resulted in the elimination of kokanee from the lakes. In these lakes, as in Wallowa Lake, mysis shrimp were introduced to increase the average size of kokanee by providing an improved food source. This strategy worked in a few locations, but in others, the lake trout population was better able to utilize the new food source and soon dominated the lake. As the numerous lake trout increased in size they shifted their attention from shrimp to kokanee. The resulting increased predation reduced or eliminated the kokanee population. This same ecological shift appears to be occurring in Wallowa Lake but at a much slower rate than in other areas. Although the ultimate outcome at Wallowa Lake remains in question, this shift could easily result in the loss of the lake's kokanee population. Based on the efforts in other lakes there may be little we can do to alter the course of this ecological shift. Fish management tools like reducing or increasing bag limits or using hatchery fish to supplement the lakes natural production have proven ineffective in dealing with the problem in other areas.

Some kokanee are currently spilled over the dam each year. We have no evidence that any migrate to the ocean and return as sockeye. Future plans for the lake may include reintroduction of sockeye. Although accommodations for fish passage over the dam will be made during renovation, a number of other substantial hurdles face any reintroduction effort. Currently there are no suitable sockeye populations available as a donor stock. Water temperatures in the Lower Grande Ronde River during sockeye migration time are potentially lethal some years. As a result reintroduction efforts and passage facility construction will not likely be a priority in the near future.

Irrigators who own the dam and have water storage rights in the lake plan to renovate the existing dam in 2002. The project may result in the need for some modification in the boat ramp and parking areas. Current project direction would result in those modifications being made simultaneously with dam renovation. One of the goals of our involvement in project planning will be to insure uninterrupted angler access.

June 4, 2000

Wallowa Lake

I fished Wallowa from 6/2 to 6/8 with at least 10 from koke Power in CA. The fishing was tougher than last yr, but we were a month earlier and it seems like a lot of OR koke lks had lock jaw of late. The good news is everybody caught a fair amount of big fish ( 16 to 22 in.). Every day I managed at least a couple in the 17 to 20 in. range. We also had to contend with a lot of little guys(6-9in.) that took up a lot of time away from the big fish. We tried many depths, lures, colors and sizes to screen out the little for the big to no avail. The water was gin clear, so we had to trollout further than usual from release clip( as in at least 60 ft. back) to be effective. Also had to go to longer, lighter leaders(2 ft. and 6# test). Best depth for the big ones was 30 to 40 ft. Best lures were Apex, Wedding Ring, Wee Tad, and Hoochies. The hoochies were the poorest and the Wedding Ring and Apex the best. Pinks and Chrome best colors. Fish of all sizes were in good shape and fought well. I caught a 19 in. that was just showing the signs of "turning"...faint color and tight scales. As reported by Kirk, the new record og 5.3 lbs was caught about 10 days before we fished. I can verify that fish over 4 lbs. were caught when we were there. I would like to hear from the ODFW bio guys re the mysis situation at Wallowa. BAD news is it may not matter. The park ranger told me they are going to open and heighten the small dam at the north end which will flood out the marina, boat launch and parking lot and allow kokes to enter and escape lake, meaning they will become sockeyes(endangered) and there will be no more koke fishing at Wallowa and maybe no fishing there at all due to the sockeye and bull trout protection issue. Somebody please tell me I'm wrong. Otherwise, by 2003 its all over at Wallowa.

This report submitted by John

June 8, 2000

Wallowa Lake

I just returned from Missoula, and on the way back stopped at Wallowa lake to check out the camp site I reserved In early July. I talked to a tackle shop owner who fishes the lake regularly and was told a new state record was caught there last week. The fish weighed 5lbs. 3 oz. She also said the fish were full of mysis shrimp. I hope the long term effects of mysis will not kill the run as it has in some lakes. Good fishing, Kirk

This report submitted by Kirk

May 20, 2000

Suttle Lake

I went up to Suttle again last Saturday with Tim Bartel. Fished in the west end of the lake in 48-50' of water. Used buzz bombs with corn, eggs, and worms. The bite was light and it was windy making it very difficult to detect the bite. Only managed 18 fish in a half day of fishing.

This report submitted by Chuck Metge

May 6, 2000

Suttle Lake

I went fishing with Brad Dixon and Tim Bartel at Suttle Lake on 5/6/00. The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting. We fished about a half day and managed to keep 52 kokanee in the 8 to 10 inch range. All fish were caught jigging with buzz bombs in the west end of the lake.

This report submitted by Chuck Metge

April 18, 2000

    Suttle Lake - Boat ramp report

Robert, Here is a report on the ramps at Odell. I tried to put it on the reports page but it came up spam something. All ramps on hwy 58 are plowed along with the resorts. Crescent was to be plowed on the 17th. Fish jumping at Odell. Thanks Robbie R&K

This report submitted by Robbie

April 12, 2000

Suttle Lake - Boat ramp report

I drove by Suttle lake today and it is free of snow. The two campgrounds on the South side are still closed but the boat ramp on the West end of the lake is accessible. There were about 6 boats fishing but was not able to see if any fish were being caught.

Lost lake is still froze over but is starting to melt. with some warm weather it should be fishing in about two weeks.
This report submitted by Brian

April 7, 2000

Haystack Reservoir

I went fishing at Haystack Reservoir on Friday. I was trolling ford fenders with 1.5 ounces of weight and tipped with a worm and piece of corn. We caught seven real nice Kokanee. They were between 12 and 14 inches and real fat! I have never fished here before and really did not think that there was a lot of fish in here. Was I wrong! While trolling and catching the nice kokanee, my friend, Jim, caught a 17" brown. It was a great fish.

Haystack is located about 3 miles west of Culver. It is right off hwy 97. Check it out if you want a nice small lake to fish. I guess they have drag boat races on it in August. (Doesn't seem large enough to me.) Nice camp grounds and warm weather makes it a really special little get away!
This report submitted by Dave

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