Wickiup Reservoir Reports 1997
August
31, 1997
Wanted to get a report to you on Wickiup for 8-30-97 and 8-31-97. My dad, son, and I
fished for 2 days up in the Deschutes arm. Our first mistake was trying to launch the boat
at the Gull Point Campground rather than than the good boat ramp about 1/2 mile to the
east. After that challenge, we ran into heavy fog on the reservoir, but did manage to
catch 4 kokanee trolling early on with the standard troll rig, green wedding ring and
corn. We then worked our way upstream past the Twin Lakes Campground about 1/2 mile and
saw osprey diving into the water plucking out kokanee. Quite a thrill to watch. We joined
several boats jigging and started catching fish. The fish were in this stretch in large
numbers getting ready for the upstream spawning run. Some of the fish were getting a bit
dark. We kept 13 more fish jigging that first day but released probably 1/2 dozen more
that were caught in the tail or dorsal fin. Apparently they would take a swat at the lure
with their tail. We used pink and white nordics and then on Sunday switched over to green
buzz bombs which seemed to tangle less when cast out away from the boat and were jigged
back in. We caught 9 more on Sunday morning before packing up and heading back home to the
valley.
The Deschutes arm closed 9-1-97 to protect the spawning fish. There seemed to be no lack
of fish so 4 years from now may be good. The fish ran around 12 inches and seemed to have
good weight to them. Nice place and would go back again, though it is further than Odell
and harder water to navigate the boat in. A fish finder is almost a must in Wickiup as the
water level can be 20 feet and then 2 feet just a short distance away. I ran the prop
through one sand bar and scraped the paint off the outer 2 inches of the prop just as if
sand paper had been applied.
This was my last kokanee trip of the year. Had some good catches but missed having Green
Peter being a producer this year. Let's hope 1998 will be a better year up there. I think
these last two flood winters have played havoc with the reservoir.
This
report submitted by Dan Meyers
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August 24, 1997
Fished Wickiup today and boated 14 Kokanee out of about 60 takedowns, also
caught 1 small brown of about 13 inches. Kokes landed were all in pre-spawn
condition and not in very good eating shape. Meat was very soft, not the nice
firm pink meat of the prime Kokanee for sure.
Had all of our bites on the Deshutes arm and marked loads of fish in the schools
in that area. We made a run out into the main body of the lake and could not
find a fish on the fish finder, everything we found was up the Deshutes arm.
There was some brown activity on the surface but only saw one nice one caught
and there were quite a few folks fishing for them.
Water conditions are warm, and very very cloudy from all the growth.
In a word, the fish are there, and they will bite. But if you are looking for
fish to eat,you won't find these fish too appealing at this time of the year.
Probably better off to wait and let them do their spawn thing so we will have
lots of quality Kokanee to eat next spring.
This report submitted by Randall "RB" Blighton
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July 24, 1997
Kokanee are starting to school in the arms. We fished the Deschutes channel
and arm, and had numerous strikes although lost a lot of fish. Most people were
doing fairly well, averaging about 10 a day. Most were trolling wedding rings
tipped with corn at 15 - 20' depths (which is what we did mostly). Some were
tipping the wedding rings with worms or Patzke's. Saw some jiggers doing well...we
tried that, had a few strikes, but found trolling more productive. One group
of 4 was still fishing worms and boated 36 fish in one morning. This was our
first attempt at Kokanee fishing, and our first time at Wickiup so don't have
anything to measure the experience against. We had fun and the weather was great!
My main question....how do you keep those frigging fish on the hooks!!! I also
vote they ban the water skiers and personal watercraft from the lake!
There were a few German Browns being taken on still fished worms, and one 3
pounder on a Kokanee rig tipped with a worm.
Good fishing! <(((>>
<
This report submitted by Nancy Netwal
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June 14, 1997
I finally got out to wickiup yesterday (6-14) to fish for Kokes. I will go
back real soon! We started fishing by the gull boat launch, since there were
a lot of other boats there, and we caught 4 fish in about as many minutes. Ray
and I were getting ready to catch our limit. Then things slowed down... or the
fish moved. So did we! We trolled on across the reservoir and caught 3 or four
more. Things went slow again. It was a very hot and cold day. I guess the schools
of fish move?
We ended the day with 21 fish all nice sized too! They were between 11 and 16
inches. In fact the largest fish was caught during lunch. Ray put a bobber up
6' from a size 6 hook and threaded white corn (about 4) all over the hook, he
casted , then waited. I thought he was crazy, but then the bobber started going
nuts and he reeled in our biggest fish of the day (16" and FAT.) We tried
again with no luck so we ate our barbequed New York Steaks and went up to the
spring holes. We caught most our fish up there jigging orange buzzbombs. (NO
CORN!)
This was the best I have ever seen Wickiup. It was about 80 degrees, no wind,
no water skiiers, and very few bugs. We got there at 6 am and left for home
around 6:30 pm or so. I am fried like a crisp... Someone has to enjoy! Next
time I will make sure that the sun screen is in the ol' tackle box!
This report submitted by Dave Brouillard
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June 8, 1997
Went to wickup on 6/8. Got there at 7am (late-- i know). Went to where all
the boats were anchored; sw of the dam. Saw one boat knocking the hell out of
them. None of the rest of us did anything worth speaking of. What's the secret?
Also, the lake has a bloom starting on it. What changes should a person make
when the lake "turns over" ?
This report submitted by Andy Eldridge
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May
26, 1997
Went to Wickiup again this weekend and left one of my anchors at home (thats
not a brilliant thing to do if one plans on still fishing in the wind) Oh well,
I claimed to be a fisherman not a nuclear scientist.
Friday morning my wife and I hit the lake a 6:00 am and trolled for browns,
once again picking up but one nice 16 inch Koke....Met my brother at about 9:00
and he had put a 25 inch 5 lb. Brown (fully dressed it weighed 5) in his boat
that morning. Anchored up in the Kokanee hole and took right off. By early afternoon
we had kept 43 fish and took a break when the wind came up and the bite stopped.
(We had blown out of the hole and into shallow water) Spent that eve fishing
for Browns, the only success being watching my brother boat a 201/2 incher that
he released after a pic. Fished till dark with one hookup.
Saturday morning we waited till about 9:00 or so and tried to fish for Kokes
but the wind was our enemy. We could only hold the hole for short periods of
time and managed to keep 17 . Spent most of the rest of the day fishing browns
in the Deshutes Arm waiting for the wind to subside, but it never did.
Sunday morning we hit the water at 7:00 am and damned if it wasn't windy
again. Got real lucky when the first try with the anchor took a great hold and
held us in place all day. We were really swinging at the end of it but would
pass over the prefered depth on every swing. We put up with a 5 foot depth change
on every swing, fought the white caps all day, worked damn hard to end up with
35 fish kept. I had to complement the wife for sticking it out all day with
me, it was along way from pleasant conditions.
It was a wild day and made for some great fishing moments. IE: fish wrapped
in anchor ropes, one fish slammed into the side of the boat before the wife
new she had it on, fish wrapped up in the motors, and I swear on a stack of
bibles my biggest fish of the day hit me right in the chest before falling back
in the lake.
I knew I had a nice Koke and had told my wife to grab the net(we net very
few) I saw it a couple of times and was trying to keep it away from the anchor
rope when it went around it twice and headed right at the boat. When the line
broke I don't know if the fish meant to jump or what, but that damn thing came
flying out of the water, hit me in the chest and fell back in. I couldn't believe
it.
Monday we slept in and decided we didn't want to fight the wind another
day. Passing the Davis Arm of Wickiup, and Odell Lake on the way home, it looked
like a mistake, the water looked perfect in both places. Oh well, we had a good
trip anyway and got home early.
OBSERVATIONS: Honestly think the Koke fishing would have been great if the
water had of laid down and became fishable. Believe the bite is still on if
you can make a good presentation. Water level dropped 2 to 4 ft in last couple
of weeks.I would still rate the level as high . Although I didn't test the temp
with a thermometer it seemed be warming Most people had some fish although it
looked as though the ones caught in the Gull Point area were a bit smaller.
Our fish averaged in the 12 -15+ range again.
Good Fishin to you.........Deral
This report submitted by Deral
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May 18, 1997
Great Koke fishing Saturday and Sunday....Missed a big Brown Saturday morning
and ended day with 65 Kokes kept for 3 of us. 10-15+ inches
Sunday went and anchored up to fish Kokes at 7:30 am ....Pulled anchor with
a limit of 75 for three of us at 9:30 am ......Home in Salem by 2:30 pm.......Same
size as yesterdays........
Good fishin to you.........Take care.........
This report submitted by Deral
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May
10, 1997
Got lucky and wife agreed that going fishing in the sunshine would make a
great Mothers Day present. We fished Wickiup today and attacked it just like
opening day. We started at daylight trolling Rapalas for Browns towards the
dam from Gull Point and had our 1st hook up within about 30 minutes. Surprise,
it turned out to be a nice fat 15+ inch Kokanee. Continued trolling until about
9:30 am with only other fish taken being a 11 inch koke. Decided it was time
to go anchor up in my favorite Koke hole and try the Salmon roe again. It took
about two minutes till we got the first bite but that had to be the longest
period of peace we got. It was a frenzy from there on out. The only way to smoke
a cigarette or have something to drink was to take your line out of the water.
We frustrated a couple of other boats close to us with our success. They moved
closer and closer but were jigging and we must have been 10 to 1 on hookups.
We released anything smaller that we didn't have bleeding from a deep hook set
and ended the day with 50 fish kept. Had 6 that went 15+ and around 20 in the
12 to 15 inch range so they were a little bigger than on the opener. not to
bad for a Mothers Day present. I did win first fish, biggest fish and most fish
bets with the wife, so ended up $15 richer. Trolled for trout after we limited
on the kokes but had 3 take downs with no hook ups on them.(better sharpen my
hooks)
Observations: Lake still at full pool, most folks still fishing
down by dam but didn't get down there to see how they were doing this time.
Beautiful day with the wind coming up about three. Hard to beat if one is looking
to catch a boat full of nice Kokes.
This report submitted by Deral
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May
10-11, 1997
On May 10th and May 11th, my friend and I fished Wickiup. The weather was
excellent, and so was the Kokanee fishing. We caught 74 Kokanee in all. They
were all caught trolling with a wedding ring, worm, and white corn. I tried
various other types of Kokanee lures, but the wedding ring was the most successful
for us. We caught the fish all over the lake from the Davis arm to the dam.
They were all in the 9"-11" range.
When we arrived May 9th, we fished Crane Prairie. Although
we were trying to catch some Rainbows, my friend managed to catch one 15"
Kokanee, and one other small one. I heard that some people have been catching
limits of Kokanee(5) at Crane Prairie.
This report submitted by Charles
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May 3, 1997
A friend and I went to Wickiup to test the waters for the Kokes on sat the
3rd. We arrived about 8 AM and launched from the landing just east of the dam.
About 10 boats were there ahead of us. We checked to see if we could see fish
on the depth finder and they were there in the 20 to 35 ft depths. We ancored
with the other boats and could see fish being caught around us at a steady pace.
We started with a worm and corn sandwich with a split shot, just still fishing
near the bottom. This worked till the wind came up and made it hard to fish.
Boats began to leave but we threw another anchor out and stayed. We went to
jigging Rocker Minnows and nordics, orange with worm and corn.The fish were
quite active and the action was good even though the lake was rough. We kept
39 and lost many as is so typical of this fishing. The size was 9 to 11 inches
nothing very large. A boat next to us caught many more than us, but we did'nt
find out what they were using, something we did'nt have anyhow. I hope this
report will help the folks in their piscatorial pursuits. Have to go out and
check the smoker!
This report submitted by Doug McCoy
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April 26, 1997
Fished the lake on the opener Saturday. We began the day fishing for Browns
in the shallows between Gull Point and the dam. Picked up a 19 inch 2 1/2 lb
after about 30 minutes of trolling and then got a 24 inch 5 pounder about 30
minutes later. Continued fishing for them until about 11:30 when our sleeping
fishing partner was ferried out to us by some others in our group that found
sleeping more enjoyable than fishing. We decided to run down between the dam
and Goose Island and watch what was going on with the boats anchored still fishing
or jigging .They were picking up a few kokanee but the action was far from fast
and furious, so ran out to a hole I know between Goose Island and cinder camp.
We set anchor there and the four of us started with the fishing the "wickiup
sandwich" just off the bottom in 34ft. of water. not much happened to get
our hopes up for about 30 mnutes,1 or 2 fish and a couple more bites, so I changed
to some salmon roe I had cured from last fall and all Hell broke loose. Needless
to say everyone on my boat wanted to fish roe too . In the next hour and a half
we had countless strikes, caught lots of Kokes, keeping 32 of the nicer ones
and releasing a bunch of small ones (ie: 8-9 inchers) We let the weight hit
the bottom and slowly began to reel up, by the time you had lifted the weight
five cranks off the bottom you would get a bite, guaranteed. The wind started
to pick up then making good conditions for Brown fishing again so we gave up
on the kokes and headed to the shallows again. Ended up with another 201/2 inch
about 3lb in the boat and released a 17 inch one some time later. We decided
to call it a day about 4:00 pm. Sunday I made a couple of errors in my decision
making, one we fished Crane Praire instead of Wickiup,(only one hook up which
we lost,and fished till noon ) and two we didn't splash the boat in Wickiup
for the afternoon, opting to try and get home early which lead to spending 51/2
hours waiting for the removal of a accident on hiway 58 between Oakridge and
Eugene. Observations from Wickiup on the opener was everyone seemed to be catching
some wether trolling or still fishing with the Kokes being smaller than what
we get from Paulina (early yet though and if they get the feed bag on should
be great later in the year) lots of fish available.
TIPS: If they are biting on roe the nice thing about fishng it (although messy
and a little hard to put on the hook) is they have a hard time pulling the egg
skien from the hook and will continue to bite it as well as a fresh bait. The
most success was enjoyed by two of my fishing buddys that were using micro-lite
gear. There percentage of hook ups was much better than ours.
LAKE CONDITIONS: Lake was at full pool with all boat ramps usable and huge amount
of shallow water area. Seemed to be some success on Kokes just about anywhere
on the lake.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Paulina and East Lake road is closed at ten mile park so it
will be a while before you can access it by vehicle other than snowmobile.
Thats all for now, good fishing to you!!!!!
This report submitted by Deral Jones
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