HEAD FOR THE LAKE!
Posted by Susan Carter on
An excerpt from Oregon Lake Maps and Fishing Guide
"... There is only one right way to start a where-to-go-fishing book. You have to go fishing.
This project kicked off with a trip to Lake Billy Chinook for bull trout with my friend Brett Dennis. We fast-stripped lead-head minnow imitations. The fish averaged 17 inches and when they grabbed, it was electric. A few days later, we fished Davis Lake with Howard Abshere, where five-pound largemouth bass hammered our ten-inch bullet-head Bunny Leeches.
The fastest day of fishing was a Sunday in July at Anthony Lake in northeast Oregon, when in two hours, I had over 100 grabs and landed 23 trout. One trout for every 5.2 minutes. Toward the end of that stretch, I tied up a tandem rig with a French Pheasant Tail and a Zug Bug and caught two fish on one cast.
By the third week of July, East Lake was fishing very good. We hit the water with Scott Cook early in the morning and landed Atlantic salmon, kokanee, and over a dozen rainbows each. We kept hoping to hook a brown, but the East Lake Grand Slam eluded us that day.
My dad and I had a good day at North Fork Reservoir on the upper Clackamas one evening in September. Instead of pulling flies, we trolled Ford Fenders with tiny Dick Nite spoons. The slower we trolled, the faster the fish grabbed.
We saved some of the best water for September and October. Fred Foissett and Ryan Young helped me ring in autumn at Lava Lake, where fat rainbows slammed our rusty brown and olive leeches.
Once, while traveling with my family, our paths crossed with the King of Jordan and the Prince staying at the Rogue Regency in Medford. But there was no time for hobnobbing with royalty, there were fish to catch.
Anthony Lake is the biggest and most popular of this chain of pretty alpine lakes. To avoid the crowds, hike or drive in to one of the other lakes. Remember the mosquito repellant.
One of the most difficult aspects of writing the Oregon Lake Maps & Fishing Guide was picking water. Oregon isn't the land of Ten Thousand Lakes, but it is the land of a whole lot of good fishing lakes and reservoirs. There are guide books that document almost all of Oregon's fishing water and the best waters of parts of the state. But there is no fishing guide like this one, that explains the top 40 best lakes and reservoirs, charts the best fishing times, maps fishing locations and connects you with guides, tackle shops, lodging and local information.
Chances are that you have already looked at the Table of Contents. Maybe your home water is documented. Maybe it's not. In picking lakes, we broke the state into regions, then identified the most important fishing stillwaters or the water that was representative of other lakes and reservoirs in the vicinity. The intent was to provide a visual representation to give you, the angler, a place to start when trying someplace new.
One of the challenges, especially when fishing new water, was to learn to read it quickly. Every lake has its own dynamic. It helped, when fishing a lake for the first time, or the first time in a long time, to talk to lodge operators, store employees and other fishermen. Fishing connects people from all different walks of life. It was heartwarming and inspiring to meet and make new friends in every corner of the state. And we enjoyed good days on the water. ..."
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