Wickiup Report

[FallRiverGuy]

I fished Wickiup Friday after work for 2 hours and Saturday morning for 3.5 hours. Friday my daughter and I fished the Deschutes arm from Gull Point up across from the South Twin Resort. The fishing was slowish and most boats I spoke to had one fish. We too ended with one fish from 5 bites. They just were not sticking very well. Part of the reason was due to the low water. We were fishing in 25 to 35 feet of water and a short set-back from the ball. These wild fish would hit, break the line from the clip and be airborne before I could get to the rod. Two or three jumps with slack line and it was all over.

Saturday morning I was fishing about 6:30 and headed out to the Davis channel. I marked some fish but not many and only had one Kokanee on, which I lost because I had my head in my tackle box and was only aware of a fish on because of the jumping fish behind the boat. Some of these fish were getting three feet of air. It is quite a sight to see a Kokanee airborne with a dodger dangling beside it. I did manage to land a 14 inch catfish. Finally I picked up and motored back to the Deschutes arm and started trolling across from Gull Point boat launch. The fishing picked up and I stated to get into a pretty good bite between 8 and 8:30. An orange hoochie was the hot lure with garlic scented corn. I also picked up a couple on the FWG system 3 and the caboose lure.

The fish were 14 to 17 inches. Depth was 25 feet and trolling speed 1.3 to 1.4 mph. I finished with 8 fish and lost probably 5 fish because of not getting to the rod in time to get the slack out of the line. After catching the dinks at Odell it was nice to catch some real fish.

[Two Fister]

Nice job Brian! Can't wait to get back out on the water with you!
TF

[Aufish101]

Brian,

Nice report with a lot of details! Sure nice fish when you can find them. Jumping Kokanee is what did me in the last time I fished it. They would hit the jig and then be out of the water, generally resulting in a lost fish! I think they are programed to do that just to frustrate you!!

Aufish101 http://members.aol.com/garyk10/images/poisson_39.gif

[jzell]

"picked up a couple on the FWG system 3 and the caboose lure."

No longer "fishless with gary".

I'm still summer steelhead-less with Christy. But not for long, due to a very helpful fellow we fished by who put on a clinic for us.

Good report Brian,

john

[baltz526]

took a boat ride at wickiup today noon till 5:00. about 4:00 the small kokanee where jumping. i'll guess after the fly hatch. fished a couple spots but nothing serious, no bites.

[patman00]

Thanks for the detailed report. Wow, you know your water!! My hat's off to you.:applause:

[wanafish]

Nice report Brian, after taking care of 18 tuna from Sat. I'm looking forward to hitting the kokanee again!

[FallRiverGuy]

I had stated that the fish were between 14 and 17", but there was one fish that was just under 12". Surprizely, it was a maturing buck and not 3rd year fish like I had assumed.


http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/W72807.jpg

[Dullhook]

Great job on the kokes. The size of the fish and the shallow water make landing Wickiup Kokanee a real challenge. As soon as they taste the hook they're airborn. Can't wait for another shot at them next Spring after the sobering experience of getting skunked one day this year in the middle of May. :smile: :help:

Thanks for the pics, those are really primo kokes! :cheers:

[moknots]

Thanks for the great report Brian! PM regarding caboose?

[RODACTION]

I'm heading over tomorrow afternoon, camping, water sports stuff with the kids, but will fish it early in the mornings and late eves.

I hope there are a few fish to be caught, last year same time, I did pretty poor.

So we will see, it will be fun anyway :cheers:

[JD77]

I am going in a week if the water level holds up in the Deschutes Arm. We usually put in at South Twin ramp and head upstream to that campground area and troll back. Is there water all the way up there? I'd hate to drag the boat and family over there to find no water (which happened to us 3 years ago) Thanks if you can help and good fishing.

[JCfisher33]

great report!

[EastCreek]

Thanks Brian...my turn will come. Summer has turned out to be quite scheduled. That seems to be a good day from what I have heard on Wickiup this year. However, the size of the fish is worth the low numbers. Hope to be on the water with you at some point.

[RODACTION]

I just got back from 6 days at Wickiup, I was able to do alittle fishing....and we got a few very nice kokanee in the deschutes arm.

They ran 14-18 inches, taken trolling wedding rings at about 20 pulls, and a few jigging. I did lose one good fish, never saw it, but could really take some line before it came off. Lots of smaller kokes jumping in schools. The water seems to be pretty low and is 66-68 degrees.

Had alot of fun.

[FallRiverGuy]

Gald to hear that you got into some fish. They sure are nice ones. I also saw the small kokanee jumping . They seemed to be after midges, or something immerging. The water is low, but this is normal for this time of year. In September the reservoir is gone and only the river channels remain.