clear lake help

[motocross5646]

so im a bass fisher, and don't know much about trout fishing, but i love fishing and would love to catch some trout. my family is going to clear lake (mt hood) this weekend. i have a canoe. i was wondering if you guys could answer a few questions.

1. what lures/bait should i get? (i don't have any trout lures).

2. i have a 7.5' ultra light set up with 2 lb line, should i get some heavier line?

3. where in the lake should i fish this time of year? i was looking on google maps and it showed a deeper channel going through the middle. will most of the fish be deep?

4. does power bait work there?

thanks

[trollin4trout]

1. I've caught fish there on worms, Needlefish, flies, powerbait, spoons.

2. If you have a smooth drag on the reel and set it not to break when a big fish hits- that will work. I normally use 6lb. but if I thought the fish were spooked by the line- I'd use 2lb. leader.

3. I've never fished it in mid-summer, only spring, but if trout are trout- and the surface temp of the water feels like you could go swimming in it-they will be searching for cooler water. I would fish the deeper water myself- even though I have no experience there this time of year.

4. Where doesn't it work? :D

Jim

[motocross5646]

thanks for the help. i have a fly rod so ill bring that too. how would you fish a worm deep? don't you need to keep it off the bottom?

[salmontroller]

I did this a couple of weeks ago..rent your rowboat..attach a "ford fender" or other small flasher to your line..add about 4 ft 4 lb leader..add worm..precede flasher with about 2 oz. weight and row slowly down center of lake..should work.

[motocross5646]

thanks salmontroller. but i have never trolled before... what size should my main line be? what size ford fender should i use? and i can't find out what a precede is. sorry im a noob

[Brookiebuster]

Hook the 2 oz sinker to your main line and attach the sinker to the rudder on your ford fender. I usually use 6lb main line but 8 or 10 would work just as well. Good Luck

[trollin4trout]

Here's how to fish deep with a split and a worm and a canoe (or any row boat or electric motor boat) in a shallow lake such as Clear Lake is. And you need a calm day (early is best at Clear).

1/3 worm on a hook (don't just goober the worm on- slide right up the hook and onto the line- so the worm is STRAIGHT and the hook hangs out the bottom) Add a split shot about 3 ft. up the line. Now cast out behind you- say 30-40ft. Now set your pole down- get ready to start rowing but WAIT and WATCH your line carefully for that telltale slack line and "stop" you'll see when it hits bottom. The INSTANT you see it hit- row slowly and you'll pick it up off the bottom and move forward (if you let it hit/sit too long it will just snag up). Give a couple strokes and then stop rowing and as you slow down, watch your line carefully for it to drop down and touch bottom again- ROW now again! Just repeat this across the lake. It'll work with worms, powerbait, flies and likely other stuff too. Maybe flatfish- it has to be something that will drop slowly without just digging into the bottom.

You may need to adjust the size of your split shot if it keeps hitting bottom too fast after you stop rowing- make it smaller- if you seem to never see it hit- make it bigger. And make sure your drag is not too tight- you can run into some big fish there.

Jim

[motocross5646]

thanks guys. so let me get this straight. i have a 6 # main line then a 2oz weight then a ford fender, then a 4 ft 4lb leader,then a small trolling spoon tipped with a worm?
thanks again for the help.

[deefly]

Hey Moto:
I fished Clear a few years ago in August....Hot! (Temperature), so we pontooned the north end trolling flies behind near sunset. finally the fish showed up and good fishing ensued!
think I was using an Adams or Mosquito pattern.
good luck
Dave:thisbig:

[motocross5646]

so they were hitting the drys hugh? sweet. my favorite. were you trolling the dryflys?
thanks again for all this help! i can't wait to go.

[motocross5646]

well the first two days the lake was to windy for a canoe. so i went and fished a small cove next to my camp sight. i had 2# line with a hook and a worm. boy do i regret that!!!! the water was warm but in the cove there was a very small creek flowing in but that water was ice cold. so i looked down into the flooded creek bed under the lake and saw 5 fish that looked to be from 6 to 10+ lbs. i tossed my worm out teasing it in front of them and hooked the 10
+ pounder!!! after fighting it for a few seconds i couldn't keep her out of the weeds and it snapped my line. a while later i hooked into a 7 pounder or so, and the same thing happened. i fished it all-day Saturday but the fish were too spooked.
the only creature i got in was an eight inch newt which ate my work off the bottom
i was able to make one loop trolling around the lake on sunday but had no luck