Lost Creek again.........

[Rick on Rogue]

At thanksgiving Dinner Steve and I held a strategy meeting and the out come was a trip to Lost Creek Lake. When we left town at 7:00am it was foggy damp and cold (after all this is Oregon!). Just as we crested the dam hill and we could see the lake it was GLASS and bright morning sunshine. As we drove by the parking lot there were no other rigs. We pulled into the prelaunch, We put the top up and we unhooked everything and Steve backed down the ramp, I checked the 'plug' and took the straps off the back and we launched. I lit the heater, put my pole together and hooked on my gear. Ran up to just below the campground and threw our stuff in. Water temp 47.3, air temp (cold), sun, bright. We went about 150 yards and I got a very nice hit, but he self-released and we went on. I reeled in and checked my bait and it was still on so I dipped in the Smelly-Jelly and tossed it back in. Got hit again but no hook up. Reeled it and put a little touch on the hook. Threw it back in and started catching them. Steve was struggling with setup and finally hooked up a nice 14 inch bow. We had worked that area pretty good so we decided to go up toward Red Rock. It was still in the shade and the wind coming down the river felt like it had ice cycles on it, so we came back south of the bridge. There were 3 guys bank fishing there and we cruised by and threw our stuff in. We trolled down the west shore heading south for while and along the old highway, we started catching again. Steve's pole got real busy and mine went into hibernation. Then whamo, my pole woke up and we were in bizz again. We finished up at 2:45 and loaded up and were home by 4:00. It was a great day on the lake, great fishing/catching and 'just another day on Paradise!

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Rick_s_fish-Lost_Creek-11-30-08.jpg

Almost forgot: this is part of what makes it paradise!

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Bald_Eagle_Lost_Creek11-30-08.jpg

[Dullhook]

Thanks for the report and pics. I've never fished any of the lakes down there but would like to one of these days.

[Rick on Rogue]

Anyone going this weekend? :gotmail:

[MOLDY]

Did they lift the toxic algae warning?

[Rick on Rogue]

Did they lift the toxic algae warning?

I don't know, but I don't drink, or swim in the water especially this time of year............ and if I keep the fish, I scale them and I do not eat the skin. I have never let the Algae warnings deter me from fishing. Last Sunday there was only one other boat trailer in the lot all day. It is very quiet this time of year, Just Perfect for me.

See you up there.

[Rick on Rogue]

Yesterday was another perfect fishing day. Launched just before the sun peeked over the tree tops. I had the full top, side curtains, and back walls and door all zipped on Saturday in anticipation of the cold. Everything got iced up over night and was still iced up/over when we launched. I tied the boat off to the dock and promptly lit the heater as Steve put the truck and trailer in the parking lot. Immediately things started to thaw out and the windshield started to thaw. I put the fish finder on the mount and turned it on and the water temp was 40.2 Then I started the motor and let it warm up a bit. Steve climbed in and we were off. Steve got his stuff all rigged up and got in the water first. We trolled out of the marina going west, our intent was to troll our way down to the island down by the dam Just after rounding the point Steve's pole tip started doing weired stuff, like maybe he snagged a stick or something, when he got it out of the holder and raised the tip it was fish on and the fun started. A nice 16 inch rainbow, was the result. Steve released him and set up for another one. My stuff wasn't working, so I changed to different stuff, and that didn't work either. Meanwhile Steve is managing to catch and release one about every 20 minutes. Now I know the wise thing do do here is to match his stuff, but stubborn me, I wasn't willing to accept defeat yet. I was getting desperate, and went with the heavy hardware: Ford fender and #14 treble with powerbait, and finally started catching some. By this time we were trolling around the island and the bite went dead, so we started working our way back toward the marina, thinking we might try our regular spot below the campground. I pulled my stuff in for a bait check and Steve's pole started to do the fish dance. He grabbed it and it went dead, the the tip went down and he set the hook. Now this is the part where I really wish I would have had the video camera, or any camera for that matter. That crazy fish went nuts, jumping and tail walking like a steelhead, and Steve is whooping and hollering like a kid with his first fish. I kill the motor and grab the net. Steve's reel is making those funny noises like zzzZZZzz, then ZZzzZZ. I tried twice to knock the fish off his hook with the net, but he had him stuck good. I finally got him in the net and laid him down across the bulkhead and grabbed the tape and my goodness, he was just a little over 18 inches. We really wanted to bring him home, but we had strict orders from both headquarters, "Don't bring any more fish home!" So with a great deal of Hi-Five'n, and back slappin, we turned him loose and returned to the task at hand, hoping to repeat the fun. We caught a few more 16, and 17 inch fish and I managed the smallest (12") for the day. At 2:00 we loaded up and came home. Great weather, great fishing and good friends, is there any thing better?

[Rick on Rogue]

Steve picked me and the boat up at 6:09 and off we went. We launched at about 7:05 and I lit the heater and put the ff on the stand and started the motor and looked at iced over windshiels and remembered why they make covers (I have one but didn't put it on as all the canvas stayed up). We decided to try the bouy line heading to the dam ( it follows the severe dropoff into the old riverbed, form 34 ft almost straight off into 180+) It produced well last time. Of course Steve got hooked up first and it was a nice 16 inch Rainbow, and we managed several more working that area till about 9:30 and the bite went elswhere. We decided to troll across the lake toward the floating restrooms. About halfway there over the deepest part of the lake (where usually the zip-zoomers are in the warm days), we start catching again. I break out the camera and get this one,
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/dirtduderick/02-01-09003.jpg
(can you beleive it is January 31st?), and then of course the bite goes somewhere again. What is it about cameras, some kind of sonic warning as you you push the button? Oh well. It's about noon and Steve is on call this weekend, and his beeper has gone off a couple of times, and so we call it a day.

[Rick on Rogue]

It's the weekend, and I was booked up till 9:30, but I got home and there was Steve hooking up the boat. I grabbed my stuff and off we went. At the pre launch we took off the cover and that is when I discovered, I had left my tackle box at home. Oh well Steve said he had enough stuff for both of us. We launched and headed for the "SPOT". Steve threw his usual stuff in and I rummaged through his box and came up with a ford fender, leader, hook, and bait. I'm in business. I tie it all on and throw it in and wait. Steve hammers a nice one and I wait, Steve gets another and I wait. Finally my pole does the fish dance, and I figure I am in business. I reel in and it self released about 10 feet form the boat. I re-bait, and let it out. Steve reels in another and I wait. I got a couple of more hits and then nothing the rest of the day. Steve doesn't get any more bites either. At 12:40 the breeze turns into a wind, and we run to another place that is usually still even when the rest of the lake is windy, no bites there. We troll back to the launch and while Steve goes to get the truck and trailer, I get a boat inspection from the OSP, and a nice sticker for my boat. I have been coming here since 2006, and this is the first time I have seen them. I'm glad I had all my stuff together, sans tackle box LOL. another great day in the outdoors. My wife says that I have a ilness..................could be.

[Tulley]

I would make Steve use your tackle next time!

[Rick on Rogue]

Went to Lost Creek Lake Saturday. Launched at 6:45 and threw our stuff in right out of the marina. Steve with his usual; Panther Martin Lake Troll, with 'Rainbow' power bait, I put out a willow leaf (3 blade) gold troll with 1/2 nightcrawler, I went for quite a while before getting anything to notice it. Then I hooked up to a nice one decided to keep him so into the livewell he went, a nice 17 incher, Steve still had not had any attention to his line, and he waited. I got another fish and Steve waited, then he finally connected with one but let it go, he said it was too wormy (parasites). It was strange to see fish with parasites with the cold water and all. We both caught another one and then the bite went dead. We tried a couple of other places but nothing and packed it up about noon and came home. The weather was overcast and the sun peeked out for a minute or two, a couple of times. The water temp was 41.2 to 41.8. We fished mostly the buoy line towards the dam and then out in the middle, that is where we caught the fish.

[Rick on Rogue]

Yesterday was our "Last day of Spring Break" annual fishing trip with my Grandson. My promise to him, among other things, was that when we went to gas up, he could buy all the snack goodies he wanted, I handed him a $20 bill and headed to the restroom. When I got done he had already finished his transaction and was walking back to the rig, bag in hand. My only request was worms and a Snickers bar. As we started to get in, he handed me the receipt, and my change, a dollar bill and some coins. I was in shock!

We launched at 7:02 and motored up to one of our "Spots", and threw in our stuff. The 'Bets' were, first fish, biggest fish. Well, Steve struck first with a nice 16 incher. Then Caleb's pole started doing the fish dance and he pulled a little too hard and it self released. I am still just dragging bait. Caleb's pole does it again and this one he gets to the boat and Steve nets it, another nice holdover, 16 inch Rainbow. We made several more passes through that spot and nothing. Then Caleb decides that he needs to see the inside of the floating restroom, so we run over there. After the pit stop we troll out into the middle of the lake toward the swim dock and nothing there and we see a lot of boats working the shore line on the south west side of the lake. So we decide to join in. Steve gets another nice one and then a little later, I finally score one and Caleb hooks up at the same time. I get mine in and netted while Caleb is struggling to get his in. When Steve gets it in the net, we realize why Caleb was having a hard time, he wins the 'biggest' bet. It was a beautiful 18 inch rainbow. My next one was a 9 inch fresh planter and he will live to see another day. We ended up with 9 in the livewell.
The weather was gorgeous, sunny and 65 or so and the water was very nice clear and the water temp was from 44.9 to 50.1. A few were caught trolling powerbait, and Panther Martin Lake troll, but most were caught with Gulp nightcrawler, 3/4 inch piece behind Vance's 'Little Slim Willie'.
Quite a difference from last year's trip when we had a lovely snowstorm.

[Rick on Rogue]

Yesterday my friend (of many many years) Wayne and I went to Lost Creek Lake. There were no rigs in the parking lot when we arrived. We launched at 6:00 on the dot. Wow that lake is full! We went to my spot below the campground and threw in our stuff. Wayne had those plastic helicopter looking things ( I looked it up and they are called Flash-lites from Mac's) and a small single hook and red powerbait. He didn't use any weight. I hooked up my usual gold Slim Willie, and put on a live 1/2 worm. Wayne got hit first but it didn't make it to the boat and self released. It looked to be a nice 10 inch rainbow. I got nothing all the way to the point. I changed my set-up to a gold dodger, Vance's 'Bug' in fire tiger colors and a small piece of Berkley nightcrawler with a dip in Smelly Jelly [Crawfish-Salt scent], that seemed to do the trick and it produced very well the rest of the morning. I got Wayne to try a silver dodger and bug and he started hooking up too. We then decided to go up to Red Rock. We worked that area catching several fairly nice fish, a couple of the little ones had parasites on them and one nicer 14 incher also, but for the most part they were pretty clean. We trolled all the way up to the forks and way up the North Fork, probably 1/2 mile above the forks. The water had been pretty consistently in the 65.2 to 66.0 degree range. When we got to the temp change 49.3 we turned around and trolled out. There was a young (13 to 15) fella on the north shore at the forks, bank fishing and as we went by on the way up he was reeling in a fish. I didn't see how big it was. I think he may have lost it. Then on the way back down he was again reeling one in and he got this one in the net and it looked to be a really nice one, as he got it in the net, it looked to be the length of his forearm. He was really excited and was hootin' and hollerin', and jumping around as he put it on the stringer. We then went down to near the restrooms and trolled some more but by then it was near 2:30 and nothing was happening. We packed up and were home by 4:00. I spoke with one gentleman at the take out, and he had all but 2 for limits, for the 3 people in the boat. He said that they all limited on Thursday. The ones I saw on his stringer looked to be in the 12 to 15 in category. We caught and released near 28 fish as best as I can remember. My freezer is still full and Wayne has fish from he and his wife's outing at Applegate from last Sunday,. They ranged anywhere from 9 inches to the nicest one was 15 inches. They were all good fighters, and we had a great time yacking and fishing.

[TakeEm]

Sounds like a nice quiet lake to fish Ill have to check it out. Where is that exactly? Thanks for the great report!

[Rick on Rogue]

30 miles N.E. of Medford, on hwy 62. Well it is a multi use lake, but there a couple of sections zoned "NO WAKE" areas for fishermen.

[Phillip Catalano]

Can you expect to catch any on the fly rod there?

[Rick on Rogue]

We always see a lot of jumpers while trolling, so maybe.

[Rick on Rogue]

Ice, Ice, everywhere, although Ron and I took advantage of a small window of opportunity and went to Lost Creek Lake yesterday morning. We launched, or attempted to launch, about 7:45. This is comical but you needed to see it live, to really appreciate it. Naturally we were the only ones there all day. (probably the only ones crazy enough to). Anyway, we got the boat prepared at the top of the ramp, Lit the heater, unhooked everything except the safety chain, and Ron backed down the ramp. We stopped at water's edge and I got the rope in hand and released the safety chain. Ron backed into the water and the boat did not come off the trailer. My first thought was that I had forgotten to take the straps off the back of the boat, then realized they were all undone and in the boat. Then I had a revelation, as I watched the trailer floating under the boat and realized that the boat was frozen to the trailer. After several in-and-outs, Ron was trying to figure why the trailer didn't come out of the water by itself. I yelled that the trailer was floating under the boat. He was truly confused at that point and I finally stepped on the side of the boat and that and the water temp (43.6), finally allowed the boat and trailer to separate. The air temp was 29 degrees. As Ron put the truck away, got my pole ready and waited inside the canvas, enjoying the heater, a lot. It was overcast so I went with a gold large willow leaf flasher, and a single worm hook with a chunk of Gulp nightcrawler. This was fun because every time I would reel in, the guuides would ice up. We worked east up the shoreline in about 90 feet of water. I had on a 1/2 oz weight and Ron had 1 oz. I caught and released 3 baby Chinook on our way up river towards Peyton bridge. They were all about 6 to 7 inches, but very scrappy fish. They will be fun next summer. We marked a few on the finder, but no Rainbows on the line. We worked our way all the way to Red Rock and the water kept getting colder and colder. At Red Rock the temp was 33.8, and we decided that we were going the wrong way. So we buzzed down to the island/dam area and the water was 44.3. We put back in near the shore off the east end of the island and worked the 60 foot depth range around towards the spillway and along the face of the dam. Just as we were making the corner near the spillway, my pole went down severely, and I was hooked up. I had a real nice fight and pulled out a very nice and very clean 16 inch Rainbow. He went in the cooler. Then I caught a couple more salmon and then Ron hooked up under the walkway to the intake and he too reeled in a nice 16 inch Rainbow. We worked that area and about noon and we could see the snow coming at us over Bessie Rock, and it started to hit us about 10 minutes later. Frozen rain mostly and then a little snow. We had a couple of more take downs but no hookups, Then Ron' pole started doing the fish dance again and he reeled in a nice clean 13 inch Rainbow. That seemed to conclude the catching for the day and we pulled our stuff in about 1:30 and headed for the dock. The boat retrieval and aftermath went much more smoothly than the launch. We were out and all tired up and tidied up bu 2:03 and as we went up the backside of the 'dam hill' it was snowing pretty good, and sticking to the road. As we went by Elk Creek it was snowing hard and then as we got into Shady cove it backed off a little. As we left Shady Cove there was about 1/2 inch of shush and that was prevalent all the way to the house. Everyone was going slow and being cautious. It had snowed here in Central Point, then rained on it and then as dark came it froze and turned into a streets of ice. I took the grand sons to 4th and Pine to watch the lighting of the Christmas Tree, and we stayed in the warm truck and then I took them to their Mom's. The streets were starting to get real treacherous by then and as I pulled into the garage I thought that home is a good place to be.

[HiTide]

Rick,
How deep do you run your gear in the Winter? My daughter lives in GP so I might try Lost Creek next visit.

[Rick on Rogue]

Rick,
How deep do you run your gear in the Winter? My daughter lives in GP so I might try Lost Creek next visit.

Well I think we are getting down about 18 to 20 feet. I am pretty sure, because there is a knob that is about that deep on the fish finder and we always bump bottom if we forget and go over it instead of around it. I'm usually 72 feet behind the boat.

[Rick on Rogue]

We drove into the launch at 6:55, and got everything ready and backed down and there was Ron and his boat getting warmed up. We launched and I threw out the planer boards, and I also had to let the line down from a new downrigger that I just received so I could get it on nice and smooth. I got that accomplished and finally got my trusty pole out and got my stuff hooked up and into the water. I put on a 3/8oz rudder chain weight, and a Gold Vance's Slim Willie and an orange wedding ring and a chunk of Gulp Nightcrawler and one kernel of Gulp Corn. I have been going to try the Gulp Maggots, but haven't gotten to them yet. On the other pole I put 1/2 oz rudder chain weight, a Luhr Jensen Flex-I-Troll in brass and then a chunk of live night crawler on a chartreuse wedding ring. Steve as usual had a cannon ball weight and his trusty Panther Martin Lake troll with a 18 inch leader and a #14 treble hook with "Salmon Egg" Power Bait. We trolled from the point out of the marina, towards the dam and didn't get a bite till we got down by the island, which is getting very small. There was Ron working the area , but he was closer to the dam. Steve got bit and reeled in a baby Chinook and threw him back. They are still growing nicely, and will be fun next year if they stay off people's hooks. We worked the area between the island and the east shore and started catching fish. Altogether we got 15 or 16 to the boat and released all of them. They were very nice fish and fought nicely. We had a double and those are always fun. Kind of like a Chinese fire drill, and on my boat there is just not room for that much fun. We worked that area till about 1:00pm and then we trolled our way back to the marina, loaded up and came home. The water averaged around 47 degrees, there was a occasional breeze, but no real wind to speak of. I do not know what the air temp was but, by about 11:30 I was fishing in my T shirt and it was very comfy.

[perchmaster]

great reports. sounds like your doin well:applause:

[Fisherman_Shane]

Hey rick where would you recommend fishing from the bank at lost creek. A couple sundays ago i fished from the dam, i hooked into 1 nice one but it shook off. I dont seem to have much luck there, im sure that will change once i buy a pontoon.

[Jedcraft]

I've had some good days under the big concrete walkway down by the dam. Also see alot of bank fishing where the paved road goes underwater near the Takilma Launch. Scan the area and try to find spots without alot of under water brush so you won't snag up as much.

[Rick on Rogue]

Shane, Jedcraft has the right idea. Also go up the road past the Takilma area a ways and the road leads to a place where it opens up to the lake nicely. This is where 'Lost Creek' comes into the lake and there is a good place to bank fish. Also up the road even further, there is an outhouse and small parking lot, where 'Lost Creek' becomes part of the lake, and a lot of folks fish there from the bank.

[Fisherman_Shane]

Thank you Jed and Rick :)

Hopefully i wont be fishing from the bank much longer.

[Rick on Rogue]

Steve and I launched at 6:48 in pretty much darkness, but the light was coming quickly. As usual Steve got his stuff in the water first. He had on his usual Panther Martin Lake troll, and some rainbow power bait. I rigged up my Gold Slim Willie and put on a #1 Sockeye Slammer, in U.V. Glo Orange. I let it out to the proper diatance and in about 3 minutes got a nice hit but no stick.
On my other pole I put another Gold Slim Willie and a #1 Sockeye Slammer 'Cop Car' with a little "stink" on it and it was quiet for a little bit, then whamo, fish on! It was a nice little planter and he went back to grow up. Steve had changed to a chunk of Gulp nightcrawler, and a Gulp Corn kernel. He got bit and reeled in another nice planter. We worked our way up to Peyton bridge, and the bite got less and less, so we packed up and ran down by the island. We tried it there but nothing. We gave up about 11:00. The weather was scattered showers and cool, I would estimate low to mid 50's. The breezes were very mild. The water temp was about 47 degrees.

When we got to the take out there was a boat of 5 and they told us that they had limited out, just working along the face of the dam. I suspect that is were they planted the fish last week, at the Tekilma ramp. Oh well next time. Maybe they will be spread out a little more by then.

[Fisherman_Shane]

Nice job rick. looks like ill be fishing off the dam sometime this week :)

I used a yellow and red dotted panther martin saturday at lake selmac and the stocker trout loved it.

[Rick on Rogue]

Did the sleep in thing this morning and didn't launch till 8:10. Ran down to the dam and threw our stuff in. I had on a Slim Willie and a #2 Copcar and I got a couple of hits but no hookups, Traded that for a U.V. Glow Orange Sockeye Slammer #2 with the Rattle, and started hooking up. I caught and released several nice planters in the 10 to 11 in size and hooked into a nice 16 inch holdover about 10:00. Steve, with his regular Panther Martin Lake Troll caught about the same amount on Worm and Gulp Corn. We fished till about 2:30 catching and releasing planters most of the time. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and light breezes. Water temp was 47 to 48 degrees. This is too much fun!

[skeetshtr]

One of these days I have to get down there and try Lost creek, sounds like a great trout fishery. Gotta love those Gold slim willies, one of the best lake trolls I have used.

[Kokanee Slow]

Hey, Rick on Rogue,

Thanks for your explicit descriptions of your fishing techniques and outcomes. Your generosity with your time and knowledge are as educational as they are entertaining. :applause:

Best of luck and I sincerely hope you continue to slam 'em anywhere you decide to fish.

[Rick on Rogue]

Ron picked me up at 0522, and we had a nice drive up to the lake. The topic of discussion turned out to be about downrigger weights. He had found some sash weights from some old wooden windows. We discussed how they might work and how best to rig them. If you are banging the bottom (on purpose), I think they would work our great. (one man's opinion). We launched at 6:33 and decided to troll down towards the dam. The nice part about going with someone else the boat is all hooked up and the passenger seat works just as well as the drivers's seat, and the same thing in the boat. The drawback is that you might forget something. (Who me?) LOL anyway I keep all my Flashers in a pouch/bag and it is in my boat. Fortunately I keep all my dodgers in my tackle box, so I was going to give all my dodgers a work out. First up was a Vance's Gold plated dodger. I have been thinking a lot about using weights with the dodgers to get them down to the proper depth and deciced to try something a little bit different. I put a bead chain (appx 2" long) on just ahead of the dodger and then my usual rudder/chain weight ahead of that to the swivel on the main line.
All the tables said the bite was between 11:00 and 2:00 so I had a lot of time to experiment.
The bead chain thing worked better than I expected and the dodger was functioning perfectly. I put a Sockeye Slammer in Copcar colors on first with about 20 inches of leader. I added a couple of white Gulp maggots and in it went. I let it out to my normal 72 feet and put it in the pole holder. Then on the other pole, I rigged up a flasher that Ron loaned me and put a wedding ring with 'chunk o' nightcrawler' and two Gulp corn kernels. We trolled towards the dam through the "Dead Zone" and into the fertile waters of the dam area. HA! the fish were being very illusive. but I did catch one baby Chinook on the #2 rod with flasher/wedding ring setup. We worked that area till about 9:00 and decided to go up river. We threw in again behind the campground and trolled through there and i got a couple of hits on the Copcar, but nothing stuck. I changed to a silver dodger and UV Sockeye Slammer Glo Orange and the white maggots. More nibbles but no hook-ups. I took the maggots off and tried a piece of Gulp Nightcrawler. These are pretty big and I think they detract from the action of the lure. I let it go for a while and 11:00 was getting pretty close and after about 20 minutes I decided to put something smaller on for bait. I found a jar of Gulp Earthworms in Brown color and man, these thing are like trying to put angel hair spaghetti on the hook. I managed to get one hung on and threw it in and voila, 11:05 and fish on, even Ron started catching them too with his live nightcrawlers. I pulled in my other pole and switched to silver dodger and put the Copcar back on and the Gulp Earthworm on, and started catching with it too. We had our limits by 1:10 and cleaned up and headed for the ramp. As we arrived there were fish jumping all over the place. There was a older couple and their grandson working the "Fresh Planters" and they had several in the bucket already. I guess the truck had just left. We loaded the boat, and went up to the cleaning station and did our thing. It is nice that it is open again. The water temps were 48 to 51 degrees and very little wind and a gob of sunshine. I even got in a little bit of 'T shirt' fishing. When we got into the truck the temp read 68. Windows down all the way to town. It is the little things in life that give you true JOY!!

[Rick on Rogue]

Monday: I launched at 8:00am and I was the first and only one there, the water and wind were calm, 48 degrees air temp, and 46.2 water temp. I motored out from the marina and set up the starboard downrigger at 15 feet, attached my Shuttle Hawk, and set up my pole. 10 lb test mono, Vance's Gold dodger with fish scales, 9 inch leader with a red wedding ring with a black single octopus hook. Then I pinched off a 3/4 inch piece of nightcrawler and put it on the hook. I let out 72 feet of line and hooked to the clip and down to 13 feet. I turned around and got my other downrigger and before I could get it in the base --- Fish On! I had hoped for a Chinook as that was why I was using red, however it was a 12 inch Rainbow. Back in it went. I reset the pole again and got busy setting the port side downrigger. This time I made it as far as getting the ball hooked on and when I went to get my other Shuttle Hawk...Fish ON again! It was another 12 inch Rainbow. Back he went too. I got my port side setup on and down to 25 feet. I put on another Vance's Gold Dodger with fish scales and a Copper/Pink Vance's #2 spoon, again with a small chunk of nightcrawler. I let it out and hooked it up to the clip and only got it down about 15 feet and Fish On! This was a riot. Just hook them up and get them in the water, sometimes not even getting the bait all the way out, and getting bit. They were all about 12 to 13 inch Rainbows, great fun to catch, but I wanted something a little bigger, and a few of the baby Chinook. Amazing that when you want to catch them you can't and.... ....well you know that story. After about an hour and a half of catch and release, I got one about 16 inches and put it in the live well, then I got one of the targeted Chinook and it was about 12 inches and in the live well it went. Then I put 3 more Rainbows in the live well and that finished the limit. The weather stayed overcast but no rain and no wind. All in all a perfect fishing day. I pulled in my starboard stuff and put it away and tried some deep water trolling along the old river channel at 140 feet. I've got to get some more cable to get to the bottom at 280 feet. I know there are some bigger fish down there. One of these days I will catch a big one from down there. At about 12:05 I went to the dock, and guess who, the Sheriff's patrol was there and I got my boat inspected and my new 2010 sticker. What a great day!

[twisted lines]

Sounds like you had a good time again! And I am just working on my boat and awating back ordered parts :doh: TL

[mike_b]

Any new reports on Lost Creek?

[Rick on Rogue]

Any new reports on Lost Creek?

Sorry Mike, I've not been there for about a month, and we did OK, but the fish had quite a few skin parasites. The water is very low now, and I usually wait till around Thanksgiving to fish when the water gets cold.

[mike_b]

Sorry Mike, I've not been there for about a month, and we did OK, but the fish had quite a few skin parasites. The water is very low now, and I usually wait till around Thanksgiving to fish when the water gets cold.

Thanks for the information. Do you know if the ramp by the marina is usable? If memory serves me right when the water gets very low they close that ramp down?

Thanks again.

[Rick on Rogue]

Thanks for the information. Do you know if the ramp by the marina is usable? If memory serves me right when the water gets very low they close that ramp down?

Thanks again.

I believe 1812 is the lowest they let the lake get and the boat ramp near the marina is usable at least to that level.

[mike_b]

Marina ramp is usable.

Thought I would add to Rick on the Rogues thread rather than starting a new Lost Creek thread.
We launched Saturday afternoon and started trolling North West along the shore line across the lake from the marina, this is where we caught our first 4 fish. After that we decided to run up the river as far as we could get and troll back down to the marina. Hoochys tipped with Gulp produced the most action but we also fished a needlefish with some success. One rod was weighted (lead line) to about 20' the other was unweighted, both setups produced equally as well. We caught and released many fish, I stopped counting after 8. The fish were all between 8" and 15" and very "buggy". Only saw one other fisherman and the weather was perfect.

[Rick on Rogue]

Thanks Mike for the info. Do you have any way to tell the water surface temp? Just like to keep track of that at different locations. Thanks

Rick

[Bill Rogue V.]

Guys, so the copapods start falling off the trout in November?

[mike_b]

Thanks Mike for the info. Do you have any way to tell the water surface temp? Just like to keep track of that at different locations. Thanks

Rick

Sorry I do not know what the water temp was. My new boat has a fish finder with temp reading on it but I have not taken the time to learn how to use it.

[mike_b]

Hit the water at 2pm and ran down to the dam where we trolled for an hour and a half. After only catching one little 6'' trout at the dam we ran over to the boulder area across the lake from the marina and struck out there, so we finally did what I knew I should have done in the first place and trolled along side the camp ground up to the bridge. This is where we caught 3 10" trout before calling it quits. All and all a slow afternoon of fishing but at least the weather was nice.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/22512251/fishing/P1010028.jpg

[mike_b]

Thanks Mike for the info. Do you have any way to tell the water surface temp? Just like to keep track of that at different locations. Thanks

Rick

Played with my fish finder a little and it was reading 59 at the boulders that are across the lake from the marina. I am not sure how accurate that fish finder is though?

[Rick on Rogue]

Report: Lost Creek Lake , October 22, 2010. We arrived at the launch a little early. It was really dark.
So we took the bra off the front of the boat unhooked the strap, and slowly made our way down the ramp and launched in the dark.
I lit the heater, and primed the trolling motor as Ron worked his way back from parking the truck. I got my poles put together and got out Vances' Gold dodgers to start.
On one I put a gold Triple teaser, with about 9" of leader, on the other a yellow (chartreuse) wedding ring and a very small piece of night crawler. On the first rod I added about 3/4 OZ
weight and on the other I pur a 1OZ weight. I have been useing the rubber, center twist on weights about 16 to 18 inches above the dodger and watching the action beside the boat before letting them out.
We started trolling right out of the marina as we planned to go down and work the edge of the flats between the island and the eastern shore.
I got one pole out and set and then started letting the other out and whamo, I got hooked up. It was a real good tussle and Put a nice 15 incher in the ice chest.
Ron got the downrigger set at 8 feet and his other pole out and he hooked into a nice one too again about 15 inches. Boy, what a great start, and we are only out of the marina 500 feet.
We turned around and worked back through that area and got one more small (11") one which we put back to grow some more, and made our way around the point and headed towards the island.
Nothing for about 20 minutes and as we neared the edge of the flats I get another one and this time there was a lot of pole bending, line taking and woo-hoo-ing. I have learned to
use a very light drag setting and work these 'fall fish' a lot more. I finally get her close to the boat and Ron gets her in the net. His cooler is 16" inside and it was a
little longer than the cooler is wide. Wow, nice and clean and very healthy. We worked the area between the flats and the island all morning and continued to put 14" to 16 " fish
in the cooler and throwing back any that were smaller (which were quite a few), I love fall fishing. On one pass through the area we were about to make a turn and go back through,
when my pole with 1OZ weight went off and I grabbed it and started reeling, then Ron's downrigger pole hooked up, then his other pole went off so he hooked the downrigger pole good and started winding in the other one.
Then my 3/4 OZ pole went off and we were saddled with a quadruple. Things got frantic for a bit as we worked the fish in. We got so busy with the fish we almost ran up on the bank, but at the last minute
we got the boat turned and back into the deeper water. We really scrambled there for a little bit. It reminded me of a Chinese fire drill.
When we started the day It sprinkled a little for about an hour and by 8:30 it had quit raining and we were in for a gorgeous sunrise. The rest of the morning was broken clouds and sun, and by 10:00 we were peeling off the outer layers.
We finished up about 12:30 and cleaned the fish at the cleaning station. There was only one other trailer in the parking lot, and we had seen only one other boat on the lake, fishing. The water temp was 58 to 59 degrees all day.

[Bill Rogue V.]

Rick: How were the copapods on the fish?

[Rick on Rogue]

Rick: How were the copapods on the fish?

Well, that is a good question, the larger fish were very clean, and the smaller 10 - 12 inch fish were loaded with skin parasites. Now I know that they are not harmful to humans, however catching a rainbow with a 'fur coat' on just does not appeal to me too much.

[mike_b]

:(Report: Lost Creek Lake , October 22, 2010. We arrived at the launch a little early. It was really dark.
So we took the bra off the front of the boat unhooked the strap, and slowly made our way down the ramp and launched in the dark.
I lit the heater, and primed the trolling motor as Ron worked his way back from parking the truck. I got my poles put together and got out Vances' Gold dodgers to start.
On one I put a gold Triple teaser, with about 9" of leader, on the other a yellow (chartreuse) wedding ring and a very small piece of night crawler. On the first rod I added about 3/4 OZ
weight and on the other I pur a 1OZ weight. I have been useing the rubber, center twist on weights about 16 to 18 inches above the dodger and watching the action beside the boat before letting them out.
We started trolling right out of the marina as we planned to go down and work the edge of the flats between the island and the eastern shore.
I got one pole out and set and then started letting the other out and whamo, I got hooked up. It was a real good tussle and Put a nice 15 incher in the ice chest.
Ron got the downrigger set at 8 feet and his other pole out and he hooked into a nice one too again about 15 inches. Boy, what a great start, and we are only out of the marina 500 feet.
We turned around and worked back through that area and got one more small (11") one which we put back to grow some more, and made our way around the point and headed towards the island.
Nothing for about 20 minutes and as we neared the edge of the flats I get another one and this time there was a lot of pole bending, line taking and woo-hoo-ing. I have learned to
use a very light drag setting and work these 'fall fish' a lot more. I finally get her close to the boat and Ron gets her in the net. His cooler is 16" inside and it was a
little longer than the cooler is wide. Wow, nice and clean and very healthy. We worked the area between the flats and the island all morning and continued to put 14" to 16 " fish
in the cooler and throwing back any that were smaller (which were quite a few), I love fall fishing. On one pass through the area we were about to make a turn and go back through,
when my pole with 1OZ weight went off and I grabbed it and started reeling, then Ron's downrigger pole hooked up, then his other pole went off so he hooked the downrigger pole good and started winding in the other one.
Then my 3/4 OZ pole went off and we were saddled with a quadruple. Things got frantic for a bit as we worked the fish in. We got so busy with the fish we almost ran up on the bank, but at the last minute
we got the boat turned and back into the deeper water. We really scrambled there for a little bit. It reminded me of a Chinese fire drill.
When we started the day It sprinkled a little for about an hour and by 8:30 it had quit raining and we were in for a gorgeous sunrise. The rest of the morning was broken clouds and sun, and by 10:00 we were peeling off the outer layers.
We finished up about 12:30 and cleaned the fish at the cleaning station. There was only one other trailer in the parking lot, and we had seen only one other boat on the lake, fishing. The water temp was 58 to 59 degrees all day.

Great report! I was planning to go out Saturday but my dispatcher needed me to do a Portland turn:(. Do you have any idea about what temperature the copapods fall off?

[Rick on Rogue]

:(

Great report! I was planning to go out Saturday but my dispatcher needed me to do a Portland turn:(. Do you have any idea about what temperature the copapods fall off?

I am not sure that they all fall off, we have caught fish in January and February that still had them.

[mike_b]

Report: I got my poles put together and got out Vances' Gold dodgers to start.


Rick,

Do you find dodgers to be a more effective attractor at Lost creek than gang trolls? I recently started experimenting with dodgers and have seen them out catch my old trusty gang trolls at Howard Prairie. I always thought dodgers would not work well for rainbow trout, guess I was wrong.

[Rick on Rogue]

Rick,

Do you find dodgers to be a more effective attractor at Lost creek than gang trolls? I recently started experimenting with dodgers and have seen them out catch my old trusty gang trolls at Howard Prairie. I always thought dodgers would not work well for rainbow trout, guess I was wrong.


Several years ago I trolled ford fenders and other large gang type trolls in the spring and then down to smaller stuff in the later part of the year, and as fall approached back to the bigger stuff. I caught fish this way but it took a while. I started experimenting with dodgers seriously about two years ago. Here is what I have found.
First: I was using too much leader between the dodger and lure. As I watched some videos on it I could see that if you wanted the dodger to impart some action to the lure, it had to be pretty close. (9 to 12 inches.) If you just wanted the dodger to be some sort of attractant then the leader length could be a lot longer. It seems that trout get aggressive with things that dart and jerk around. I always put my 'stuff' in the water beside the boat, at trolling speed and watch it carefully for a bit, to see if it is working properly. Then I send it out.
Usually (now that I have the 2 pole permit) I will put a dodger rig out on one and a medium gang troll on the other with pretty much the same lure to start. Then match the one working best.
Second: I also put some type of bait on the hook of the lure, but here is the trick, keep in small. Don't kill the action of the lure, just smell it up a bit. 1 Berkley maggot, or 1/4 inch piece of Berkley Nightcrawler, or a small pinch of real nightcrawler (red wigglers work better, if you can find them).
I know.......bigger bait, bigger fish: I've not found that to be true in the lake where i do 99% of my fishing.
I like Vance's dodgers, gold on overcast and early mornings, and silver in the sunny part of the day. Also his Sockeye Slammers work great too.

[Bill Rogue V.]

Rick: Just re-read your very inspiring reports. Might have to hit the lake later this week after the rains pass. I'm going to be a copycat and gear up with Vance's dodgers and Berkley bait ...

[Rick on Rogue]

Steve arrived at my house in a downpour, at 5:57 and we decided we could find a better day to go fishing. Then about 8:10 I woke up to sunshine and clearing skies, called Steve and we were on again. Launched about 9:15 and met mike b at the ramp. He was getting to know his new to him boat. We ran down towards the island and threw our stuff in at the edge of the old river channel. My grandson Caleb was first to score with a willow leaf troll and purple powerbait. I had run the planer boards out to get a good spread, and then sent a gold Vance's dodger with a gold triple teaser and a 'little' bait on it out towards the planer board, then I put on another Vance's gold dodger on and a chartreuse wedding ring with a 'little' bait on it and a 3/4 oz weight on my other pole. Steve had on his Panther Martin lake troll with purple powerbait. Steve was next to get hit and reeled in a fairly nice 14 incher but he was somewhat scared up where the skin parasites had been. The water temp was 55.3 most everywhere we fished and there is still some algae in the water. There were a couple of times when the sun popped through the clouds, but mostly overcast and some intense rain squalls. We caught about a bucket load of fish but threw them back to be caught again another day. The catch ratio between the triple teaser and wedding ring was a little lopsided with the wedding ring about 2 to 1. I brought in the t/t and put on a copper/pink Sockeye Slammer in UV and a little bait and sent it out on the planer board line. That seemed to even the catch ratio up. This was the first "U/V" lure I have used and I will give it a few more tries. Worked good for me. Things slowed about 1:30, so we headed for the dock and loaded up and came home.

[Rick on Rogue]

I've been a little reluctant to put this in here as I have been dealing with it slowly. My friend Ron, that I fished with on a lot of Fridays, passed away Tuesday the 27th. He was on the 'table' to have a stent put in, when he had a massive heart attack and they could not revive him. I am so saddened by his death, but I know that he is in heaven face to face with Jesus, and for that I can celebrate. I will continue to think about the many laughs and fish caught as time goes on.

I miss you Ron!

[twisted lines]

Best of wishes to all, as always thanks for sharing... :pray: TL

[Straydog]

Wow.........
Rick, I am sorry for your loss.

[Rick on Rogue]

Steve had to work the Home Show till noon, but very shortly after, there he was backing up to the boat, we launched at the marina at a little after 1:00 and got our stuff in real quick. Steve set up the planer boards started letting them out, while I was getting my poles ready. There was a lot of new debris in the water right there in the marina and out to about mid-lake. Some really big stuff too. I started with gold dodgers, one with w chartreuse wedding ring with nightcrawler and w kernel of gulp corn. On the other pole I put a UV sockeye slammer with a brown maggot. Steve had his Panther Martin Lake troll with 'Rainbow Power Bait on one, and a Mack's Flash Lite with Nightcrawler and Corn on the other. We trolled down towards the island and worked the usual (winter ) areas between the island and the flats. We marked a few fish but no bites, very slow! Finally at about 3:30 we got some bites and we both hooked into a fish. Steve's came unbuttoned about half way in and I pulled in a nice 9" fatty and let it go back to get bigger, about 20 minutes later Steve reeled in a 10 inch trout with a few parasites, and let him go too. That was it for the day and we made our way back to the marina. We saw a boat in trouble, and went over and hooked him up and towed him to the dock. He said he was having fuel issues. I also saw Mike b, and he had been there most of the day and said that the bite was good in the morning. We decided to get together next weekend sometime and fish together. The weather was mild, mostly cloudy with a few sun breaks actually quite nice day on the water. It was just good to get out on the water.

[Bill Rogue V.]

Good to hear you are fishing again Rick. This new round of storms might make a difference in the bite when things stabilize again.

[Rick on Rogue]

Good to hear you are fishing again Rick. This new round of storms might make a difference in the bite when things stabilize again.

I am going to try to sneak out to the lake this weekend. Forecast is for mild weather, I think I'm gettin the fever. Yee Haw!!

[Jedcraft]

I was going over Peyton Bridge a week or so back and the raft of logs & debris down there reminded me of the Mt St. Helens aftermath. There was alot of crap in there and some bigger stuff. Maybe get some swamp loggers to clean it out?

[Rick on Rogue]

I was going over Peyton Bridge a week or so back and the raft of logs & debris down there reminded me of the Mt St. Helens aftermath. There was alot of crap in there and some bigger stuff. Maybe get some swamp loggers to clean it out?

Yea the 'Junk' in the water was awful Sunday, but we worked our way through it carefully. I have this goofy theory that there are some "Big Ones" hiding in that debris, maybe right under one of those really big logs. Just one of my goofy theories though. LOL

[Jedcraft]

Yeah, I've caught fish in that crud but don't know if it's worth fighting the debris. Good luck.

[Rick on Rogue]

Sunday Morning Steve picked me and the boat up at 0630 and we launched and were fishing by 0749. There were already a couple of rigs in the parking lot and we ran down to our favorite place between the island (it's under water now) and the 'flats'. Threw our stuff in and didn't have to wait too long and started catching fish. We caught a few planters and some nice holdovers from last year at about 15 to 16 inches and finished our limit about10:00. Picked up our stuff and were home by noon. Wow what a great day.

[Rick on Rogue]

Steve pick me and the boat up at 5:49 and we were off to Lost Creek Lake. We arrived at the marina launch about 6:45 and when I went to raise the motor to take the block out, I hit the button to raise and noting. Ohoh!! Oh no!!
Pulled the battery out and the connections were fine. We did a quick check, key off, Fish finder blank, bilge pump off, live well off. Hmmmmmmmmmm?? Music radio ON Oh my..
Disconnected the battery and Steve took it to the front of the truck and jumper-ed it for about 10 minutes. Hooked it back up and it was just enough to lift the motor and get the block out and lower it. Backed the boat into the water and launched. Turned it around and tied it off, Then Steve went and turned around and nosed the truck towards the boat. I hooked up the jumpers(good thing he has long ones), and he drove in till they reached. Boat started right up and we put everything back to normal. I let the motor warm a good bit before engaging it. We ran down to the buoy line and worked that area all day. Someone taught me: "Never leave fish to find fish."
Steve had worked in his yard on Friday and had gathered up some grubs from the dirt and we were excited to get them in the water. Sure enough as soon as Steve got his stuff out, WHAMO - Fish dance..... A nice 15 incher. a real pretty one too.
The morning was great with many fish caught and released and when a 'big boy' presented itself we were more than happy to use the live well. By 12:30 the live well was 10 and we ran back to the dock. As Steve winched the boat the final few inches onto the trailer, I shut every thing off and double checked the radio and then hit the starter, and old faithful came to life.
Water temp was 56 to 58 degrees, Downrigger at 15 feet with gear at 13 feet was the most productive. I ran a gold Vance's Dodger and a Sockeye Slammer UV, that seemed to be the magic combo with the fresh grubs.
In our Limit there were 5, 14" plus and the other 5 were smaller. We threw back a bunch of planters. We only caught one Baby Chinook, about 9 inches and stinky as usual, he also went back to get bigger
Great day on the lake, nice weather, and a few challenges to overcome. What more could you ask for.

[Rick on Rogue]

Wow, another great day on the water. We launched at 0630 and ran right over to the "Rock Wall" Threw our stuff in. Steve started with his Mack's Flashlight and some Power bait, and on the other pole he put his faithful Panther Martin lake troll also wit power bait, and a little more weight. I set up the downrigger and went to 15 feet. My 'stop' is about a foot above the ball. On that rod I put a Vance's gold dodger and a sockeye slammer with about 1/2" of night crawler. On my other pole I had a silver willow leaf lake troll and another sockeye slammer, also with a chunk of nightcrawler. Steve got hit first and it was a dandy 15 incher all clean and bright, so in the live well he went. We caught fish on all of the set ups, some times we even managed doubles. Most of the fish got returned and a few even self released, but when we got one that was 15 or bigger they went into the livewell. Steve decided he wanted some for the smoker now that the warmer (???) weather has come.
The water temp was 58.7 to 59.2 when we started. We trolled that area till about 0930 and then wandered down to the floating restroom and trolled back and made another pass by the 'Rock Wall' and then across the lake and by the 'Big Point going up river towards Peyton bridge. We picked up our stuff and ran up to the bridge, and threw in again. I changed my downrigger set up to a willow leaf lake troll and an orange wedding ring with a chunk of nightcrawler and a kernel of Berkley corn. The water there was a couple degrees cooler so I brought the downrigger up to 13 feet and lightened up the weight on the other pole and we caught fish pretty regularly working our way up river, crisscrossing the channel up to 'Red Rock'. We made a few circles in the Red Rock area and then Steve finally reeled in the 10th nice one and we folded up and came home.
Just as we were taking the boat out we heard a bunch of very loud booms. It startled me quite a bit and then I remembered the sign I saw just as we were about to turn into the ramp area off of Hwy 62 that said "Civil War Re-enactment". So after we got everything ready to go, we drove over to the campground area and watched for a bit. Those old cannons really make a lot of noise and smoke. There were active (simulated) fighting. with dead and live soldiers and a very authentic looking camp. Everyone looked like they were having a good time.

[mike_b]

Great report Rick! Any advise for a beginner using a downrigger at Lost Creek this time of year? I just bought one for my boat and I might try it out this weekend.

Last week at approximately 6:30am I passed one of your companies trucks around Gold hill on I-5, was that you?

[Rick on Rogue]

I went back to work for Johnny Cat, running the truck scales at the Highbanks Sand & Gravel facility on Newland road. No more driving if I can help it. Downrigger advice, get a Shuttle Hawk from Shasta Tackle and you won't wear out your cranking arm. Last Sunday I ran my D/R at 15 ft. Most of it depends on the surface temp, and where the thermocline is. I try to stay just above the thermocline or just on top of it. Watch your FF and see where most of the fish are being marked and maybe a foot above them. The Shuttle Hawk does all of the work for you taking your line down, then when a fish hits you can release it with a little jerk and when you get ready to put your stuff out again, there it is at the surface waiting. Let me know when you get the Shuttle Hawk and I will share some pointers for it.

[Rick on Rogue]

Just an FYI, 1. The boat ramp at the marina is closed, the water is so low that you will probably drop off the end of the ramp, not too bad when you launch but if that happens and you try to pull your loaded trailer up, it might not come. 2. The algae is pretty thick in some areas, it doesn't bother me because I have too many fish in the freezer, so "C&R" is in force. Anyway Steve and I were there on Sunday and caught a barrel full of fish, had a great time and were home by 2:00pm.

Have fun fishin'.

[mike_b]

Just an FYI, 1. The boat ramp at the marina is closed, the water is so low that you will probably drop off the end of the ramp, not too bad when you launch but if that happens and you try to pull your loaded trailer up, it might not come.

Hey Rick how are you doing?
Thanks for the warning on the ramp! I dropped my trailer off the end of the ramp last year when the water was low. Luckily I did not damage my trailer getting it back up. How has fishing at Lost Creek been this summer compared to past years? My fishing time has been spent at Winchester Bay and Diamond, I have not been up to Lost Creek since early summer.

[Rick on Rogue]

We've done very well this year, and the last few times have been exceptional. When the lake is as low as it is now the fish don't have as many places to hide, and makes a lot easier to find them.
Sounds like you are giving your boat a workout for sure.