kigercreek
02-19-2009, 06:50 PM
Spring must be near as I'm starting to receive quite a few calls inquiring about fisheries over here in SE Oregon and how they survived the winter. Here's the scoop as of mid-February:
Chickahominy - The water was low going into the winter. There were reports of fish dying in the fall from high water temps. Reports from the ice fishers were in the poor to fair range. Still covered with ice, it should open up in the next few weeks, if not sooner, now that days are getting longer. It's still getting into the teens some nights here.
Krumbo Res - Krumbo doesn't open until the state opening of trout season. Being on the Malheur Refuge, minimum water levels are a requirement. It fished well into fall.
Beulah Res - Water levels have been low for several years now. The last good fishing report I heard was.....in 2001. I'm sure it has fished okay since then, but it's not been on fire, nor have many locals been fishing it.
Warm Springs Res - Low water in this Malheur fed reservoir have kept pools quite low. There has been some fair to good fishing at times, but nothing really consistent for the cold water angler. Warm water fishers have reported some fair to good days for bass this past year. We'll have to see where the water level ends up this spring/summer.
Mann Lake - Once a destination fishery for Lahontan Cutts, it is now a low water mud bath full of goldfish. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, however, it has remained quite low for several years now. The edge of the lake surrounded by mud, so the high winds which are often present on this desert fishery keep it stirred up a bit, as the grass and reeds are far from the water's edge. Goldfish do remain a major problem. I received no reports all last year.
Malheur River - Low water years have also affected this fishery. No good reports for a couple of years, or more.
Blitzen River - The low elevation snows of the Steens will begin melting soon, which will blow out the river for a short amount of time. It's currently running, I'm guessing, in the mid-30's cfs. It's quite fishable to 130-150 cfs, but watch water levels (USGS website) to see if it's coming up, stable, or retreating. Once the low elevation snow comes off, it will settle in the 70 cfs range, +/- 20 cfs, then rising again as the summer temps start to melt off the upper reaches, then settle back down. If the snow melts slowly, this may not even be an issue. The fishery remains fairly consistent, that being great one day, swearing there are no fish the next. As I've told many, you can't set your watch by any hatches on the Blitzen. Just bring some of your standard nymphs, plus a variety of caddis, PMD's and a good variety of attractors and you'll be set.
Hope this helps for those of you considering a trip to the area. If things perk up, I'll post as such, and maybe even share a picture or two. :)
Chickahominy - The water was low going into the winter. There were reports of fish dying in the fall from high water temps. Reports from the ice fishers were in the poor to fair range. Still covered with ice, it should open up in the next few weeks, if not sooner, now that days are getting longer. It's still getting into the teens some nights here.
Krumbo Res - Krumbo doesn't open until the state opening of trout season. Being on the Malheur Refuge, minimum water levels are a requirement. It fished well into fall.
Beulah Res - Water levels have been low for several years now. The last good fishing report I heard was.....in 2001. I'm sure it has fished okay since then, but it's not been on fire, nor have many locals been fishing it.
Warm Springs Res - Low water in this Malheur fed reservoir have kept pools quite low. There has been some fair to good fishing at times, but nothing really consistent for the cold water angler. Warm water fishers have reported some fair to good days for bass this past year. We'll have to see where the water level ends up this spring/summer.
Mann Lake - Once a destination fishery for Lahontan Cutts, it is now a low water mud bath full of goldfish. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, however, it has remained quite low for several years now. The edge of the lake surrounded by mud, so the high winds which are often present on this desert fishery keep it stirred up a bit, as the grass and reeds are far from the water's edge. Goldfish do remain a major problem. I received no reports all last year.
Malheur River - Low water years have also affected this fishery. No good reports for a couple of years, or more.
Blitzen River - The low elevation snows of the Steens will begin melting soon, which will blow out the river for a short amount of time. It's currently running, I'm guessing, in the mid-30's cfs. It's quite fishable to 130-150 cfs, but watch water levels (USGS website) to see if it's coming up, stable, or retreating. Once the low elevation snow comes off, it will settle in the 70 cfs range, +/- 20 cfs, then rising again as the summer temps start to melt off the upper reaches, then settle back down. If the snow melts slowly, this may not even be an issue. The fishery remains fairly consistent, that being great one day, swearing there are no fish the next. As I've told many, you can't set your watch by any hatches on the Blitzen. Just bring some of your standard nymphs, plus a variety of caddis, PMD's and a good variety of attractors and you'll be set.
Hope this helps for those of you considering a trip to the area. If things perk up, I'll post as such, and maybe even share a picture or two. :)