Paulina or Lava Lake?

[bobbinalong]

I have talked my Grandfather into going trout fishing with me this year. It has been a few years since he has last been out since he retired his boat and RV. He is 90 years old and I want him to have a great time as he is the man that introduced me to fishing and camping. He fished Paulina for about 45 years then switched to Lava for the last few years he went. He only likes to still fish for rainbows. What do you think would be my best option? Thanks in advance.

[benny boy]

If you are looking for nice fat and healthy rainbows only... I would stick to lava. If he has fished it for many years he will know where to go. Worm/powerbait (green or rainbow) proved to be extremely effective this year. All the fish you catch in Lava are Rainbow (or chub) from what I have seen and they all seemed to be overly fat and awesome! Paulina will be harder to target just bows, as we seem to catch more Kokanee and Browns! Good luck and awesome job taking the man that started you fishing back out!

[Smok'n Fish]

I fished Big Lava about 3 weekends ago, caught some really nice holdover fish. The only problem I had with that trip, was the mosquitos were horrible! Was at East lake last weekend, and Paulina the weekend before, no mosquitos, but very cold. Fishing was GREAT at East, I was after Kokanee, but caught a few browns also.

[Queeg]

still fishin' for rainbows says Lava Lake to me.

[Buck]

I think Lava would be a better choice for your Grandfather. Very easy fishing, beautiful fat fish, a nice fish cleaning station, and with some Deet, a scenic, enjoyable camping spot.

[bobbinalong]

I guess Lava Lake sounds like our best choice. He had just mentioned Paulina as he has not been up there for about 15 years and wondered if the bow fishing had gotten any better. Back in the day it was a great lake for still fishing for bows and I can remember as a kid my grandparents and I getting a limit of trout in a couple hours and that’s when it was a 10 fish limit! I have looked the posts about Paulina and East Lake and all I have read about is browns and kok’s for the most part. Have they just not stocked the rainbows in Paulina like in the old days? Thank you for the replies.

[high desert]

They still stock the lake with rainbows. They just seem to be elusive. I was up there today with one of my boys and we watched the stock truck dump fingerling rainbows at the boat ramp.

[Bucolic buffalo]

Lava with powerbait, Rainbow and green. Good size holdovers.