Halp! Paulina Lake

[Thumper]

My lady is a trout-fishing nut. She has reserved a cabin for us at Paulina Lake for the weekend of May 24-26. Being a salmon/steelhead fisherman I know nothing about trout fishing. I would not even try for these little baity critters except for wanting to please her.

Is Pauline Lake even open that weekend? If so, what is there and how do you fish for them? I really appreciate any help.

[Fishalot]

The same gear you troll with in any lake should do fine, Ford fenders,Cowbells,willow leafs, the new mylar stuff also works. I think finding out how deep and where the fish are on the lake is a good start. I'm sure you know not to buy the gear there $$$$. Call and ask what is working best and shop in town before. It maybe as easy as casting small spinners, but don't count on it :wink: . Downriggers work good, fish with the smaller Dodgers and Wedding rings.
Looks like I better do a little add on ,I know that you are a man that will give out tips when it comes to your fishing know how. Browns & land locks when fishing early in the season try a hot & tot for diver with 4 to 6' of leader and run small HotShots. You want the line out aways behind the boat so after you troll through the area the fish will come back in for the kill. The tot will invert and rise to the surface when a fish is on.

Fishalot

[ 04-21-2002, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: Fishalot ]

[Deleted User]

Thumper, Paulina Lake has Salmon size Brown Trout in it! I was up there a few years ago in early May and the guy that owns the Store/Cabins caught a 26lb. Brown :shocked: I beleive he has it mounted in the store. Troll large Sliver or gold Rapala's in the shallows next to the drop offs. The Browns are in a feeding frenzy when the Ice melts on the lake. Use no weight and let the plug troll a long ways from the boat. Ive seen guys catch'em on flys and worms also. There is also huge Koke's in there as well, but most fish for the prize Browns in May. East lake is a short drive up the road and if its numbers of fish your after, give it a try. Rainbows, Browns,and Atlanic's. If your not planning on bringing a boat, I'd fish worms out in front of the store at East Lake. There has been alot of Large Browns takin there. Dont forget to rent the snow mobiles! God I love that country :cool:

P.S. Dont forget your bear repellant :grin:

Fool

[ 04-21-2002, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: Jett'in Fool ]

[PittsburghD]

Thumper, no worries. I fish there every year for Memorial Day. Sometimes the monsters are in the shallows and sometimes they are deep. Ask around and then ignore it. You never know. Troll slowly in the shollows very, very early and really late with a #13 black and silver broken back rapala. Bigger the better. This and the rainbow are the two biggies. Then troll slowly in front of the docks where the baitfish hang in the morning and out by Red Slide in both morning and the evening.

Now if you want just rainbows, there is a couple of great spots all over the place. One is by the Black Slide and the other at the Northeast side of the lake before the campgrounds. Add one worm to a hook and add water. Presto! Fish. Oooh, don't forget a brew or two in between catches. :grin: One scientific thing we found out three years ago is that when the bite of small trout goes off, no matter what time of day, a big brown has entered the area and is on the prowl. The bite will go away for about 45 minutes to an hour.

We came to this theory after hooking into a 7 pound brown on a #12 hook and a worm when the bite went off. Took forever to land the sucker!

Also, the best cabin is Bluebird even though they pump Eagles Nest.

It is Artic Cold up there. We have had everything from take-off-your-shirt weather to "I'm never coming back Texas hail." Never underestimate the amount of clothing you can take to Paulina. It is all worth it! :wink:

[Thumper]

Hey, OK, I'm feeling better about this trip. Looks like there may be an opportunity to catch more than weenie trouts. We are in "Wren" cabin. Love those tips!

[Snapset]

Thumper, the tips are all good. I have a couple of other tactics that have worked really well for me when fishing with people who are not quite as hard core as I am. They involve windtrolling around the shore. I don't know East from West up there so I will guess it is the West shore. As you are looking out from the resort, follow the shoreline to your left. Stay within 50 feet of the shore, and troll a #12 or smaller wet fly 100 feet or more behind. A Carey special works great. About 20 feet ahead of the fly, on another line, troll a tiny frog colored Hotshot. No weight on either line, you want them right under the surface. Troll all the way until the shore turns to the East (Thats a guess) and up a couple hundred yards along those ledges. If the weather is gray and cold, I would just target the Browns and Kokes, though. Enjoy the scenery. You are in one of the most beutiful places. If you see a big Gray and White Glass driftboat fighting the wind up there, it might be me.

[ 04-21-2002, 11:02 PM: Message edited by: Snapset ]

[Phish_on]

What they said.

Kokanee ARE salmon! And they get big up there.

[Hottamale1]

Alright...This is the Post I've been waiting for!!

I will be in Bluebird Cabin the weekend of May 23-27. I've fished there a few times before but never with Downriggers..This time, I'll have one. I'm not sure if that's truly the way to go...and at what depth it should be at. I will assume a depth finder is fairly important here...especially since I'd love to hook into a 20 Pounder!

Thumper...We'll have to fish together while we're there.

PittsburghD, sounds like you'll be there as well..Maybe we'll have our own Mini-Flotilla! Plus, you can show us amateurs the ropes!

Scott :grin:

[Thumper]

Paulina Flotilla!!! Lordy, I need all the help I can get. I don't think I even own a trout rod. Imagine .... little Kokanee salmlettes on the BBQ!

[FallRiverGuy]

Not mentioned yet is jigging for kokanee (with or without corn). This is very effective in the spring. Get some 3 inch buzz bombs and fish either in front of the lodge in 40 to 80 feet of water, or along the North East shore before the black slide area. The lake has a shelf out there that is in the 40 to 60 feet deep. Just look for the where the boats are grouped together and those are usually the jiggers. It may be too early with the water level too high, but straight across the lake from the lodge are some hot springs that leak into the lake right at the shore. They get filled in during the winter but get dug out each summer. It is a nice place on a clear night to dangle your feet and watch the stars and have some wine. Of course it may be too darn cold at night for that in May.

For you downrigger people, that method can be very effective. Kokanee put up a good fight if you can catch them with out weights and flashers in line. You will definitely need a fish finder. The fish can be anywhere from 20 to 50 feet down. You need to try all depths to find the biting fish. Most times you don't need flashers, but some times ford fenders on the ball help. I have good luck with an Apex lure in orange or red behind a sling blade dodger. Other times the fish like just colored hooks (pink or chartreuse) 8 to 10 inches behind a 0000 dodger. I would use double hooks (tied like a mooching rig) as the mouth of the fish is very soft that time of year. White shoepeg corn with scent is good. I am going to try worms this year too.

[ 04-22-2002, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: FallRiverGuy ]

[TeamYeeha]

Be first on the lake and the last one to go in also troll the edges at a quick pace with Rappalas and you will catch Browns. Early and late is when the BIG ones strike.
Try and release any Browns under ten pounds as we always have. I think it really helps this fishery.
Take some really warm cloths
Good Luck
Yeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[will_e_fish]

Thumper- try the powerful worm. I put them on with a threader so they look natural,altough I have seen my kids wad them up like gum and hook some decent fish. German Browns like worms usually on the bottom or close to it. Some people use those white meal grubs sucessfully for lake trout. I know I have heard you dicuss fly fishing, when all else fails try trolling with your electric motor perferably with something brown or black. Make sure to work the edges and ledges, if it is not too cold evenings and early mournings. Let us know how you do.

[Thumper]

I'm gonna need to spend a lot of time at the tackle shops for all these techniques. What an opportunity! Little dinky trout rods, weenie fly rods, buzz bombs, fenders, etc. etc. I need a bigger boat!

[tyee]

Don't forget the (white)corn, I like to use those
mylar flashers with a snubber, 5feet of 4lb
leader and a chrome w/ red head needlefish.
Oh did I mention WHITE CORN!!!!!

Tyee

[Keta]

Green Giant Shoepeg white corn is the only corn to use. Use anise oil, shrimp oil, or both on the corn too. Troll shallow in the morning and deeper as the day gets brighter. I like to use a 4-ought dodger and a wedding ring. Change colors until they hit. They will change color preference throughout the day. The first thing I do with a wedding ring is toss the hook and leader and tie a small mooching leader with #6 hooks spaced about 1/4" apart.

[BuKuBass]

I might as well wade in on this one. Been fishing there off and on for forty years; even worked there one summer.
Koke on a downrigger: Hook giant cowbells on the back of the ball, stack your line three feet up and let it trail four to six feet aft of the flasher. That time of the year try between 30 to 40 feet; later, they'll go deeper. I am convinced it is the color of the shoepeg that attracts the kokanee so I use soft luminescent beads with a small piece of worm. If using a FF, upon noting fish, turn 45 degrees. This causes the flasher to change cadence. Do the fish think that something is happening close by and come to investigate? Damifino, but it works for me. As Brian mentioned, with no weight or drag hanging off their lips, they come unglued. I've had them jump into the boat.

Browns: late and early both in the season and the day are best but the second weekend of the season that I worked there a young couple from Pendleton showed up at ten on a bluebird morning and asked me where to go and what to use. I said,"Take one of these gold and black J13s and troll over there by the Red Slide. They were back two hours later with a 23/4! My biggest is barely half that. Along the west shore is a sizable drop-off[12-40']. Go deep there with a deep-diving Thunderstick or Rebel Minnow. Browns often lurk nearby trying to pin the smaller kokes and bows against the cliff.
Rainbows: Troll from the point just west of the Red Slide westward then south along the west shore[my fingers need a west] trailing a black rooster tail, "grasshopper" Vibric, or a "rainbow" Vibrax spinner well back.

Good luck

[Thumper]

Man, this is complicated compared to eggs and Kwikfish. Urk!

[FallRiverGuy]

Thumper it is worth it. If you have not eaten Kokanee yet you will be a happy camper when you do. A freind of mine who lived for years in Alaska and caught all kinds of fish, claims that smoked Kokanee is the best he has eaten. :cheers:

[Bounty Hunter]

Been 1 time.

East lake is easier for me, but there's a health warning there, so I don't personnally eat the Mercury laiden fish out of East lake (I'm sure they are perfectly clean in the adjacent lake graemlins/eek13.gif )

Anyway, you want easy? Slip sinker+swivel+2 foot leader+powerbait+small hook = rainbows all day long up by the hot springs and West campground (not just the stockers either).

I personnally don't believe there are any other types of fish in that lake. graemlins/berry.gif

[ 04-23-2002, 08:47 AM: Message edited by: Bounty Hunter ]

[Keta]

Troll slow. Real slow. I also like to do as BuKuBass does but with a dbl ought dodger with
3' of 25lb test line on the downriggers ball and a small dodger with a wedding ring 5'-6'
behind the larger dodger. Put 3'-4' of leader between the wedding ring and the smaller
dodger. I sometime use big trolling spoons (Manatees, Canadian Wonders, Andy Reekers,
Freaks) with the hooks removed for dodgers and Sling Blades work good at times. We also
use soft glow beads on the hooks during low light conditions. If there is no wind locate the
schools by watching for fish jumping. You can also use a Crippled Herring and jig for them.
A slow rise and controlled flutter seems to work best. I have a Curado with 20 lb test Power
Pro on a 7' fast action rod that works great for jigging. I am having T H Custom Rods build me a kokanee trolling rod on a 4 wt medium action fly rod blank with a long handle. I can't wait to try it out on those big :grin: ??14"-18"?? :grin: Paulina Lake kokes! :smile:

[Hottamale1]

Ok.....

I wanted to bring this back to the Top since the Mini Flotilla is happening this weekend at Paulina Lake...right Thumper??? You're gonna be there right?? We're in Bluebird starting Thursday...thru Monday. Either stop by or you'll see me out there trolling in the HTOS Willie Predator.

Any new reports?? I hear it's been kinda slow. I've got a tackle box FULL of stuff from White Corn to Divers & Hot Shots! Didn't purchase my Soft, luminescent Beads yet but may spin by FMS for a look!

I also hear that the weather should be in our favor....Sunshine please and No wind.

Scott

[plugs'n'bugs]

Hey Thumper-

If your looking for a little reading material:

"Ice-Out Trophy Brown Trout" by Kim Daggett. STS April-May 2000 issue.

I have read somewhere that Kim Daggett runs an a very high priced fishing school based on paulina lake.

I have found some of his articles online at
http://www.fishsniffer.com/kdaggett/

:cheers:

[Thumper]

OK guys, we are gonna be there. I got more dang stuff than my little Grumman sled can hold. We are in Wren cabin. Dinky boat with the humongous electric trolling motor. We get in Friday evening, and leave on Monday. Save me some corn!

[otter]

Don't forget Mr. Heater, Snowed up there last night :shocked:

[Pirate]

Thumper,
I lived in Bend for 10 years and Paulina was always my favorite lake, both for fishing and the beauty. It has it all. You may still have snow in the protected areas around the lake. We used all the tactics mentioned above and all worked. Never camped there though, just ran up from Bend for the day. I only wish I could get back there like I used to. :depressed: