Haag Lake :)

[trollin4trout]

Got there late, Sat. morning about 9:30am :depressed: - I hate that! Launched at Ramp A and headed towards the dam. Water is 72 degrees, so I started at 20 ft. with the downrigger and a "trout" pattern Needlefish. Didn't get 50yds from the dock and the pole went down- a 14incher greeted me in the air long enough to say "see ya" !Continued on and saw fish at 35- 50ft. Lowered my lead to 30 ft. and in 10 minutes caught another 14 incher. Netted him long enough to say "see ya" and let him go. Caught a few more at 30ft.- some nice 11-13 inch fat and strong fighting fish. Seemed a little slow though so I went down to 40ft. and the action seemed to pick up. A couple more fish and then I hooked one obviously bigger than the 14's I had earlier but after a couple minutes without getting to see how big he was, it just let loose. It was pretty dead during the middle of the day( as usual for me here), but around 4:00pm they began to hit again at an even quicker pace than the morning. With wind blowing hard and me trying to steer the boat and operate the downrigger and catch fish as fast as I could get it back down it was quite the fire drill! Ended up releasing 28 nice trout for the day, lost at least a dozen more, and had at least another dozen strikes that didn't hook up. Needlefish rule! All in all- another great day at Haag.
Next time I need to find to find another Ifisherman to help steer the boat, so I can catch more fish! Besides talking to myself is getting to be a habit.

It is amazing to me how many bank fishermen politely refuse an offer to ride along and catch some fish! I'm not an axe-murderer, just looking for some company!

Keep on trollin'.............Jim

[ 07-13-2003, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: trollin4trout ]

[prospect1999]

Sounds like a great day to me Jim.
Next time you go out there and if you still want some company Im game.

Mike

[Jacks or Better]

trolloin4trout, I don't have a downrigger to get that far down. I like to fish Hagg what living in Forest Grove. What are the options? Do the various depth divers work - have two 30's but have never used them, or extra weight? Those were some nice sized trout you mentioned. Nice job. graemlins/applause.gif

[Grits]

noclass- If price is keeping you out of the downrigger game you might check cabelas out. They have a lake set up with a hand crank, 100 ft cable, 4lb ball, clip and mount (sits in a rod holder mount) for $38.99. I just got one and it works pretty good.

[trollin4trout]

noclass: the problem with divers and extra weight is that you then need a heck of a pole and strong line to hold on to all that resistance/weight- then you catch an 8 inch fish for all your effort and you don't even know you have it on!

If I had to catch fish without a downrigger(first I'd strongly consider Grits idea- get one!), I would try some extra weight(divers-no way) and drift with the wind if it's not too strong-use a hook with a worm or powerbait only-no flashers. This would reduce the resistance of what you have in the water and keep your rig down where you want it. Or a small flatfish or hotshot will work at very slow speed without much resistance. Also a fly has very low resistance and will work well at Haag. Usually 30 or 40 feet down seems to be where the fish are. Rarely have I needed to go 50ft at Haag.
If no wind use electric motor and go slowly enough so that your line stays nearly straight down. Turn it off and on to keep speed to minimum. Or use motor in reverse to slow down if wind is too strong.

This method however limits your options to using bait only or lures which can work at very slow speeds. No Needlefish,Triple Teasers, Excels. And trolling very slowly is a poor method to locate fish. If you are in a non-fishy area, you will be there for a long time!

If you don't know where to fish at Haag just save yourself some time and go down to the dam. I find that both ends of the dam are more productive than the path in between. For sure troll around the buoys at the south end- did I say buoys at the south end? YES! It's deep enough to be 40ft down and troll all the way around them and well worth more than one pass.

I suppose you could jury rig your own downrig system for probably less than $20 bucks if you don'y mind a little hassle in operating it. Buy a 4lb lead at Fisherman's for 7-8 dollars(in lead dept.- not downriggers-those are twice the cost). Get a light downrigger release in downrigger dept. (Scotty $5) Buy some kind of light rope- 1/4, 3/8 - the smaller the better but you will be pulling it by hand so some comprimise might be in order. If it's too big it will have to much resistance and create a big angle in your downrigger line when trolling. Then you'll be guessing how deep you are, calculating the angle of the dangle! Make some marks or knots in the line so you know the depth- and wa-laa, instant downrigger.

I f I keep going on and on it will be morning, so I'll wait for another question before I ramble on again.

Prospect: I saved your email address- I may go right back next Sat.- those were some nice fish!

Who needs those lake troll thingys anyway?.................

[ 07-13-2003, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: trollin4trout ]