Lake Billy Chinook

SCOOTA · 09-20-2008, 09:06 AM

Well, I finally broke down and bought an Indian permit and decided to spend the gas money on a trip up to Billy Chinook.
My wife and I left early Monday morning from Bend for the lake with a quick stop at Mcdonalds in Redmond for our Morning pick me up and launched at about 7:15 at Cove Palasides. To my suprise we were the only ones at the boat launch, Wow, did we miss the bite already?
What a beautiful boat ride up past the Dam and by the Island. The sun was just breaking over the canyon walls and was one of those mornings that if you did not even catch a fish the trip is well worth the wonderful views.
As we rounded the corner past Perry South and came up upon the 10 mph channel markers , I could look up river and see the most wonderful sight of Kokanee jumping up river. Seeing that always gives me goosebumps.
As we motored up to where they were jumping, I could not wait to get a line wet. It ended up we were the only boat there for quite some time.
There was no wind so I did not set anchor. We both picked up our rods that were dawned with , what else for me but, Pink and White Gibbs minnows. First cast for both of us," FISH ON".
It was suprising to me the amount of fish we could see in the water. There jumping and splashing all morning really kept us on our toes.
I don't think I have had such a wonderful day of Kokanee fishing in many years as Jan and I had this day. We caught and released over 80 fish in just a few short hours. Yes some were snaggad, but most were caught in the mouth. There were probably 30 percent of the fish that were starting to bronze up pretty good . No hook jaws as of yet and none turning red yet. We even ended up with a few Bull trout.
Finally after a while a few more boats showed up and anchored.
None were doing near as well as we were. One older couple who were anchored about 75 feet away from us had landed a couple of fish when we had decided to leave. I heard them talking that they were using buzz bombs. So as we were leaving I pulled up along side there boat and handed them one of my Gibbs Minnows and wished them good luck. They had huge smiles on their faces as we pulled away.
We kept a few of the nicer fish for dinner and released all the rest.
Again, Good weather, good company and great Kokanee fishing. What a way to put an end to the season. Well, maybe one more trip somewhere.

FISHON67 · 09-20-2008, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCOOTA

Well, I finally broke down and bought an Indian permit and decided to spend the gas money on a trip up to Billy Chinook.
My wife and I left early Monday morning from Bend for the lake with a quick stop at Mcdonalds in Redmond for our Morning pick me up and launched at about 7:15 at Cove Palasides. To my suprise we were the only ones at the boat launch, Wow, did we miss the bite already?
What a beautiful boat ride up past the Dam and by the Island. The sun was just breaking over the canyon walls and was one of those mornings that if you did not even catch a fish the trip is well worth the wonderful views.
As we rounded the corner past Perry South and came up upon the 10 mph channel markers , I could look up river and see the most wonderful sight of Kokanee jumping up river. Seeing that always gives me goosebumps.
As we motored up to where they were jumping, I could not wait to get a line wet. It ended up we were the only boat there for quite some time.
There was no wind so I did not set anchor. We both picked up our rods that were dawned with , what else for me but, Pink and White Gibbs minnows. First cast for both of us," FISH ON".
It was suprising to me the amount of fish we could see in the water. There jumping and splashing all morning really kept us on our toes.
I don't think I have had such a wonderful day of Kokanee fishing in many years as Jan and I had this day. We caught and released over 80 fish in just a few short hours. Yes some were snaggad, but most were caught in the mouth. There were probably 30 percent of the fish that were starting to bronze up pretty good . No hook jaws as of yet and none turning red yet. We even ended up with a few Bull trout.
Finally after a while a few more boats showed up and anchored.
None were doing near as well as we were. One older couple who were anchored about 75 feet away from us had landed a couple of fish when we had decided to leave. I heard them talking that they were using buzz bombs. So as we were leaving I pulled up along side there boat and handed them one of my Gibbs Minnows and wished them good luck. They had huge smiles on their faces as we pulled away.
We kept a few of the nicer fish for dinner and released all the rest.
Again, Good weather, good company and great Kokanee fishing. What a way to put an end to the season. Well, maybe one more trip somewhere.

Great report, thanks!

ElkTalker · 09-20-2008, 04:53 PM

Great report, If my kicker was not in the shop I would be on my way.

Dullhook · 09-20-2008, 04:57 PM

Thanks for reporting. Sounds like you two had a great day on the water. It just seems like the koke season comes and goes in the blink of an eye.

comeherefish · 09-20-2008, 06:43 PM

Sweeet!

FallRiverGuy · 09-22-2008, 07:11 AM

Thanks for the great report. I sounds like you had a great day on the water. The one fish looks like it had fishing line or, something else, around its body while it was growing. I have never been up in the Metolius arm this time of years but have heard stories of the fish kegged up in that area.

SCOOTA · 09-22-2008, 08:30 AM

Yes, Brian the fish was a little deformed, that is why I took a picture of it. It had no visable marks or scars on it. But no doubt it had had something around it at one time in its life.
We also on the way back to the boat ramp made a troll around the island and were able to connect on some real bright non spanners.
All in all was a great day on the water

Scoota

moc · 09-22-2008, 09:42 PM

Great post, hope to make it up there next year.

SansooShooter · 09-23-2008, 02:10 PM

So how long will the fishing be good up there for kokanee?

dogginit · 09-25-2008, 08:20 AM

I plan on finding out this weekend, loading up the camper and boat and heading over. If nothing else, we'll have some pretty time on the water!

soulrider · 09-25-2008, 08:33 AM

LBC is a great place, spent many a summer out there fishing. the spot that was mentioned IS a good spot. it used to be just about anything would work, we used to just putter around until we had a hit on the finder, poke a worm on the hook, drop it over board, and a few seconds later.....tug tug......and just keep going. now it seems to be a little harder.

NR Trapper · 09-25-2008, 12:22 PM

Gibbs Minnows are the ticket ! I have had a lot of great days on that lake using pink and white. Lots of fun for kids too.

dogginit · 09-26-2008, 10:58 AM

What presentation works with the Gibbs - cast and retrieve, jigging, anything goes?????

Chris

SCOOTA · 09-26-2008, 01:41 PM

Cast and retrieve worked the best. although, when we did get a little tired, we would drop it straight down and samll jigging motion also hooked fish.

Good luck

Scoota

dogginit · 09-29-2008, 12:50 PM

Well, for our first outing to LBC, and my first experience fishing for kokes, we did well....not as well as the post that started this thread, but we had close to 30 hook-ups, and ended up keeping several for a couple of suppers - all thanks to information I've picked up from this board

Wasn't fast and furious, but we'd find a likely spot and start trolling, and start getting bites. Gibbs minnows worked well, as did Kokanee Kandy and wedding rings, all trolled behind various dodgers. Caught most up high in the water column, probably no more than 10 or 15 feet down. So much vegetation floating in the water (moss/algae balls) all over the lake that the fish finder was useless till about 20 or 25 feet down. Saw some nice fish arcs in spots down around the 80 to 100 foot mark, but didn't get a chance to mess around for them - too busy keeping three women fishing

Thanks again for all the info!

Chris