Life in the Trenches

Splash · 05-26-2009, 04:51 PM

Well I made the trip to Wickiup again for some of those steroidal acrobats. Arrived Monday a week before the holiday and set up camp. Fishing was slow as many have previously mentioned in other threads.

By thursday when it was just me by my lonesome I was able to start exploring and such with the pressure of getting others into fish well behind me. The flats south of the Davis arm produced a bit with the multiple rods of the company filled previous days, but not like I know it should have. While fishing those flats I noticed some depressions or trenches other than the main channels. At first they were just quick shallow-deep-shallow excursions until I actually changed direction in them. More importantly I actually started marking fish in them too. With the aid of my gps I was able to map a few of them by hanging the edge and moving from 23-15 feet. Most fish marked were at the 19-22 foot level and they were not opposed to hitting a green wr tipped with worm and corn flatlined on the surface. The lights grew bright.

The next few days were spent being up early fishing with the masses fishing in a north/south while I was patiently against the grain following the trenches east/west. The morning blow made things somewhat challenging at times with the bigger boats being blown about. By 9am the wind died to a breeze and the bugs came out. By 10am most had left the water as the clouds, and I do mean clouds, of bugs (chironomids of all sizes) litterally infested anything afloat. NOTE: do not underestimate my use of the term CLOUD. they would absolutely cover entire sections of your boat to where you could not see the sides, chairs, etc. Never would you make 2 passes without getting bit (fish not bugs.. chironomids look kinda like skeeters but don't bite), sometimes multiple times per pass. If you could tough out the bugs the fish were there for you.

Amid the kokes caught were a 20" rainbow and an 18" brown. Each fish was healthy and spectacular. It was great to break with tradition and listen to what the lake and fish were telling me. A hard head would have made for a fruitless trip.

Such was life in the trenches.

Sorry no glory shots.

5-Cents · 05-26-2009, 05:02 PM

Thats an AWESOME report... if you look at google earth you can see the trenches you are talking about!

There are some huge fish in that lake - I have pulled some fish measured in pounds, not inches, flyfishing that lake. It used to be one my favorites... you just gave some people a HUGE tip!

Aufish101 · 05-26-2009, 05:43 PM

Nice report, I'll find out about the bug situation on my own this weekend!!!!!! There are some nice Kokanee in there this year.

Aufish101

dlm · 05-26-2009, 05:53 PM

Splash,

I am curious about the being out alone statement and "multiple rods". Please tell me I misunderstood

kokaneepoweroregon · 05-26-2009, 06:06 PM

2 rod stamp right ?

Splash · 05-26-2009, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlm

Splash,

I am curious about the being out alone statement and "multiple rods". Please tell me I misunderstood

Guess I could have worded that better.

(I'll fix that)

Not to worry 1 rod per person fishing with others in the boat. Only one rod fishing while solo. No multiple rod stamps available yet.

Sorry for any confusion and by all means, thanks for asking.

FallRiverGuy · 05-27-2009, 06:59 AM

Nice report Splash. Don't you know there are no fish in less than 20 feet of water and they do not like the drop offs. I think in the spring a piece of worm can be very effective. Of course I did not bring worms on my last trip but should have.

Dullhook · 05-27-2009, 07:33 AM

Thanks for sharing your explorations with us. Good job with the fishing too! There's so much to discover at all of these beautiful Cascade lakes if we just take the time to open our eyes and deviate from the norm a little. I can remember many years ago, my dad and I took a trip to Crane Prairie. It was a warm, sunny afternoon and the catching was slow. We decided to run the small boat we were in as far up the Cultus River possible to see what was there. As the water got shallower, colder, and clearer, different wildlife started appearing everywhere. It was so quiet and there were waterfowl of every size, shape and fantastic color never seen in the main channel. We could sometimes see some big fish cruising the bottom. They spooked easily and just ignored our pathetic efforts to get them to bite

. Unfortunately, this was before the days of digital cameras.

I apologize for hitchhiking on your thread Splash, but it brought back some very fond memories. The fish we catch in the past can quickly become distant memories, but the good personal interaction remains firmly entrenched. It would have been good if we could have compared fishing notes since we were both camped at Reservoir CG. As it so often happens...ya just don't know until reading the forum posts who else was there at the same time.

trollin4trout · 05-27-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dullhook

It would have been good if we could have compared fishing notes since we were both camped at Reservoir CG. As it so often happens...ya just don't know until reading the forum posts who else was there at the same time.

I always find this frustrating- simple solution-display an IFISH sticker! I know it's a big lake and campground- you might have them already and just never crossed paths. Sure makes meeting people easier.

Thanks for the great report on fishing there.

Jim

Splash · 05-27-2009, 10:28 AM

No need to apologize Dullhook. Digress away. Hitchhiking and sharing memories is entertaining and sometimes educational. It's kinda like sitting around a shaded picnic table, sipping refreshing beverages (of choice) with friends, past present and future.

I'm a bad boy not to have stickers on my boat but fishing the salmon crowds they are not always an advantage. Other friends have removed them from their boats for that reason.

All too often I regret not having them on the trout waters. A very refreshing class of fishers altogether.