Wickiup Sat 8/22

[chukardave1]

Finally made it back up to Wickiup, brought the old man along to spoil him with some nice Wickiup kokes. The water had dropped 8' or so since I was there 4th of July weekend. It was a little bit cold when we launched and started fishing, but warmed up nicely as the sun came up. Decided to try right in front of the N. Wickiup Launch. Took a little time to figure out the channel. Found a trolling pattern that seemed to produce and didn't have to work the downriggers up and down too terribly many times, as long as we didn't stray too far off course.

Bites seemed to come in waves. One rod would be hot and the other couldn't buy a bite then it would switch. Tried hootchies no action. Ran spinners; green and red and a color combo modeled after one of ElkTalkers. Gulp maggots did better than corn, orange and pink. Had three fish break the leaders they were serious scrappers on the light gear. One of the fish hit so hard it broke the leader right as I was grabbing the rod out of the rod holder.

Lost at least as many as we boated. They would pop the downrigger and be jumping at the surface before you could grab the rod. Ended with 14 fatties, averaged 17". Over half were definitely showing the spawn is nearing but they still cut great. 6-8 boats were jigging just upstream, saw them catch a couple. We made a run to the dam where I caught fish back in July and did not mark a thing. It was good to see the lake this low and realize a little better how it is laid out. Kinda scary realizing what I was running over in July though. It was a fantastic day, and virtually no wind. The only hiccup was trying to take the boat out at the ramp. There was a older gentleman trying to launch. He managed to get his rig sideways at the bottom of the ramp taking up both lanes. Then he didn't want to get his boots and jeans wet but his boat was not in the water deep enough to get it to float off the trailer. I was in the boat and couldn't help and everyone at the launch was just watching to show. He finally managed to muscle it off but it took at least 20 minutes. Oh well just makes it more interesting.

[ElkTalker]

Great report!! I wish I could fish it one more time this year. Maybe I will drive by during hunting season to see the channels.

Thanks ET

[FallRiverGuy]

Thanks for the report. I am itching to get back and your report might have put me over the edge.

Was there any evidence of the algea bloom? Did you happen to get a reading of the surface water temperature? We were 28 degree this morning at home so the water should be cooling some.

[chukardave1]

It's funny you mention the temperature. On the way up Saturday morning my truck read 27* at one point. Thought/hoped it was wrong. We were wearing shorts. It was cold when we launched and at the ramp the temp registered 48*. Maybe the water kept the air around the lake warmer and 27* was a real temp coming through Lapine. Water temp was 65* in the deschutes channel and by the dam 71* Forgot to mention also that all bites came at 25-27' on the downrigger in 32-40' of water.

[chukardave1]

Oh. And no visual of any algae bloom that I could tell. Was looking, saw some kids swimming and waterskiers/jetskiers. Forgot to look closely and see if there were any notices posted on the bulletin board at the ramp.

[Aufish101]

Thanks for the report. Sure like to get there too, but a work thing has me all land locked up for another month!

I would also like to see how the channels are when it is low, maybe I could even find some of my dodgers I lost in the spring!

Aufish101

[moknots]

THanks for the great report!

[TakeEm]

Thanks for a great report!