Hagg Lake underwater stucture...

[INSAYN]

Would it be unreasonable for us anglers to want to see more underwater structure (real or artificial) added in the "no wake zone" so that fish can be given more options to congregate and thrive, as well as give us more areas to target various schools? The size of the lake seems to have fish, but many of those fish are hard to find in any reasonable numbers.

I'd love to find crappie and large yellow perch out there much like a person would find in midwest and eastern states.


I'm not all up on how and what would be the best material to use for said structure, but I'd think some kind of artificial reef of stacked rocks, concrete, or just piles of stumps that are waterlogged or weighted would work, no?

Maybe if there were more places for fish to hide from predators, then maybe they could introduce fish like Walleye, Pike, or Musky? Especially when/if they actually increase the lake size in the future.

[gottafish]

Originally Posted by INSAYN

Would it be unreasonable for us anglers to want to see more underwater structure (real or artificial) added in the "no wake zone" so that fish can be given more options to congregate and thrive, as well as give us more areas to target various schools? The size of the lake seems to have fish, but many of those fish are hard to find in any reasonable numbers.

I'd love to find crappie and large yellow perch out there much like a person would find in midwest and eastern states.


I'm not all up on how and what would be the best material to use for said structure, but I'd think some kind of artificial reef of stacked rocks, concrete, or just piles of stumps that are waterlogged or weighted would work, no?

Maybe if there were more places for fish to hide from predators, then maybe they could introduce fish like Walleye, Pike, or Musky? Especially when/if they actually increase the lake size in the future.

Not going to happen, Oregon dosent want warm water fish. structure could happen , back in michigan we sank christmas trees with cinder blocks tied to them. it was a crappie magnet. I wish they would plant walleye and pike but hagg couldnt support it.

[Green Eyes]

Maybe try contacting someone from Oregon Bass & Panfish club. I know in the past they have organized work parties to put structure in the Willamette, in the cove formed by Cedar Island. I thought some structure was also put in some of the coves at Hagg, but not sure. Would have to agree that it would be a great idea for the warmwater species.
I have put a small amount of structure in a secret hole up the gorge, only using local rocks ect. Worked great, and we have caught some big smallies in that hole.

[bassaholic]

When I fished some club tournies down in cali, our club would gather all the members christmas trees and also dump them in the lake.... Why couldn't we set something like that up here? It doesn't do any harm............

[SOBass]

I'm pretty sure Oregon Bass & Panfish club already has done this. I believe their website has photos of them doing it earlier this year.

[INSAYN]

Originally Posted by SOBass

I'm pretty sure Oregon Bass & Panfish club already has done this. I believe their website has photos of them doing it earlier this year.

Cool beans! I found what you were referring too. I just need to locate where in the lake they plopped them in. But, it does look like someone is already thinking about adding structure out there. It'd be cool to see them air lift a huge tree in and lay it down in the water in the shallow end of the pool, mostly submerged. All the bugs and spiders living in the tree could/would be a feast for many fish.

[veilside180sx]

Back in the mid 90's there was a great deal of christmas trees dropped in the no wake zone.

[bassaholic]

Originally Posted by SOBass

I'm pretty sure Oregon Bass & Panfish club already has done this. I believe their website has photos of them doing it earlier this year.

Right on will check it out....

[Dave Smith]

There's not much left of those old Christmas trees, but at one time, there were quite a few of them. Hagg has had pretty good cover and structure in year's past- Used to even have a few large standing trees. We would catch tons of LM off of them.
The thing that made me loose all hope for Hagg was seeing this old timer cruise the entire lake, all day, every day, with a chainsaw and itchy trigger finger. The guy couldn't WAIT for a tree, any tree, to fall in the lake so he could go cut it up and haul it out. It's like it was his purpose in life to save everyone from the "boating hazard". Watch, with all the budget cuts and loss of revenue and cuts in programs, this full-time position will SOMEHOW be saved.

[Magnum]

There was A LOT of structure installed this year by the Oregon Bass & Panfish club. Check out their website on the March Photos tab.

[Green Eyes]

Cool!!!! Those spider blocks should stay around for a while. Looks like the structure is there, now we just need to go find and mark them (GPS) and start fishing!!! Thanks OBPC

[Gopher]

I second INSAYN's comment of introducuing walleye and maybe even Northern - would make an excellent fishery and add alot of fun to the lake

[bucketmouth]

The OBPC put some structures in Henry Hagg Lake the week before the 2010 season started. The structures were made at the lake and sank in the lake with permission and cooperation of the ODFW.

It's the hope of our club, OBPC, that fish will indeed use the structures for hiding and hanging out places. We were able, for the first time to get permission to put these sturctures in water shallow enough so as to be visible once the water levels begin to drop this summer. People will then know where they are. ODFW was concerned about possible vandalism. We hope no one will mess with the structures during low water conditions.

Crappie, bluegill, bass and perch fishing may improve in the areas of these structures if these fish use them.

Last year the OBPC sank 16 other structures of a different ilk, promoted by Bill Dance. And 5 years ago we sank several more. All in different places with the intent of adding habitat for warm water species. All are in the slow no wake zone.

Here is a pic of what we built and sank this year.

P.S. I volunteered on the christmas tree structure effort back in the 90's. I think Dave is right none or few are left. We placed them on the shore line near water when the lake was very low in the fall. You would be able to see them during low water draw down each fall if they were still there. There is alot more water movement in Hagg Lake then some folks may suspect.

[gottafish]

Originally Posted by bucketmouth

The OBPC put some structures in Henry Hagg Lake the week before the 2010 season started. The structures were made at the lake and sank in the lake with permission and cooperation of the ODFW.

It's the hope of our club, OBPC, that fish will indeed use the structures for hiding and hanging out places. We were able, for the first time to get permission to put these sturctures in water shallow enough so as to be visible once the water levels begin to drop this summer. People will then know where they are. ODFW was concerned about possible vandalism. We hope no one will mess with the structures during low water conditions.

Crappie, bluegill, bass and perch fishing may improve in the areas of these structures if these fish use them.

Last year the OBPC sank 16 other structures of a different ilk, promoted by Bill Dance. And 5 years ago we sank several more. All in different places with the intent of adding habitat for warm water species. All are in the slow no wake zone.

Here is a pic of what we built and sank this year.

P.S. I volunteered on the christmas tree structure effort back in the 90's. I think Dave is right none or few are left. We placed them on the shore line near water when the lake was very low in the fall. You would be able to see them during low water draw down each fall if they were still there. There is alot more water movement in Hagg Lake then some folks may suspect.

Cool what is the black material?

[bucketmouth]

pvc pipe

[INSAYN]

Why was it chosen to have the new structures visible at low water levels if vandalizm could become a problem?

And what about the option of adding some concrete tubes or tunnels for fishcats to hide in?

[Fishnchips]

I heard that there are a couple of HOUSES at the bottom of the lake.
Can anyone confirm this?

[gottafish]

Originally Posted by Fishnchips

I heard that there are a couple of HOUSES at the bottom of the lake.
Can anyone confirm this?

Yea I heard they flooded a small town.

[c_hawks]

Originally Posted by Gopher

I second INSAYN's comment of introducuing walleye and maybe even Northern - would make an excellent fishery and add alot of fun to the lake

go fish the columbia river for walleye! boardman holds the state record! if u want muskie go 2 washington! lake mayfeild an a couple other get stock with tiger muskie! they dont like 2 stock warm water fish in oregon if those fish have a way 2 get out ! they do stock a pond in portland with small an large mouth! not sure how often

[bassfishingnw]

I fished back in 2002 in the BASS Western OPEN in Lake Havasu. The main lake was FULL of these manmade structures! Talk about a GREAT idea!

These structures grow alge which the little fish like to eat. And we all know what bigger fish like to eat!!

Know we need to go find them!

[Fishnchips]

Originally Posted by bassfishingnw

I fished back in 2002 in the BASS Western OPEN in Lake Havasu. The main lake was FULL of these manmade structures! Talk about a GREAT idea!

These structures grow alge which the little fish like to eat. And we all know what bigger fish like to eat!!

Know we need to go find them!

That's true! I lived in Havasu for a few years. They also did the brick and christmas trees. Boy I sure miss fishing for stripers!

[M 10/24]

Originally Posted by gottafish

Yea I heard they flooded a small town.

[de_fishmon]

Originally Posted by gottafish

Yea I heard they flooded a small town.

At one time there was still a small bridge over the old creek bed, but last time I did a dive there it was submerged in the bottom silt with just a few inches of it visable.
Some large concrete culvert mixed with smaller culvert would make a great addition if laced with heavy chain and placed correctly for quite a while. Or even som 'Rip-Rap' ridges would help too.

[INSAYN]

This is where Cash for Clunkers could have been a resourceful supply of structure. Remove all the non metal parts, and degrease it really well, and drop 'em in the lake to rust away.

Just kidding of course.

[ExBassGuide]

There are a couple of rock rip rap running from shore out into DEEP water that holds lots of bass. That's one of my spots I do not talk about alot shhhh.
Roger

[Wreckless]

Originally Posted by Fishnchips

I heard that there are a couple of HOUSES at the bottom of the lake.
Can anyone confirm this?

They moved the houses. One is in Patton Valley now.

What they didn't move was the GIANT pile of cow dung that was from the dairy that operated there. (or was it a feed lot, I can't remember) It made for some GREAT organic ferilizer that first year or so! The first couple of years the trout grew FAST eating all the bugs.

[mkwerx]

I remember when ODFW started planting structure in Hagg back in teh early 90's. My dad & I talked to one lady who was surveying specifically for warm water species caught - and said they were dropping about a hundred tree/cinder block combinations in the northern end of the lake, toward the Scoggins Creek arm. Their goal was to congregate the yellow perch in that end of the lake - or at least that's what the lady said. I don't think that really worked terribly well for them.

It would be nice to see more bottom structure of any sort - all of the creek arms are pretty barren, save for the few ledges/drop offs.

Did the sand bags up in the Saine Creek arm survive last season? I didn't get out much last year as I would've liked.

Also - is the lake expansion still going through or is it a dead subject?

[PRINCEMASTER]

Walleye would be nice for Hagg Lake....but Pike...Naw. A pike nothing more than one big mouth with a tail....LOL

[robbiek]

i heard that they are planning on draining hagg and making it a gravel bottom to help with the mud, and also tearing out whats left of the old town. can any one confirm this?

[Scott Rickard]

RE Hagg expansion... I posted on this in another forum a few days ago...let me try to find a link.

Update: Here's the latest that I'm aware of:

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=300128

[Dave Smith]

Originally Posted by ExBassGuide

There are a couple of rock rip rap running from shore out into DEEP water that holds lots of bass. That's one of my spots I do not talk about alot shhhh.
Roger

Yeah keep it strictly to the world-wide web and nowhere else for sure!

[Bobby Brown]

I heard a rumor that ODFW was trapping Crappie in Freeway Lakes to take to Hagg just a few days ago. Not sure why since the perch population is crazy there. I used an aquaview in several areas over the years and just watched bass swarm through the schools of perch. I was just happy to hear anything warm water related since it seems most of Oregon anglers have a chip on thier shoulder when it comes to HELPING warm water species.

[mkwerx]

Bobby, I understand why those anglers have problems with warm water fish - they're simply not native to the area, and bucket biologists have turned prized trout fisheries into mediocre fisheries. Hagg Lake is an example of a lake that used to have some really outstanding trout fishing, planted rainbows and native cutts. Then someone dumped in bass, yellow perch, and a host of other sunfish. Hagg still has decent trout fishing - but the trout fishery is not what it was two decades ago. The bass fishery isn't either - two decades ago it was kind of rare to land a good bass. Now we've got what, nine state record bass to come out of that lake?

Craine Prairie and Davis are also examples of great trout lakes that've been damaged by the introduction (illegally) of warm water species. The warm water fish are thriving, and the trout fishery has suffered. For a trout fisherman, that's not a good thing, and they'll have a chip on their shoulder for it. Since a lot of Oregonian fisherman would rather see trout than bass in our lakes and rivers - they're going to put pressure on ODFW against promoting bass fisheries.

That said, the lakes, with exception of natural lakes like Davis, that already have bass fisheries in place, couldn't hurt from developing said fisheries, especially given the current economic climate where bass fishing could be bringing in out of state tourist dollars. I'm going to cushion that with the thought that policy (and fisheries law) should always favor native fish in natural bodies of water over imported fish - to me this would include trout. Native trouts to the region should have precedence over non natives like browns, kamplooms, and brookies.

Man made waters that don't have the threat of the introduced species damaging or destroying natural, native fisheries in the waters downstream - I don't care what's stocked so long as they're fun to fish for. I'd love to see Pike and Walleye stocked in a few more lakes (Pike fishing in the Willamette Valley would just be awesome) Hagg wouldn't be a good choice for Pike though - Scoggins Creek does host small runs of steelhead and salmon, and they go right up to the dam to spawn. The chance of pike or walleye getting spilled out of the lake and down into that stream, only to feast on salmon/steelhead fry is too great.

Back on topic though - Hagg could always benefit from more underwater structure, especially in the shallower creek arms. though structure in the deep ares would be good too, since as they draw the lake down, that structure would get shallower. And who knows, maybe some of the lake's monster bottom fish (catfish, big trout, corpses) could move in?

[foxer]

Maybe stock some sturgeon in Hagg?

[mkwerx]

Originally Posted by foxer

Maybe stock some sturgeon in Hagg?

There might already be some down there...

I do know there's some truly big fish that lurk the depths. A few years ago, fishing with my parents out of the boat, we anchored up out toward the middle of the lake near C dock. I hooked into something big - it swam to the front of the boat, then the back of the boat, then went side to side around the stern a couple times, then I got stupid and tried horsing the fish up off the bottom. He busted the main line before I thought to loosen the drag (was using 8lb Trilene). I'm guessing either 1.) Big catfish 2.) Big salmonoid or 3.) One of the huge bass in the lake or last but not least - a zombie (since zombies can walk under water)

I wouldn't terribly be surprised though if someone was to pull a sturgeon out of that lake some time though. Bucket biologists have been known to plant strange fish in stranger places.