Howard Prairie 04-28-2010

Rick on Rogue · 04-28-2010, 12:43 PM

Just got home from Howard Prairie. We hit snow at m/m 8 and it was sticking on the road at m/m 11. This is at 0530. At the summit it was about 1 1/2 inches deep. As we descended the other side it turned to slush near the junction. We launched about 0615, and the parking lot at Klum Landing was a sheet of ice. The air temp was 28 and the water temp was 45.6. We tossed our stuff in right away as we trolled out from the dock. Ron's stuff got attacked first and he reeled in a nice little 12 incher. We trolled west in about 37 feet of water and as soon as it started to get shallower than that, we turned and headed towards the floating rest rooms. We were getting hit constantly but only about half of them hooked up. We had 4 in the box and were just rounding the restrooms and whamo Ron had a humongous take down and we knew it was a good one. he worked it a while and I reeled in his other pole to get it out of the way, and got the net. It turned out to be a real nice fat Rainbow 17 inches long, a quality Howard Prairie rainbow like they used to be. I on the other hand, could only manage the 12-14 inch stuff, but they were fun anyway. We made another loop around the restrooms and Ron did it again, with another almost twin to the first nice one. He was using a 1/2 brass1/2 nickel dodger and a triple teaser with a Gulp Maggot in natural color. I was using a Gold Plated Vance's dodger and a UV Sockeye Slammer with maggot too but just couldn't attract any of the big ones. We had 10 in the box by 10:00 and decided that we had had enough of the snowstorm. One good thing is that the wind wasn't blowing, but it snowed the whole time. The snow was turning to slush by 10:30 though and we ran out of it about m/m 11 on the way home. I am sure glad that Ron's heater in the boat was working good. It made it all worthwhile not being cold.

FrogPond · 04-28-2010, 01:11 PM

thanks for the report.

I loved fishing that lake in college...memories of breakfast on the coleman sitting on the bow of the 14' john boat & fishing. One guy cooking, one guy driving, and one guy eating bacon & eggs in a pancake!

Waaaayyyy better than going to class!

trout bum · 04-28-2010, 01:29 PM

Nice report, thanks. Hoping the weekend looks good, after this storm passes.

skeetshtr · 04-28-2010, 02:19 PM

Rick,Thanks for the great report. Living at the other end of the state its nice to hear reports from places I dont get to fish often.

Your reports are so detailed I almost feel like I was there fishing myself.

Fisherman_Shane · 04-28-2010, 03:45 PM

Good Job guys!!!!

Raining_Kings · 04-28-2010, 04:45 PM

I was up there at Howard Prarie just last weekend for the opener. Got up there on Thrusday afternoon - there was still snow on the ground at Willow Creek where we were camping. We ended up fishing Fish Lake on friday (skunked). But Howard was a different story for us...

They changed their stocking program since the Illegal bass introduction years ago and now put in 150000 juvenille trout last fall in the hopes that the bass won't get to them that late, as opposed to the fingerling "snacks" they were doing in the spring. Seemed to work - we caught easy limits and only one fish below 13", the rest of them were fat 16-18" for us. Moved around a lot on Saturday tying to find the best bite, was with my brother and he's not a troller. Did manage to talk him into it for a bit and went 1-3. Finally settled in at Red Rocks on Saturday afternoon and Green Sparkle Powerbait was the winner for us. Limited on Sunday in just over an hour anchored offshore near the campground.

Sun came out and melted the snow for us, and Saturday and Sunday were georgous days to be camping. Had a great time, and will be there next year for the opener as well. That will make 5 years in a row, but this year was the best fishing for us. Welcome back Howard Prairie!

Blacktail53 · 05-01-2010, 03:28 PM

I was up there last Thursday and had a chat with the Marina Manager.
He told me that almost everyone was catching quality trout and the fish cleaning booth was popular all day long.

Best fish he personally saw come in was 21 inches and 4.5 pounds.
A darn nice rainbow anywhere!

Rick on Rogue · 05-03-2010, 03:34 AM

Steve and I went to Howard again on Sunday morning. We launched at 0745, and only one trailer in the lot at Klum Landing. It was overcast (Low clouds or high fog) hid the sun till about 0930, then the sun came out and it was very nice. There were a few little breezes and by 1030 there was a wind coming down the lake, so hiding behind Buck island was the place to be. by 1045 we had caught and released 7, 12 to 13 inch trout and I finally hooked into a very nice 17 inch fish and he went into the live well to make the trip to my frying pan. There were about 12 boats anchored in the "bay" at Buck Island when we left at 1130. Maybe they know something we don't???? There were quite a few bank fishermen between Klum Landing and the dam, and they were getting some fish too. Going to Lost Creek Lake next time.

aosteelheader · 05-03-2010, 02:10 PM

Today I went up to Howard with my daughter, a friend of ours and his daughter.
We put in a Klum Landing and rowed across to the Island where we usually catch fish. While it was nice and sunny we didn't get bit once. Then it started to lightly rain and we went to the Island for a little walk about and moved to a different spot. The rain stayed and we tried to wait it out but it wasn't going away any time soon.
We ended up with 3 fish the biggest about 13 inches.
That got the Howard Prairie out of my blood for another five years or so!
It's back to springer fishing for me. At least that's been good, and will continue to get better.