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Went camping with the family at Lost Lake last week. WAY more people up there than I figured for an end of September week. Must've had something to do with ODFW scheduling a trophy stocking for that week.
Saw dozens of guys flinging everything from power bait to flies and all manner of lures in between - no one catching fish. Bunch of them grumbling and griping about not catching anything for hours of effort.
Our 2nd day there, we decided to bust out our "secret" bait (cuz we forgot it in camp on day one) - pre cooked medium sized salad shrimp.
My kiddo landed 3, and I brought in one. ONe of kiddos could be released, the others were destined for the stringer because of hook swallowing.
My one and only fish that day was a 24 inch spawned out recycled steelhead stocked in as a trophy.
Kiddos fish were 10-13 inchers - not shabby for a 4 year old using a 2' Zebco.
Big girl cut as white as sea bass
She had no spunk in her fight either. I brought her in on a 5'6" ultra light outfit, and it was like leading a trained dog on a leash. The little guys fought way harder.
Had some fun back at camp though:
Kiddos smallest fit nicely down the gullet of the big girl with just the tail sticking out.
All the fish we caught were skinny - they looked starved which made little sense. LOTs of bug hatches while we were there, and the crawfish were thick as fleas. Plenty to eat in the lake obviously.
I wish I could've caught a hold over fish as long as the big one - one that had time to fatten up and gain back some color and flavor to the meat! A buddy asked if I caught a freshwater barracuda, because of the big head and skinny body.
We also caught a few cutthroat out of the Nehalem - took a bit to figure out what they wanted - small flatfish and panther marten spinners were the ticket, though I missed a BIG fish at my feet on a gold spoon. It was either a bigass trout or a smaller summer steelhead. Would've liked to land it either way.
Also picked up some nice trout on spinners at the lake later in the week. The key was fishing closer to shore and in the wood. My best lure fish (about 13 or 14 inches) of the week hit almost under my feet as I was fishing on the woody debris - water maybe 18 inches deep, only maybe 10 feet off shore. She was hiding under the logs in the shade.
Saw dozens of guys flinging everything from power bait to flies and all manner of lures in between - no one catching fish. Bunch of them grumbling and griping about not catching anything for hours of effort.
Our 2nd day there, we decided to bust out our "secret" bait (cuz we forgot it in camp on day one) - pre cooked medium sized salad shrimp.
My kiddo landed 3, and I brought in one. ONe of kiddos could be released, the others were destined for the stringer because of hook swallowing.
My one and only fish that day was a 24 inch spawned out recycled steelhead stocked in as a trophy.
Kiddos fish were 10-13 inchers - not shabby for a 4 year old using a 2' Zebco.
Big girl cut as white as sea bass
She had no spunk in her fight either. I brought her in on a 5'6" ultra light outfit, and it was like leading a trained dog on a leash. The little guys fought way harder. Had some fun back at camp though:
Kiddos smallest fit nicely down the gullet of the big girl with just the tail sticking out.
All the fish we caught were skinny - they looked starved which made little sense. LOTs of bug hatches while we were there, and the crawfish were thick as fleas. Plenty to eat in the lake obviously.
I wish I could've caught a hold over fish as long as the big one - one that had time to fatten up and gain back some color and flavor to the meat! A buddy asked if I caught a freshwater barracuda, because of the big head and skinny body.
We also caught a few cutthroat out of the Nehalem - took a bit to figure out what they wanted - small flatfish and panther marten spinners were the ticket, though I missed a BIG fish at my feet on a gold spoon. It was either a bigass trout or a smaller summer steelhead. Would've liked to land it either way.
Also picked up some nice trout on spinners at the lake later in the week. The key was fishing closer to shore and in the wood. My best lure fish (about 13 or 14 inches) of the week hit almost under my feet as I was fishing on the woody debris - water maybe 18 inches deep, only maybe 10 feet off shore. She was hiding under the logs in the shade.
