I couldn't believe that I was finally heading to LBC for the first time this year. More than three weeks after the Metolius Arm opening, I was just now getting out. Part of the problem is that larger bulls or even legal fish (24 in.) have been on the decline for the past couple of years. The reports I was getting from friends and associates, since the March 1 opening, was a lot of juvenile bulls showing with a handful of fish over 20 in. Far from the glory days of 2006-2007 when you could expect 4-6 legal bulls per day with the chance of a 10 LB. bull in the mix!

With a great weather forecast, we got out around 8:30 and decided to work the area just outside the new fish tower. We did mark a lot of fish suspended but no takers. Our next stop was the 1,000 yard run north the island on The Warm Springs Res. side. I will never forget the best guide trip I ever had back in 2007 ( check out the report archives for 3-14-07 for the full report) with friends, Rick Coffin and Jerry Helmers. Within a couple of hours that morning, we landed bulls of 7.5, 7.5, 8, 9.5, 10 and topped out with an 18 LB. monster! They all came from this run right across from the island.

We were excited to see some kokanee working the top in the 20 foot depth range but didn't find any bulls that liked our offerings. Kelly was pulling a 5 in. Lyman and I had a Bomber B-16 in kokanee pattern off a shallow running rigger. The water is in the usual spring off color turnover from the dam to about Box Canyon before the clearing starts. That was a next run.

I had heard that a lot of kokanee were showing around Perry South. We found them from right below Box Canyon to all the way up into the Metolius Arm past Perry South. I was impressed with the size and balls we were seeing. Greater numbers than I had seen in the past couple of years. That should bode well for bigger bulls in the next few years. After an initial run through, we marked a lot of fish in a trough from 65-70 feet spread along the bottom ten feet. After dragging several lures through them without a bite, we decided to do a little jigging to see just what they were. Almost immediately, we were both into one kokanee after another. They were jumping on the Pro-Troll E-Chip jigs. In less than ten minutes, we both had 3 each. No bulls but a lot of kokanee. Since we were more interested in sticking a nice bull, we abandoned the jigging and took off trolling back toward the dam.

I decided to experiment a little and put down a 9 in. Slingblade ( Shasta Tackle Co.) in chrome/blue ladder back. For the lure, I put on a Pro-Troll E-Lure (4.5 model) in Copcar. I set the rigger at 60 feet in water of 125 and sat back to enjoy the views and a bald eagle that just showed himself as he scouted for a kokanee along the surface. As we were making a slow turn, I saw my rod start the tell tale bounce of a hooked fish. Simultaneously, Kelly's rod bounced as well. His didn't stick but mine did and we slowed the boat to enjoy the fight. It was a nice hen bull that was 6 LB. on the Bogagrip scale but she didn't quite tape out to the magic 24 in. After a couple of photos, we dropped her back to fatten up on the plentiful kokanee that were very abundant in that area.

On the way back to the ramp, we gave the island another shot to no avail. We decided to work Kelly's favorite run we call "Slim Shady" and at the end of the run, my outside rigger rod, running a lure at 20 feet, started to bounce. I got it out of the release and tightened up on an 18 in. bull that had my TX Minnow sideways in its mouth. It was a slow day with only those two bulls and of course the 6 kokanee we could have easily limited on if we wanted to stay with that drill.

I was a fun day and I enjoyed getting out with Steve again......it brought back a lot of memories of the DVD and the great time we had doing that on one of Central Oregon's most beautiful and magical lakes.

Tight Lines,
Rick