Lake Billy Chinook 1-20-05

Since Steve Kelly has lost about 35 lbs. over the last two years, he has finally taken exception to my old nickname for him,"Greaser." Since he ran his first Marathon this fall, I have decided give him a new one, "Marathon Man." We do have too much fun fishing together! Yesterday was no exception. ...

We decided to get up there early and it was just getting light as we prepared to launch. The forecast had called for rain but is was just overcast with a light breeze to start the day. Just what the doctor ordered. The first fish came around 8:00 and was a bull of around 6 lb. We followed up with 3 more bulls over the next 3 hours. The fish were like clones all running between 4-6 lbs. We were picking them up from 60-100 feet and what we saw on the graph dictated what we did. The "hot spot" turns out to be right straight out from the ramp towards the cliffs in water of 150-280 feet. The pattern we have observed so far this winter is very similar to what we have seen over the last three winters. The exception being that we are not seeing the kokanee schools we have seen in the past. What schools we do see have some bulls working them and those are what target.

I have an article coming out in the March issue of Salmon, Trout, Steelheader that addresses what is going on in the fishery in regard to the predator/prey relationship with the bull trout and the kokanee. The PGE biologists have some concerns about the data they have collected and what the future of the lake might be. We are catching some longer, leaner bulls than we have in the past. I am interested in seeing the condition
of the bull trout we catch as the season progresses.

It was so much warmer this week and we were loving it! It probably got to around 60 degrees by midday and the breeze laid down with the last of the cloud cover moving east by noon. We even took a ride up the Metolius Arm to Chinook Island to check it out. We were surprised to find no kokanee activity at all on top or on the graph. We didn't mark much of anything. Back to the Crooked arm we went and spent the rest of the afternoon working the surest thing we knew. Around 1:00 I picked up a fat 6 lb. bull that hit on one of Allan Cole's new and improved 8" "Skinnies." This is a custom wood carved, jointed lure with a rubber tail. I have been experimenting with them for Allan this fall and winter and the new version is holding up at depths to 120 feet without cracking. Something that most wooden lures don't do.

Around 4:00 we got into a better bite again and managed to catch and release another 3 bulls that all fell between 4-6 lb. We were using several lures including Shad Raps, A/C Skinnies and some Bomber products to name a few. All of the fish came at depths of 60-100 feet just like the morning pattern. We ended up catching and releasing 8 bulls for the day and as usual enjoyed the beauty of this unique canyon lake. I'm planning on being up at the lake next week so check back for another report by next weekend.

Sreamin' Drags, Rick