Fishing Report 5-17/18-06

It was great to get out and chase some browns after pounding nothing but bull trout all spring. Don't get me wrong, I really love getting into the bull trout. Especially the bigger ones. But after 3 straight months of guide trips fishing for nothing but bull trout, I was ready for a change.

My associate from California, Mark, was up on a family reunion and we got together for an evening and a morning of nothing but brown trout fishing. His brothers Johnny and Phil joined us on Thurs. for a morning outing at East Lake, but let me back up and let you in on my first outing to Wickiup this year.

Mark and I met Wed. afternoon and after some preliminary projects on the boat and tackle we finally got out on "the Wick" around 4:30 p.m. Since we were a little early for the evening flatlining run, we went out to work with the riggers to start with. It was a good call as we hooked up on a nice male brown pushing 6 Lb. He really had me going the way he hit and got it out of the release. I thought he might have been bigger...he was all heart.....great fight and good looking fish. At that point, I realized I had forgot my digital camera and Mark didn't bring his.....so no pix of my first decent brown of the year. We would make up for it later.

We did catch two other browns of 2-3 Lb. flatlining near the dam and along the willows between Davis and Deschutes Arms. Not a bad start for only an evening on the water. I am not a fan of Wickiup early in the year because the fish are so scattered and there is so much water. The best is yet to come at Wickiup this year!

Not wanting to drive all the way back home, I crashed in the truck so I could meet Mark and his brothers early the next morning for our shot at East. The only open ramp is Cinder Hill and the docks aren't out yet so it is a little dicey getting in. Watch your prop as there are rocks just off either side of the ramp.

We got into some fish immediately with Lucky Craft Pointers right out of the gate. Nothing bigger than 15 in., but on the board. When the sun got over the rim and things slowed a little, I made a call to work deeper with the rigger. Things started to click and we got into them with some consistency. We were towing some Yo-Zuri stuff that was working well. They were hitting at 20-30 feet and soon we were connecting often. Mark slammed a nice male that went 5.25 LB. His brother John put a 5 LB. brown on the board as well. I was hoping that Phil would get into a nicer brown to beat his personal best but it didn't happen. He caught quite a few though.

By the time that things had slowed up around 1:00 p.m., We had caught and released 17 browns including the biggest male that Mark caught. That fish was a beautiful hookjaw of a little over 6 LB. It was a great outing and I enjoyed getting to meet John and Phil. They were pretty impressed with the success we had.

East is still really low compared to years past. The ice is almost gone and the water temps are running around 35-37 on top before the sun heats it up. I think a few browns over 10 LB. will come out this year. If you are up there, be sure and stop by the resort to meet the new owner Dave Jones and maybe have lunch. The resort will be up and running full speed soon. They have cabins and boats to rent.

Tight Lines, Rick