Oregon Lake Trout

I just found a thread on IFish talking about Cresent Lake Macks.  The photos on this IFish thread of big Mack's coming up from clear deep water are pretty impressive.   The guy with the photos claims 30 fish over three days averaging 18lbs while jigging.  Some of them are easily 30" fish (i.e. 210 glorious AOTY points).

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=172332

This report is from late Oct/early Nov of last year, fish but I'm guessing they can be caught during spring and fall this way as well. 

Cresent Lake is also near Odell Lake which holds the Oregon State record for Mackinaw.

Anyway, yet another fishing possibility to think about.  Maybe we can plan a group camping/fishing trip.  I'll look into camping sites on/near Cresent and Odell lakes.

Brian

Them's some Heeuuuge Macks! Looks like a lot of fun.

Z

  those are some nice fish. Sounds like a must do trip. I was looking at the regs for this lake and Odell and typical trout regs at Crescent with 1 over 30" lake trout per day in the 5 total. But on Odell you can keep 25 Kokanee ...25? Is this place overrun with em or what? Are they trying to reduce the number of Kokes?

those are some nice fish. Sounds like a must do trip. I was looking at the regs for this lake and Odell and typical trout regs at Crescent with 1 over 30" lake trout per day in the 5 total. But on Odell you can keep 25 Kokanee ...25? Is this place overrun with em or what? Are they trying to reduce the number of Kokes?

My girlfriend's brother's wife's mother (yes, really!!!) and her friends go to Odell every year.  There are A LOT of kokes in that lake.  Why do you think the mack's get so damn big.  Dinner time!!!

-Allen

Evidently, one of the methods for fishing lake trout at Odell and Cresent is to look for large schools (i.e. bait balls) of kokes and fish below them.

I wonder if you can legally use kokes as bait?  I'm guessing no, but I bet it would work wonders.

Brian

One word of caution about Crescent... the winds up there can be horrendous, so bad that 18' Alumawelds call it a day when they kick up. 

Thanks for the tip on the wind. Any idea if there is a less-windy time of year? 

Tips on jiggin for Lakers...
Lake trout follow jigs and trolling gear and will often not even hit unless they are triggered...I find that Huge bait is a must...No need for the 10 lbers...Go for the hogs...Ive brought up 40 lbers with 20 lbers hanging out of the mouth or gutloads of baitfish spitting out...So jigging for them is allot different than jiggin for Walleye or an arm lift type of jig...
Example...Jiggin 100 foot of water...Using a 1 foot piece of belly meat cut from the front set of pectoral fins down past the second set and tapered off at the anal fin to form a snake like flat fluttery piece of Laker candy...You will hook up a 2 ounce or more bucktail-jig with a trailer hook(trebble if your allowed) attached with braided or steel line...
So you drop it down and stop it still 3 times at various depths...Once its down there you reel it up 5-10 feet as fast as you can....Pause(4 secs)...reel it up 10-15 feet...Pause...drop...emphasis on as fast as you can...often your hit will come as you are reeling as fast as you can...your rod is loaded heavy so the trick is to drop the rod tip down as it loads without letting the fish sense it and then reef the hook set...Now I reel up and pause all the way up to the boat because the fish will follow it up to the surface and hit it right there...they are aggressive while jigging so ya gotta be aggressive too...My largest Laker was caught doing this and it was 55 lbs 46 inches by 25 1/2 girth...

Some hot Laker lures and bait rigs...
Flatfish with belly meat on the back hook, so when the flatty is going one way its going the other way...like a snake...The piece of meat needs to be the size of the lure and it should be tapered...

Rigging a koke with a spinner in front and a trailer hook in the tail...Will work awesome...I usually use arctic grayling or small rainbow trout...lol...Im not sure what the laws are...lol...Sorry to offend the trout gods...But Ive once caught 13 trophies in a single day(trophy up here is 36 inches+) using this method...The trick is not to lose the bait on each fish...Spider thread the head to the front J hook so that once the first head shake from a fish occurs the tail releases and the bait is on the outside of the mouth...

Good luck...I miss this kind of fishing so badly...Im envious...

WWQCI ... good to see you back and posting.

10 pounds down here is a HOG.  So how would you approach things if you were specifically targeting the 5-10 pounders?

Not sure on the legalities of trout as bait, but I have used herring strips on the jigs, and some people use squawfish strips.

-Allen

nope...no little strips...I was looking at the pics on that link and a 36 incher that big could easily take the baits Im talking about...But if you were looking for more action and less weaning out of little guys Id just downsize to 7 inch belly strips and trust me that they arent weary of it and will hit it no problem...These guys eat huge schooling baitfish in the summer when they are deep...They gorge and dont feed for awhile and gorge again...A big meal is preferable in the summer and fall...And in spring when disolved oxygen is right they are shallow 30 feet looking for baitfish schools in the sand and points that are extended a bit off shore that are adjacent to deeper water...

Dont be a chicken go big...and reel as fast as you can...Downsize the bait a bit for 10 lbers but if there is 36 inchers there than go for the hogs...I always use the mentality that if its perfect bait for the biggest fish in the lake then there is gonna be an opportunist in the crowd and if you downsize your cut your legs off...Think about the points you could get you mean Americans(bitter Ive been snubbed for this AOTY)

Try to locate with the smaller stuff if you have no idea where your fishing...

And when your trolling that bait rig with a spinner you need to adjust your leader length and use appropriote inline weight systems(for this size bait Id use 6 ounce- depending on drift or speed your paddling...

Think about the points you could get you mean Americans(bitter Ive been snubbed for this AOTY)

Where's the love man?  I was thinking about some way to do a mini-AOTY for you northern boys (AK and BC).   

Oh ... thanks for the tips brotha.  I'll try to put them to good use when catching my AOTY leading trout.  I know the 5 pounders will take 10" kokes pretty easily, seen them in the bellies before.

Pisco S, meet you in Chelan in mid to late March?  We can't let them OR boys show us up with their macks.

-Allen

Sounds great...How many members are here? two...lol...Are all you guys afraid of two guys...lol...

Sounds great...How many members are here? two...lol...Are all you guys afraid of two guys...lol...

Come on down and show us how! So far, I think I qualify as the local "expert" with a measly 6lber. I do appreciate the tips and I like the idea of going big. The lakers do seem as opportunistic as lings.

Allen- There's a glut of good big fish fishing in mid-March. Steelhead on the Columbia and tribs, lakers in Chelan, fat triploids in Rufus and Lahontans in Omak. Tough picks.