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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Crescent Lake, 6/16-6/17/2018  (Read 1253 times)

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Clayman

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Newport, OR
  • Date Registered: Feb 2017
  • Posts: 778
Thanks again to everyone who posted suggestions for a Wickiup/Odell camping trip last week.  We ultimately decided on Crescent Lake, just a short ways south of Odell.  Scored a sweet lakeside campsite at Spring Campground on the south shore, and stayed there for the last two nights.  Although fishing wasn't the main focus of this trip, I put in some morning hours jigging for kokanee.  There's an 80-90 foot hole on the south end of the lake with a bit of weed cover on the bottom, and it was loaded with 9-11 inch kokanee.  There were schools of kokanee at the 40-60 foot range, but every fish I hooked in the mid-depths was a 6-8 inch dink.  All the "big" guys were right off the bottom.  Chartreuse was the color they wanted, and it outfished all the other colors I tried by a long shot.  I landed over fifty kokanee between the two mornings, I only stopped because the limit is five a day and you get tired of reeling in kokanee after a while.

I picked up two "by-catch" species while targeting the kokes.  The first one was a big mountain whitefish, a new kayak species for me.  Hooked him in 90 FOW, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I'd hooked as I was reeling him up: too heavy for a kokanee, but not heavy enough for a mackinaw.  Goofy-looking fish.  I look forward to frying that one up!  The second was a solid 25 inch mackinaw, which I identified immediately when I set the hook into dead weight.  Took 20 or 30 minutes to bring her up on the light kokanee tackle.  I'd love to return to Crescent in the winter or spring to target macks.  I loved chasing those "bowling balls with fins" in NE California.

So if you're looking for an easy-peasy 5-fish limit of little kokes, Crescent is a great place to visit right now!
aMayesing Bros.


rogerdodger

  • Fish Retriever
  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • roger
  • Location: Florence OR
  • Date Registered: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 1490
excellent, growing up I would occasionally catch a whitefish in the streams of the Blue Mts and Wallowa area, very tasty fish.
2019 Hobie Outback (Fish Retriever)



C_Run

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Independence, OR
  • Date Registered: Apr 2011
  • Posts: 1214
How was the whitefish to eat? We caught several on our recent summer steelhead outing here in the Willamette Zone but let them all go.

Nice report, thanks.


Clayman

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Newport, OR
  • Date Registered: Feb 2017
  • Posts: 778
Thanks guys!  As much as I love the coast, it was nice to get back to my "roots" of fishing large mountain lakes for salmonids.

I'll let you know how the whitefish tasting goes.  I've never eaten them before.  My research says they're oily and excellent for smoking, but are also great pan-fried.  Given that I only have one, I'll likely do the pan-fry method.
aMayesing Bros.


rogerdodger

  • Fish Retriever
  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • roger
  • Location: Florence OR
  • Date Registered: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 1490
Thanks guys!  As much as I love the coast, it was nice to get back to my "roots" of fishing large mountain lakes for salmonids.

I'll let you know how the whitefish tasting goes.  I've never eaten them before.  My research says they're oily and excellent for smoking, but are also great pan-fried.  Given that I only have one, I'll likely do the pan-fry method.

we treated them just like the little rainbows we were targeting, pan fried or cooked in a campfire in foil...cooking them whole let us peel off the fillets and leave most the bones attached to the backbone.
2019 Hobie Outback (Fish Retriever)



Nobaddays

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Central Oregon
  • Date Registered: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 409
I have only tried the whitefish smoked, but tey were pety good.  If you decide you like them, come to Central Oregon.  We have lots of them in our rivers.

Chris- Glad you had a good trip.  Cresent is a beautiful area and a fun place to fish.
Being retired, they pay me when I go fishing, therefore I am kind of a professional fisherman.


Clayman

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Newport, OR
  • Date Registered: Feb 2017
  • Posts: 778
I cooked up the whitefish last night.  Nothing fancy, just a light breading and pan-fry.  Great texture, mild flavor.  If I didn't have access to ocean bottomfish, I could see whitefish being a great substitute.

I also cooked up a few kokanee in foil boats, and of course they were amazing.  Which may not have been fair to the whitefish  :D.
aMayesing Bros.


 

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