Cultus lake 10/18.First laker!

Well I had to be in central Oregon to ship cattle Sunday morning and seeding is over so I got sat off.so I thought what the hell I will take the yak.got to the lake around 7 to find it flat as glass.cloudy and wet but knew it was going to clear.

54° water and no idea where to start.so I prowled around looking for humps,ledges,and drops on the ff.started marking fish about 2 hrs in all the while trolling a deep 6 and a coyote spoon.after many lure changes and a switch to a 6oz cannon ball on a 12" dropper. I was running a green and red U20 flatfish behind it. Hadn't got any bites so I decided to reel up and swap lures but about half way up Slam!! After a few min battle I had a nice 19 inch miny Mac in the net.

Looks like a nice day. Ive always wanted to fish Cultus. Ive driven in there a few times but havent been in the water yet. I always end up across the road at Crane.

I was going to go to Odell or Crescent but didn't have that much time.I don't think they are as big or numerous because the forage base isn't the same at the other 2 lakes.

Nice fish.  I still haven't caught a laker yet.

Nice fish Yaktastic. Needless to say I'm jealous after getting skunked at Odell earlier this year. You and USP are pulling away from me. I'm not even providing you with good sport at this point! 

I have plans, though... oh yes... I have plans.

Sweet!  A nice laker is definitely on the wish list.  Too bad I have probably less than two weeks before the lake I want to hit freezes over solid.  Maybe next spring....

Nice work! That's a serious fishing yak you've got there!

Nice work! That's a serious fishing yak you've got there!

Its been good to me.

Sweet!  A nice laker is definitely on the wish list.  Too bad I have probably less than two weeks before the lake I want to hit freezes over solid.  Maybe next spring....

2 of the 3 Oregon laker lakes will be closed at the end of Oct regardless of snow or ice.

Nice fish Yaktastic. Needless to say I'm jealous after getting skunked at Odell earlier this year. You and USP are pulling away from me. I'm not even providing you with good sport at this point! 

I have plans, though... oh yes... I have plans.

Let's go next spring.

I've fished Cultus many times, all of which were on a power boat though. The method you describe is exactly what has worked for me. That lake is pretty shallow near the only launch at the campground. The far end of the lake is much deeper and I find holds the largest volumes of Mac's. That's quite a paddle on a yak just to get there and then start trolling and a long paddle back. Then again that lake is known to be one of the most productive for lakers.

Ya its a good steam back there. I trolled once I hit 60ft.the fish seemed to be in pods.pre spawn.the first bunch I hit was in 90fow then nothing till I hit the rockslides on the north shore on the west end.

I catch a lot of lake trout with Flatfish and Kwickfish lures in various colors.  Don't be afraid to go big with these lures.  Lake trout like big lures.  Keep in mind that lake trout routinely swallow fish which are half their length.  Because I downrigger troll only a few feet above the bottom, an advantage of those lures is that they float, so if I slow up or turn my kayak, the lure will tend to float up, rather than sinking to the bottom and possibly getting snagged.  I've started experimenting with putting a small strip of cut bait on the front hook, which seems to be working well.  Keep the cut bait narrow and on the front hook so you don't interfere with the wobble action, and check the lure's action before you hook it up to your downrigger.

A disadvantage of Flatfish and Kwickfish lures is that they have a lot of drag, so if you are trolling deep and start moving your kayak too fast, you may pull your downrigger weight back out of the cone of your sonar and consequently won't be able to see where it is with respect to the bottom.  When downrigger trolling more than about 80 feet deep, I tend to use floating non-diving Rapala-style lures, which have a lot less drag than Flatfish and Kwickfish lures.

I Noticed that.always pulled more with the flatfish. would herring or anchovy strips work like they do on Chinook when you wrap flatfish?

would herring or anchovy strips work like they do on Chinook when you wrap flatfish?

Sure.  I think that anything which has some flavor makes a lake trout more interested in chomping a lure, and banding some cut bait onto a Flatfish probably creates less drag than hooking it on a hook, and has less impact on the lure's wobble action.  But banding cut bait is more of a hassle than sticking it on a hook, and I'm lazy.

I'm giving it a try next spring.thanks pmmpete