Crescent Lake trip

I just looked and I have yurt #4 reserved for anyone that decides to head up to Crescent or Odell this weekend.

Jay

From the hoodoo site:

"We now have three yurts open to rent as well, both summer and winter."

So, your in yurt #4, huh?....In Crescent Lake campground? right next to the resort?

Yep, that's what the receipt says.

Jay,

I'm probally going to be able to make it up on Friday night after work I'll probally head out of Eugene at 6:00 or 7:00.  I've been wanting to fish Odell.  Crescent sounds good also.  I'll bring some wood it looks like the temp is going to be pretty low.  I'll have to head home on sun work on Monday.

Dana

Dana, I'm hoping to leave Portland by 1 or 2. I was thinking of Crescent for macs and browns on Saturday and Odell for kokanee on Sunday. The forcast is for lows in the 20's and highs in the 30's with some snow likely. Let's hope for no wind, at least.

Jay

Looks like the weather is going to be a little better than originally predicted.
I'll be heading up after work.  I'll probally get out of Eugene at 6:00.

Dana

I won't be able to leave Portland before 5pm. It looks like I won't get there until 9 or so.

Jay

I guess you guys didn't do anything to write about after i left ?

I don't have time to write a full story, here's a synopsis:

I decided to show up on Friday evening to give Crescent Lake a try Saturday with Steelheadr and Yaksurf.

I showed up earlier and got a fire going

the guys showed up after 9:00 pm, dark already

sat around fire for an hour

dogs barked at Raccoons(alot of raccoons..did i mention, ALOT?)

lady yelled at me for dogs barking at Raccoons..(yea!! happy birthday to me..)

went to sleep(refer to dogs barking at Raccons) in the yurt.yes the dogs were in said yurt, yes they barked at the marauding Raccoons..umm, occasionally might not be the word..maybe, often?

Found out why dogs barked at said Raccoons following morning.Raccoons broke into canopy of truck and ate all there dog food.

Ahh..Morning..What's this wind?..and at the crack of 11:00 AM when we launched. I fished for an hour or so, left...went home

Missed three epic days on the Rogue..Damn my luck

not sure how the guys did after....

got a few videos from the hero cam, no viewfinder and im hand holding most these shots so it's mostly in frame.

the sound sucks on this camera so the changing music kinda describes the changing conditions in vid two. depending on your musical tastes you might wanna turn it down/up after 1 minute

Looks like Victory at Sea.....

Looks like Victory at Sea.....

who would have thought i had to watch for rogue waves the whole time..

As it turned out, I arrived just before 10pm. Willamette Pass was blanketed in fog, the temp was hovering around the freezing mark and the signs all warned about patchy ice. Great, I've never driven this road and now it's icy and I can't see anything.

It was a nice suprise to see CBY (Roy), Leo and Belle when I got there. It was also great to meet Yaksurf (Dana) for the first time. They had a fire warming the yurt and a campfire going outside. After an hour of BS around the fire, it was time for me to hit the rack. We didn't really talk about getting up at any certain time...oops.







Being the early risers we are, we assessed the raccoon damage from the night before and then we were on the water by the crack of 11 and heading out to do battle. The wind was already up and causing 2-3 foot wind waves ouside the slightly protected bay. Since we concentrated on the north end of the lake, nearest the launch, the west wind was blowing waves directly broadside, keeping us nice and wet. Unfortunately, the fish didn't seem sorry for us at all.








Roy called it a day first and decided to fish down lower with a friend near Dexter. Dana thought better about fighting the winds and headed to the comfort of the yurt. My stubbornness forced me to stay out another couple of hours. Man was that stupid!!! By the time I got back to the yurt, I was exhausted. I didn't even get a bit to show for my efforts. To rub a bit of salt in the wound, the winds died down about 5 pm and the lake became nice and calm. Not to waste fishing time, Yaksurf and I sat on the end of the boat ramp and cast like fishermen for another hour or so...same result, no bites.

Roy guessed it...nothing much changed in the fishing department after he left. Yaksurf and I battled extremely aggressive raccoons the entire time we were trying to make and eat dinner, chicken tikka masala and rice, mmmmmmmm.







Sunday morning we hit the water about 9 after listening to early morning winds die down. The water in the launch bay was almost glassy compared to Saturday. We decided to troll a CCW loop around the lake, to the far side where fish had been caught recently, although not in great numbers. Great scenery and calm, easy paddling were the order of the morning. Victory at Sea was fading fast.






As we turned to cross the lake, a small breeze came up from the west, as it was Saturday. This was a cold wind that was hitting us broadside. The waves were nothing compared to what we'd already dealt with. Saturday seemed like being on a highly disorganized ocean, minus the salt and fish!

We got across and started drifting along the southern beaches at 1.5-2mph, no paddling except to stay straight. The winds continued to increase in strength until they were nearly as bad as Saturday. After being out over 5 hours, I was completely done. I turned and headed back across the north end of the lake to the launch at Simax Bay. After paddling about 45 minutes I hit the beach and sat down to take a nice break. About 20 minutes later, Yaksurf arrived, legs a bit wobbly after another hard day of peddling. Between the 2 of us, we 'think' we felt 2 or 3 possible hits but no real action on any of the lures we tried. From the lodge, I only heard of 1 laker taken that weekend. Yaksurf left for home that evening with a grin but no fish to show.

Monday morning came in with a bang...lots of heagh winds and heavy rain. This didn't look good for a third day in a row. I got up to survey the lake and there was a familiar look to the water, boiling and angry. I decided that a warm house, jacuzzi and happy dogs sounded better than a half day of strugglle with little chance of catching anything. So I packed up and headed for home...through tons of heavy rain all the way back to Eugene.

Crescent Lake may have lots of fish to catch...but this weekend was about seeing old friends, meeting new ones and paying your dues for the good days of kayak fishing ahead!

Jay, you may be suffering in the fish catching department latelly but your story telling skills are all time right now.  Nice read!  Thanks for letting us know how the rest of the trip went.

-Mark-