Friday fishing at Olallie

[nyersa]

Went up Thursday night with my dad to Olallie, setup camp around 5pm. A few mosquitoes, but not too bad at the Peninsula campground. Fished for an hour or so from the bank that evening, nothing at all. Next day rented a rowboat around 8am or so and fished till around 6pm. It was really slow fishing. Got a couple bites with a nightcrawler and a small splitshot drifting across the middle of the lake, but then that was it till around 3pm. Then back around the peninsula campground I picked up two rainbows around 14" or so, one on a black whooley bugger jig, and the second on a black and silver panther martin. Both were picked up when doing a slow to medium troll in about 15' - 20' of water. Saturday morning packed up and came back home, looked like it was REALLY windy out on the lake that morning though. Here is what didn't work:

powerbait (pink, yellow, and green balls)
numerous different jigs/wet flies
nightcrawlers
numerous different spinners

I saw quite a few fish down there, just couldn't figure out what they wanted, and I didn't see anyone else nailing them either really (and there were a hell of a lot of people up there trying...)

 

[AtmosphericWrath]

Went up Thursday night with my dad to Olallie, setup camp around 5pm. A few mosquitoes, but not too bad at the Peninsula campground. Fished for an hour or so from the bank that evening, nothing at all. Next day rented a rowboat around 8am or so and fished till around 6pm. It was really slow fishing. Got a couple bites with a nightcrawler and a small splitshot drifting across the middle of the lake, but then that was it till around 3pm. Then back around the peninsula campground I picked up two rainbows around 14" or so, one on a black whooley bugger jig, and the second on a black and silver panther martin. Both were picked up when doing a slow to medium troll in about 15' - 20' of water. Saturday morning packed up and came back home, looked like it was REALLY windy out on the lake that morning though. Here is what didn't work:

powerbait (pink, yellow, and green balls)
numerous different jigs/wet flies
nightcrawlers
numerous different spinners

I saw quite a few fish down there, just couldn't figure out what they wanted, and I didn't see anyone else nailing them either really (and there were a hell of a lot of people up there trying...)

Hey appreciate the report as I am heading up very early Monday AM. Yeah it's often slow this time of year and doesn't pick up until September. I think that's due to the fact the fish have been eating insects for weeks and weeks and are quite simply full, so they either aren't aggressive nor hungry. Also the warmer temps recently may contribute a bit, but it's likely the insect feeding. I'll try casting bubble and an assortment of flies early in the morning, then perhaps various powerbait or casting lures. Glad to hear there weren't a great deal of Mosquitoes, although I am preparing for the worst. Hopefully the wind is blowing a bit anything over 10-15mph and they seem to disperse a good bit. I'm usually off the bank down the road a bit, but well before Camp 10 Campground. I'd really like to target brookies along the drop offs as we've had pretty good success landing some 13-15" past few years and seen much larger ones as well. I'll give a detailed report either Monday night or Tuesday.

-Rob

 

[nyersa]

No problem, one thing that I didn't have with me was dry flies, and later on in the day I did see quite a bit of action on the surface, so you might give them a try. It looked like there was a hatch of some sort going on, but I am a total novice when it comes to fly fishing so I am not sure on the insect ID... maybe a mayfly of some sort? They were mayfly in shape, dark tan, and ~ 1.5cmx1cm. I saw quite a few dead ones on the surface floating... Let me know how you do

Hey appreciate the report as I am heading up very early Monday AM. Yeah it's often slow this time of year and doesn't pick up until September. I think that's due to the fact the fish have been eating insects for weeks and weeks and are quite simply full, so they either aren't aggressive nor hungry. Also the warmer temps recently may contribute a bit, but it's likely the insect feeding. I'll try casting bubble and an assortment of flies early in the morning, then perhaps various powerbait or casting lures. Glad to hear there weren't a great deal of Mosquitoes, although I am preparing for the worst. Hopefully the wind is blowing a bit anything over 10-15mph and they seem to disperse a good bit. I'm usually off the bank down the road a bit, but well before Camp 10 Campground. I'd really like to target brookies along the drop offs as we've had pretty good success landing some 13-15" past few years and seen much larger ones as well. I'll give a detailed report either Monday night or Tuesday.

-Rob

 

[Keith]

Rob --

Yes, please do report on your trip. I am heading up Tuesday afternoon for 5 days and would love to hear how you did !!

 

[AtmosphericWrath]

We just got back from our very long Fishing trip adventure in which we ended up trying several lakes and a few rivers too! First, Olallie is DEAD folks, sorry to say it, but its August and the fish are non-existent and not hungry. They are simply too full from their steady diet of Mosquitoes and other various hatches over the past month and a half. We arrived at 6:15 AM and were greeted by a surprisingly warm 5-10mph breeze. It was a WARM morning up there.

Skeeter Update: VERY few and with any wind they were not an issue, SO that's good!.

Alright so we rigged up and knowing how successful we had been earlier in the year and years past with this method we first tried casting bubble and fly. Usually a very good method especially from sunrise to 8 AM and that includes Brookies too!(At least last September!). Cast after cast... Nothing, not a bite, didn't even see a fish roll or jump anywhere. Changed retrieval speeds, no difference. Tried 12 different flies(Mosquitoes, Adams, Spruce, Stone, Black Gnat, etc.) So we abandoned that technique and went to power bait. No bites, notta. We tried 5 different kinds and no luck(Not even the go-to Rainbow scent!) We tried Pautzke Eggs, no luck. Nightcrawlers, nope. How about a Bobber and bait out of desperation? Nope. Not a single bite. Surely they would hit a F3/F4 Frog Flatfish, NO.

How about 3 different kinds of Rooster Tails? Nope. Tried 7 other lures, no luck. We gave it until 9:45 AM then moved over to a spot near Peninsula Campground. By this time the wind was really picking up gusting 20-25mph. No bites over here either. We called it a day at 10:10 AM. From the time we were there the boats/rafts we did see were not catching anything either. Headed to Monon Lake(Lots of people camping there), too windy to Fish. Headed back down FS-4220 past Olallie with a semi-bitter taste in my mouth just stunned how quickly a lake can turn so cold and so dead. We decided to try our hand at the small Head Lake and First Lake right along the road. :shock: What's this? FISH? Yeah Fish were jumping, but were not interested in our offerings. SOoo we headed back down to FS-4690 and got back on 46. Tried a spot on the Clackamas, nothing doing.

I suggested heading up 63 and trying the Collawash. We tried the Two Rivers Campground(I think that's the name) Where the Collawash dumps into the Clackamas. Gorgeous spot, and YEAH finally caught a 9 1/2" wild Rainbow on a fly. Released it... Tried awhile longer, but no future activity, so left there too. We then headed back up 63 to 46 and then to 224. Stopped at Big Eddy to fish that really nice hole, but 5$ just to park there and fish? No thanks. Also note *This section of the Clackamas is for barbless flies ONLY, no bait, and all Trout must be released* I found that odd. I don't recall when ODFW regulated this section of the Clackamas like that.

So, yep we left again and headed for North Fork Reservoir. All the bank spots along 224 were crowded, so bagged that idea. Didn't give up yet? Back on 224 and this time we tried Faraday Lake. What a joke.... It looks like that lake has no fish in it and really bad algae blooms all over the place. Left there and headed home in defeat, BUT it was still a good day. As far as anyone heading up there? Sure, go ahead. Hope for the best, but expect very slow fishing until mid-September probably....

In retrospect anytime you can get up to a gem like Olallie Lake and see its beauty with the majestic Mt. Jefferson and its breathtaking views, it's a good day. Being up in nature, in the outdoors, the fresh air, the quiet, and the scenery you just can't find much to complain about.

-Rob

 

[Keith]

Rob -

Thanks for the report. What a long day and lots of driving. At least you got a few....

WOW !!!!! What a horrible situation up there. I am glad I have another 5 day trip planned for mid. September.

I will be camping at Horseshoe but, I can't imagine the fishing there is any better. Since the Olallie report is so poor I am not too sure how much time I will spend there but, I will spend at least one full day on the lake.

My friend knows of a few hike-in lakes up there so we will be exploring.

I'll report when I get back.....

If anyone up there sees a black jeep with a chocolate lab and a short, fat white guy come say hello!!

-- Keith

 

[Keith]

So, I camped at Horseshoe, which as it turns out, has not been stocked and has no fish. I did catch one nice hold-over but that was a stroke of luck and could be the only fish that was in there!!

We did not fish at Olallie but we heard from a lot of people that it is still slow. I also spoke to folks who said they were catching 6 - 8 per day.

Skeeters are a non issue with a little 25% spray.

Has anyone fished in Long Lake?? We heard from some guys it has nice brook trout.