Lakes Henry Hagg Lake Fishing Reports

[bass]

The rods are 8' Lamiglas TournamentKokanee. The red rods are Jared Johnson signature. I believe these are also designed by Jared Johnson and are the slightly higher end version (micro-guides). Might even be the same blank painted differently. I got them at Fisherman's about 4 or 5 years back during the sportsman's show for 50% off. That was a steal. I was going to just get one but my son convinced me to get 2. What a good boy

The reels are Daiwa ICV15 electronic line counter reels. When I got them they were the only lightweight trolling reels with a line counter. If I were buying today I would be tempted to get a Daiwa Lexa 100 line counter. It is a small reel with a mechanical line counter. The electronic version is really nice but changing the batteries every couple of years is a pain.

 

[troutdude]

Oh yeah...Team Kokanee rods. I have, or have had, two of those. Plus two of the JJ rods as well. I've been giving stuff away to my friends sons the last couple of summers. So I can't keep track anymore. Had a couple of nice DAM Quick hollow S-Glass rods too. Which may now also be in younger hands. They are kinda like my own boys; as we've all done a lot together. And yeah...your son did the right thing for his pops! lol

Nice lookin' Daiwa reels for sure. The coloration, and style, is just like my Quick low profile reel on my vintage browning glass bass rod. But as many Quicks as I've seen in more than 50 years of fishing...it's the ONLY Quick casting reel of that style that has crossed my path.

Keep up the good work.

 

[305to503fishermen]

Hey bass

I had a quick question. I just bought a kayak. I have a Garmin striker 4 and I can’t seem to mount my transducer in the proper position to read correctly. I was wondering if you had any advice or suggest. Currently I put it right underneath me in my dry storage that is in the waterline. It came with a suction cup and that is what I use to hold it in place.

When I was at Hagg last week first time on the water with the new yak the whole time it read 11.9-12.1 ft.

I appreciate any help you could give me on getting that thing reading correctly.

Also when you were trolling did you have any lead on there and how much line were you letting out.

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[troutdude]

@bass I just grabbed one of the rods from my utility room. It's a red CGR 762L labeled "Team Kokanee", as well as having the Jared Johnson signature. It's a 7' 6" rod that is one of my go to trout trolling rigs.

 

[troutdude]

@305to503fishermen if you insert the @ symbol right in front of a members username; you can tag that member so that they will see your post more quickly. Welcome to OFF.

 

[bass]

@305to503fishermen When I had a non-SI FF I would make a donut of plumbers putty inside the hull to form a well, On each trip I would fill that with water and put the xducer into the well. I would kind of squeeze the plumber's putty to push the xducer down into the water against the hull at the bottom of the well. That worked very nicely. With my present SI FF I made an arm that has many joints on it to give me many degrees of freedom. It screws down into a track and the end of the arm and the xducer are in the water beside the kayak. Perhaps one of those approaches can work for you. I am still not quite sure how you are set up.

As for trolling. Right now I have a 1/8oz weight on the dropper. That is only there to stop line twist. It is not really adding any meaningful depth. I have been setting back 50'. I don't think that is super critical. Basically I am trolling near the surface.

@troutdude I am trying out your advice on tagging people Pretty cool about your rods. Probably very similar to mine but more vintage.

Good luck to everyone. I might fish this weekend (family issues make this iffy). If I do fish I am not sure if will be Hagg or the Willy for sturgeon. Ian any case best of luck to all.

 

[troutdude]

@bass most excellent. Think I got my rods maybe 6-8 years ago. Had another red one, and two white ones as well. Must've given those 3 away. The originals, if you can find them, were yellow/golden blanks.

@305to503fishermen trout will be in the top 10' of the surface at this time of the year. But will dive deeper, if/when the sun pops out. The way bass has described is how I see most fish caught, in the early Spring each year.

 

[bass]

I fished long an hard this day and was rewarded with 53 trout including a 20" fish. That is a lot of fish to catch, but I did spend 10.5 hours on the water to get them. For me, it was a day of hot and cold. I would hit stretches where I was spanking them like crazy and then all of a sudden it was crickets. I tried to stay tuned in to this, it is easy for me sometimes to not notice the bite has slowed when I have already caught a lot of fish. I think keeping my intensity up all day was really key to the final number.

I launched at ramp C and stayed in the no wake zone all day. I fished pretty much the whole day with my normal setup of a 1/24oz roostertail with a trailer hook and a 1/2 nightcrawler. I think I only had 2 fish on the treble all day. I trolled 50' back with a 1/8oz on the spreader (really just to prevent line twist). I varied my speed but it seemed like a slightly faster pace (compared to previous weeks) resulted in more hookups. I was mostly trolling 1.3-1.5mph.

I started the day fishing close to the edge of the wake zone and the bite was outstanding for a while. I caught a bunch there including my best fish. As the wind picked up a bit the bite slowed down for me. I looked around the lake and noticed that back towards the Scoggins arm was more alee. I was not sure if the extra chop was the issue so I decided to head back that way to see if the calmer water would be better.

That turned out to be a good move. I spend the rest of the day trolling between the Tanner arm and into the Scoggins arm a bit. There were a lot of active fish back there and they were hitting nice and hard for the most part. I do have to admit my big mistake though. The night before when I was loading up I thought I should re-tie my leaders on the trolling rods. In my laziness, I did not. Late in the day I hooked a beast of a fish. I am not sure if it was a big trout or a big smallie but my drag was ripping. I thumbed the spool to try and slow the fish and POP goes the leader. That really hurt but I fully deserved it. At least I learned from my lesson and immediately stopped fishing and re-tied both rods.

Here is a video of a few of the fish. The editing is terrible but that is why I am not in the film industry

 

[troutdude]

@Anatoliy can you please add a JEALOUS button on this site?! Cuz I want to be like @bass!

Another great report Mr. Bass! You've got me Jonesin' for a trip to Hagg fo' sho'. Just may have to head up, and bank it in a few days.

Keep up the great work and the groovy reports.

 

[bass]

Thanks @troutdude! As far as the groovy reports, I do my part by going fishing but the key is for the fish to do theirs

 

[troutdude]

True dat! LOL

 

[Troutman007]

What a fun time! My son and I decided to head to Hagg Lake on Tuesday afternoon, we got on the water just around 4:00 pm at boat ramp A. I was the first to cast, before I could even tighten the slack my rod bent like a tree branch in the wind! We ended up staying for 2 hours and caught 9 legals with a couple of fatties! Bait used was Salmon Peach and Garlic power bait. Does anyone know how or what to do to catch the big trophy/brood trout in Hagg?

 

[bass]

Great job!

I don't spend any time from the bank there but I have read that floating a whole nightcrawler (inject with air) off the bottom works for the bigger fish but that is just hearsay.

 

[Troutman007]

Interesting, thank you for the tip!

 

[troutdude]

Brooders can be caught in any of the typical ways, including Power Bait / Power Eggs OFF the bottom. But yeah...floating an inflated worm is legendary (as in it works some of time, but not all of the time...just like any other technique). There is also the infamous "Wickiup Sandwich". Which <pun intended> is an inflated worm, one or two salmon eggs, and a marshmallow to help it all float OFF the bottom).

Spinners and spoons also work.

Glad you got some feesh, had fun, and maybe got your kid hooked <another intended pun> on the "Tug Drug".

 

[Troutman007]

Thank you! Should I cast deep or stay close to bank shallow...?

 

[Troutman007]

 

[Admin]

Way to go!

 

[troutdude]

That smile says it all. Way to go pops!

Until today--as the sun pops out--I'd have suggested to fish the top 10' of the water. Which will still work, for now, early mornings and late evenings (before the sun comes out or starts to set). When the sun is out the trout will look for deeper waters. So early and late fish OFF the bottom, close to shore. When the sun's out cast out farther and deeper.

 

[Troutman007]

Thank you all for the encouraging words!