Marion Lake

[troutdude]

Pretty sure there are no native brook trout in Oregon.

According to the "Complete Angler's Guide to Oregon", there are native Brookies in Marion. But, it wouldn't hurt to double check that information w/ ODFW to know for sure.

 

[Modest_Man]

Sorry it's so small but the pink area is where brook trout are introduced; I.E. an non-native species. They're native to Eastern parts of America.



"Brook trout are considered native from the Hudson Bay basin and northeastern Canada, much of the Great Lakes basin, a small portion of the upper Mississippi drainage, Atlantic coastal areas from Maine to New Jersey and interiorly along the Appalachian chain as far south as northern Georgia. Though not as extensive world wide as brown or rainbow trout, brook trout have become widely established via introduction throughout North America and elsewhere, with the exception of Australia and Antarctica."

Here's a larger one of the brook trout historic range.



http://www.nps.gov/shen/naturescience/brook-trout.htm

I guess it depends on your definition of "native". Maybe "naturally reproducing populations" is what they really meant?

Sorry to deviate off topic.

 

[troutdude]

As I was reading your post and looking at the pics...it occurred to me that my reference book DOES indeed say "naturally reproducing"; for both brookies and the bows. Only the cutts are native (again, according to my reference book).

Thanks for clarifying my mistake. That's good information.

 

[willm350]

Thanks guys for the replies! as for the help with the raft.....Im going with my Girlfriends 3 bros and although they said we could trade off with the raft they've never been backpacking...so only time will tell, on the other hand I spent 5 summers fighting wildland fires and am no stranger to crazy terrain with a load!
I had a couple more pointed questions, was wondering if there is a permanent fire ban or just certain times of the year? Also would you guys trust the water enough to drink it after being filtered? Oh yeah and one more thing I just thought of. Is the limit for brook the same as rainbow and do they count towards the same limit, for example if I have 2 brookies and 3 bows is that my limit? I just watched a video of a guy ice fishing out at marion and he had like 8 brookies.....also using worms I might add (at mark) Ill be sure to bring some worms! Thanks again guys.
Will

 

[troutdude]

I see no "special" regulations for Marion in the reg book. So, the Zone regs apply. Yes, 2 brookies and 2 bows IS a daily limit. Some peeps misinterpret the "2 daily limits in possession" rule, and think that it is legal to keep 10 fish in one day. It is NOT legal to do that.

I even recently asked 3 different ODFW game enforcement officers this question. And they said it is indeed ILLEGA,L to keep more than 5 trout per day. A person cannot even keep 5 from one body of water, and then travel to another body of water to continue to catch trout. Once you have 5 trout in one day, you must put your rod away and stop fishing.

When I went to Marion in 2000, there was a complete ban on any and all fires.As you will be in a wilderness area; there is no reason to think that the ban has been lifted. So for cooking, you will need to pack in cook stoves of some type. There were about a dozen of us there that trip. We all drank filtered water with no ill effects.

 

[Sinkline]

.

 

[BankWalker]

I was just at marion a few weeks ago. The fire ban is pemanent as the lake has been completely roasted about every five years by wildfire. I had the most luck with spinners picking off aggressive fish early in the morning. We didn't have any luck with bait but in years past when the bite died off you could drop in worms or Power bait and a school of fish would come by every one or two hours like clock work. Carrying the raft is going to be brutal I wouldn't do it unless you could build a frame pack and try it out. Just a heads up the mosquitos are out of control there. good luck!

 

[Modest_Man]

I just went up for kicks on Tuesday. If you're in decent shape the hike is a breeze, it's not far and the elevation isn't bad at all. Fished from 1-4pm and caught a fat 16" rainbow, skinny 14" rainbow, and 4 smaller brook trout from 6-10" all using bait. Had a couple rises on my fly rod but I'd have needed to be out in on a boat to be productive. Tons of fish jumping in the middle. Next time I go I'm packing in something to float on; two people I saw were packing rafts.

Tried to fish Anne lake but you need something to float on to access more than 1% of that lake.

 

[Brookiebuster]

It's been a few years since I've been to Marion Lake but I always had my best luck for the brookies using a black nickel willow leaf for trolling with any where from 18 inches to 30 inches of leader with a nightcrawler on your hook. If you do take a raft there is an island on the far end of the lake where I usually did my trolling. Let anywhere from 75 to 100 feet of line and troll slowly. Silver or nickel colored blades also works well. Good Luck.

 

[willm350]

again thanks all for the info....but the fire ban is a real buzz kill I think Ill have to start a new thread to find a new lake, haha...maybe I'll make a day trip out of marion

 

[Brookiebuster]

According to the Willamette National Forest websight you cannot have a fire within 1/4 mile of either Ann Lake or Marion Lake. I seen nothing about a permanent fire ban in the area. I would call the Detroit Ranger Station and find out.

 

[troutdude]

According to the Willamette National Forest websight you cannot have a fire within 1/4 mile of either Ann Lake or Marion Lake. I seen nothing about a permanent fire ban in the area. I would call the Detroit Ranger Station and find out.

Uh...doesn't "no fire within 1/4 mile" indicate a permanent ban?

 

[Brookiebuster]

Uh...doesn't "no fire within 1/4 mile" indicate a permanent ban?

Well to me a permanent fire ban would mean no fires period anywhere. Simply stating that if they want a cooking fire they would have to camp a quarter of a mile from the lake.

 

[snodgrass]

Hey I'm new here. Also, not an experienced fisherman. I've been up to Marion several times and will be there next week with my kids. We would love to try our hand at some fishing. Any tips? What parts of the lake should we try? Time of day? What should we use? Any ideas at all would be most helpful. Thanks!

 

[Steeliekiller]

A raft would be ideal. I've banked it a couple times with little luck, try near the mouth of marion creek. Early morning with the fly rod or late evening. On a raft just throw the takel box until you find what works.

 

[snodgrass]

Thanks for the input Steeliekiller! Unfortunately, I have neither a raft or a fly rod. Would you still recommend the mouth of the creek?

 

[snodgrass]

AHAH! Looks like I may have a raft available to me. Where should we take it? What should we put on the line?

 

[Metz84]

I bank fish every time I go and have very great success. I use kastmasters and corky's with a night crawler off the bottom. Loop the line through the corky so it doesn't slide up and down your line. I've seen people catching trout with powerbait but have never tried it. I have more luck on the northern side of the lake.

 

[snodgrass]

Thanks Metz84. I googled kastmasters and see one in the tackle box I inherited from my granddad. We'll bring worms and powerbait. I'm getting stoked! Any other tips would be great!

 

[Metz84]

Fish seem to be close to the surface in the morning and then deeper later in the day. The lake is deep. Slow retrieve works for me with the kastmasters.