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Jimmy's 2004 - 2006 Reports
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Jimmy Lewis is the founder of Trophy Trout Hunter. He has moved on from running the site, but is still an avid trophy trout fisherman and his reports can still be found on this site from time to time and regularly on his new site, www.HookJawHunter.com . Jimmy is an excellent angler, so enjoy this archive of his reports and learn.November 1-3, My last Report

Here's a report from Bret Martin on a trip in Jimmy's boat:  
One For The Wall 9/09-10 2006
Jimmy Lewis has done it again! What I am talking about is that Jimmy has put me in the position to be able to report that I have caught the largest brown trout I have ever caught. Jimmy and I had planned to go scout a lake and do some lake trout fishing on Saturday 9/9/06. We decided to leave Salem around 5:00 AM. We planned on arriving around 8:00 AM having some breakfast at the resort and then launching the boat. We were surprised to find the resort restaurant closed for the season. We had also planned to have dinner there and were short of supplies. After a quick discussion we decided to change our plan and headed off to get some breakfast. After breakfast we set off to a different lake. By the time we got the boat in the water and ready to fish it was about 11:30 AM. Not more than five minutes into fishing Jimmy had a fish on. It was healthy looking fish under 20 inches. Then about 20 minutes later I hooked into a fish. It was peeling line from my reel and shaking its head, I could tell it was a nice size fish. It came to the surface about 200 yards from the boat and then took to going deep. After a small battle it was close enough to the boat we could see him and Jimmy commented I wasn't going to be disappointed in this one. Jimmy netted it and brought him in front of me, what a great looking hook jaw! When I lifted it I estimated him to be 8 pounds. The fish was bleeding a lot and it was very dark blood. I am an advocate of catch and release but it was obvious right away this guy was not going to swim away and survive so I asked for the club. When I weighed him it looked like 8.5 pounds with the scale bouncing from the waves. We took some pictures put the fish over the side on a make shift stringer and continued to fish. We were picking up our gear to move, when I pulled the fish in the boat Jimmy asked me to weigh the fish again. He got out both of his scales. On one scale the fish weighed 9 pounds and on the other it weighed 10 pounds. We set out to see if someone had a scale in the area. We talked to a couple other anglers and no one had a scale. So for the sake of argument I'm going with an official unofficial 9.5 pounds. What a strange time of day to catch my largest brown, it was just about noon. That was to be the only fish I caught for the trip. Jimmy caught 3 smaller browns on Sunday morning. That one fish made for a very good weekend for me. My thanks to Jimmy for being my guide over the years.
 
 
 
Summer Time Blues 8/25-8/27 2006
 
After a hour sitting on I-5 between Kuebler and Sunnyside Friday night because of a wreck I decided to go home . What a way to start my trip this weekend. So I decided to leave at 1:30 Saturday morning like I did last weekend. I slept in and woke to the alarm at 2:05. I arrived at the lake still before sunrise and caught my first fish. A 18 inch little brown. That would be my only fish for the next 8 hours on the water. My best catch of the weekend was a 20 pound log that I hooked and brought up to the boat. You won't believe the size of this log when you see it. I will post it on the website after I get it from R.D.  Saturday night before sunset I was going through my tackle box when I heard my rod holder shaking. By the time I grabbed my rod the last of the fishing line went off my reel and the line was gone. I have a Avet SX reel that holds over 300 yards of line. I also have my drag set pretty tight. The fish I lost was probably the largest trout to hit my lure in five years on the water. Hundred of hours trolling watching my fishing rod and within a minute or two of not paying attention I lost a trophy fish. Who knows how big it was but I can be sure it was over 5 pounds. Just before legal I caught another small brown. Two small browns and a trophy lost. It is one weekend that started off bad and ended up bad also. Oh well it was fun to see some of my fishing buddies and I hope to have their reports posted some time this week.
 
Crescent Lake June 23-25 2006
 
This was my last shot at fishing for a while and the first trip that Bret and I have been on in a long time. We arrived at Crescent lake late Friday night just in time to set up camp and get a few hours of sleep. The forecast was for sunshine and warm weather. Not the perfect conditions for fishing for trophy trout but it was good to get back on the water. Bret started out with a few small strikes and then he caught a small brown under 20 inches. After a few hours of trolling along Simax beach we decided to start fishing for Mackinaw. We trolled for hours in search for any fish on my fish fish finder but could never locate any. We decided it was time for a short break and went in for breakfast. After our meal we went back looking for any schools of fish on our fish finder with out any luck. We had put in a lot of hours Saturday. Legal fishing time was from 4:30am until almost 10pm. Late in the afternoon we met up with Jordan Whitton and his Dad. Jordan gave me a custom lure that he had painted. It looked great in the water and I could not wait to use it for the evening bite. A friend had suggested using our downriggers during prime time for the browns. Bret and I have discussed doing this in the past,but had never tried it before. With the water temp in the low 60's we decided that it might be a good time to try trolling downriggers at prime. We decided to fish Simax area until dark. Bret and I had our first double. Just last trip was my first ever double and then we do it again this trip. Bret and I must have trolled through a small school of mackinaw. We both had two macks that were 3-4 pounds each. After the excitement of the double we started trolling again with our downriggers and I caught one more small mackinaw. My mackinaw were caught off the custom lure that Jordan gave me. Sunday morning we got out before sunrise and fished for browns flat lining the whole east side of the lake without a strike. We called it a trip and was home before noon. My next trip won't be until the last week of August at Wickiup.
 
 
Oh so close June 10-11 2006
 
Jared Logan and I took off after work on Friday to Crescent Lake. We were hoping to get there by 9pm so we could get some time on the water. Just as we got started on the freeway we came to a stop. We found out that there was a bad wreck on the freeway. After a little over the hour of not moving a inch we finally got going. We arrived at the lake after 11 pm. We set up camp and got a two hours of sleep. We started fishing Simax area around 4:15 and fished til 8:00. I finally caught a fish and it was a 3lb brown. But it was the first fish I had caught in six days on the water. I was very happy with catching something and we headed into for breakfast at the lodge. After our meal we went back to camp and packed up to move to a another lake.
  We arrived at the nameless lake and stated fishing in the afternoon. I was only on the water about a hour and caught my second largest Brown. A 29 inch, 9.5lb hookjaw brown. When I seen the brown in the water it looked over 10 pounds. We actually were celebrating that it was before I weighed it. I caught on a AC skinny I recently bought. We fished a few hours and caught a couple smaller browns around 3 pounds. Just before legal ( a hour after sunset ) Jared had a helluva strike. I grabbed my rod so I could get my line out of the way and hooked up myself. A double. The first time ever I had a double in my boat. I brought in my fish and it weighed just over three pounds. Jared was still fighting his fish and we got it in the boat. It was a great looking brown that weighed six pounds. Since Jared doesn't get out on the water much so he decided to keep the fish for a meal. Sunday morning at 3:30am the alarm went off and after only having a couple of hours of sleep for two nights we decided to sleep in. It was very nice to catch some nice browns and I should have another trip in just a few weeks.
 
 
One day trip to Crescent & Paulina Lakes May 13 2006

I got up at 1:15 am and headed out with Jared Logan to fish Crescent Lake. We arrived a little late but still got on the water before sunrise. We started fishing just before simax beach and with in less than a couple of minutes Jared had a fish on. First he thought he had snagged but the line was spooling off his new reel and I told him that we were to deep of water for a snag. After a long run and a few head shakes he lost the fish. The next two hours I had on and lost 4 fish. One was a nice one that gave me a few nice head shakes. We had trolled the east side of the lake and got down to Tandy bay without a fish in the boat and 6 lost fish to show for our efforts. We switched to fishing for Mackinaw. I was graphing a lot of fish on my fish finder but they were all tight to the bottom. W tried trolling just off the bottom but could never get a strike. Around noon I called Paulina lake resort to see if the lake was ice free. They told me that it had only been completely ice free since Wednesday and that a 9 pound brown had all ready been caught. We loaded up and went and had lunch at Paulina lake resort. After a good lunch we fished from about 3:00 to 9:30. There were a lot of kokanee fisherman and just a few brown trout fisherman. We never had a bite with several laps around the lake. I did learn that I would rather have no strikes than have a few strikes and not land a fish. What a tough thing to learn.
  I read an email today from a angler that said " I don't know,  there's just something about this trophy trout fishing that just gets to you.  For me, I think it's because I know a lot of people don't know how to do it and it's hard fishing." It is hard fishing. I have had the toughest season in five years. Six days on the water and I have not caught a fish. I have spent a lot hours per day on the water and have spent a lot of money to fish for a chance at a trophy trout. I been asked several times why I do this website. The people that I have met from this website enjoy fishing for trophy trout as much as I do. Take a look at the photo of R.D. covered in snow and ice. How many people would do that for a trout. It shows our determination. Most of the guys that have posted on this website spend more hours thinking about fishing for trophy trout than time spent on the water.
 I should be fishing in a week at East Lake. It was partly ice covered yesterday( May 13) but should be fish able some time this week. I hope my luck can change.
 
 
4-30 Half day trip 2006
 
 I went fishing for a half day trip today. After my trip on opening weekend I just needed to get back on the water and try to catch a fish. I went with Jared Logan to a lake close to home. We fished from just before sunrise til about noon. Jared caught two nice looking browns that weighed about 3 pounds each. He decided to take them home for a meal. He was using deep running Rapala's. This was day five on the water without a fish for me and I hope I can change my luck soon. My next trip will be a week after Mothers day.
 
 
Opening Weekend Report  2006

  On the way up to Crescent Lake on Friday I notice a few clouds above Oakridge. It had been clear and sunny in the valley and I thought maybe it might be a little overcast at the lake. Just at the summit it was snowing. I could not believe it was snowing so late in the season. It has been a tough winter in the Cascades with many lakes still frozen. Lakes like East, Paulina and most of Crane Prairie. I was thinking that Crescent lake would be a zoo with all the other lakes frozen, that it would have a lot of anglers fishing it. The public boat launch is still closed and the only way to get on to the lake is through Crescent Lake Resort boat launch. There were only a handful of boats fishing this weekend.
  I learned a important lesson this weekend. Sleep is a good thing! I met up with a few fishing friends Friday night. The next thing I heard was some one mentioned that it was after 1am. Since we were getting up at 4am to go fishing we should just stay up for the night. That would have been ok when I was twenty or thirty,but a forty year old man needs eight hours of sleep. Of coarse I thought it was a great idea at the time and stayed up. Saturday was windy all day and the wind made for some big waves. It was a very tough day on the water and I did not catch a thing either.
   Actually I caught nothing at all this whole trip. It was the first time I can remember that no one has caught a fish out of my boat on opening weekend. I was fishing with R.D. on Saturday and Sunday. R.D. did have a large fish on for a few minutes on Sunday but it broke his line. Sunday night and Monday I fished with Dan. Dan had a few nice fish in his boat this weekend and I wanted to fish with him from his boat. Dan and I fished Sunday night and Monday morning at Crescent Lake without a fish. We went to Crane Prairie Monday around noon and was happy to see that the lake was almost 3/4 full. The problem was the lake is about 3/4 covered by ice. We fished Crane Prairie for a few hours then went to Wickiup for the last couple of hours of the day. Dan did catch a small brown just before dark and it was the only fish caught in my boat in four days of fishing. When the alarm went off Tuesday morning I decide to sleep in. It was the first time since Thursday night I got eight hours of sleep. Dan decided to fish Wickiup again and he should have his report posted soon.
  I want to apologise to R.D and Dan for my whining this weekend on the boat. There is nothing that makes me more upset than being skunked.  I know that I cant catch a five pound or better trout every trip,but I should be able to catch a dink now and then when targeting trophy trout. With East and Paulina lakes still frozen for a few weeks, It will be a while before I am fishing again. Be sure to check out Dans reports and the readers reports page.
 
Crescent Lake 3/23 - 3/26 2006
 
  On the way to Crescent Lake I notice that Odell Lake was frozen. I was very surprised to see that this late in the year. This is my first trip this year and it's very late in the season for me to start fishing. But with the hard winter we are having it might be a good thing. I will be surprised if all the the lakes will be ice free for Opening weekend in April. Its less than a month away.  I also stop by Crescent Lake Jct. to get some gas and ask about the fishing. The gas station on the south side of the hwy has burned down. It was a great place to to get gas and a snack. They always had up to date fishing reports and I hope they rebuild soon.
  I arrived at Crescent lake by myself on Thursday and Bret met me Thursday night after he got off work. Friday, R.D. & Mike joined us at the cabin. R.D. & Mike will be posting their report on the readers report page.
  I caught one small brown trout Thursday afternoon and then Thursday evening I caught a 4 pound Brown. When I landed the brown trout it cough up a 8 inch kokanee. I was surprised the kokanee was still whole with just the skin missing. It shows why we use the size lures we do. My matching the baitfish size I believe is key to our success. I use lures from 3-10 inches long when targeting trophy trout.
  When I was fishing with Bret Friday through Sunday I also caught two more browns that weighed 6 & 7 pounds. It was nice to catch a couple of browns over 5 pounds. These two fish have me excited to get back out on the water and start targeting browns again. I enjoy catching brown trout more than any other trout. It is the way they fight and the hook jaws look awesome. I did catch two Mackinaw this trip that weighed 11 & 12 pounds. The 12 pound Mackinaw gave me one of the best fights I have had in a long time. Bret caught some nice fish this weekend also. He always seems to catch the largest Mackinaw. He caught a great looking 16 pound Mackinaw off a Assassin lure. The Assassin lures have caught some nice Brown Trout, but they work very good on the Mackinaw. Bret caught two nice Brown Trout. A 4 pounder and a 5.5 pound. One brown was caught during mid morning. I think that this time of year you can catch Browns all during the day if you put in the time. Most of the year we can only catch browns during the twilight hours. The first hour of the day and the last hour.
  I want to thank Bret, Mike and R.D. for a great trip. It has been a long time since I been on the water. We all had to put up with some tough fishing conditions this trip,but it all makes the hunt for trophy trout that much more fun. I hope to be fishing some time next month.

Crescent Lake November 19 and 20 2005
 
 For my last trip of the year Bret and I went up to Crescent Lake. We arrived Saturday morning a hour before sunrise and fished Simax beach area. After one pass and not getting a bite we went across the lake and tried tandy bay area. I caught two small browns just before the sun was on the water. We switched to our downriggers after the sun was up and tried fishing for Mackinaw. Bret caught a 9 pound mackinaw that put up a great fight for its size while we were trolling across the middle of the lake. These 3 fish were all we caught on Saturday. I am not a fair weather fisherman and we had blue skies,no wind and it was in the mid 50's in the afternoon. Bret and I never came off the water until a hour after sunset. It was one tough day on the water for both of us.
  Sunday morning we tried trolling Simax beach again,but this time we trolled back to the resort from Simax. I caught a 8 pound Mackinaw just in front of the resort flat lining in less than 20 feet of water. After the sun was back on the water we went back to our downriggers and started fishing for the Mackinaw. Bret caught a 11 pound Mackinaw just in front of the summer homes. We stop fishing around 10:30 for the day. It's tough to complain about 28 pounds of Mackinaw caught in a weekend, but we expected a lot more from Crescent Lake in the fall. 
 
East Lake October 1-9, 2005
 
 A few years ago I wonder why so many out of state fisherman caught so many big browns. The last two state record brown trout have been caught from fisherman from out of the state. One thing that I have notice is that a lot of large browns are caught with in a hour of twilight. In the morning and in the evening. I am not saying that browns can't be caught all day long, many have,but most are caught around the first hour of the day and the last hour of sunlight. I refer to this time as prime time. If someone takes a week off to fish they should have about 16 prime times in that week. For us weekend fisherman, we only have 3 prime times for a weekend. Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning. That's over 5 weekends of time on the water in just one week. So last year I decided to take a week off from work and fish all week at one lake. Last spring I tried East Lake and caught a 7 pound brown trout and had a few over 5 pounds from other anglers from my boat.
  This year I tried East lake again,but in the fall. A good friend of mine John Fleming loaned me his motor home and I stayed up at East Lake campground from Saturday October first through Sunday October ninth. I can't thank him enough for the use of his motor home. Last year I stayed in a tent and had a lot of snow in the spring. This year I thought that the first part of October would be dry, but I was wrong about that. It was just starting to snow when I arrived up at East Lake Saturday afternoon. Sunday and Monday I had a lot of snow and was very happy to come out of the weather and stay in the comfort of the motor home. At one time it was 27 degrees outside and 67 degrees inside. I couldn't have warmed up the tent 40 degrees warmer than outside.
  As for the fishing. I thought last year was a little tough in the spring. This trip was very tough. I had snow, a new moon and I thought I would have a few fish over 5 pounds with what was caught this spring from my fishing buddies from East Lake. Bret and I have never caught so many little Brown Trout together. Bret fished with me on Saturday and Sunday October first and the second and then came back on Wednesday night and fished with me from Thursday though Sunday. We caught a lot of browns between 14-18 inches long. I caught one 4 pound brown trout and one 5 pound brown. Most of the browns we did catch were caught on Excalibur minnows with some scent. The scent was the key to catching these fish. For the size of fish they put up a great fight,but we were hoping to see a few more Brown trout over 5 pounds with all the hours we had spent on the water. I am pretty sure next year I will take my week off in the spring.
 Bret and I will be fishing Crescent Lake early next month. I hope we can catch a few over 5 pounds on that trip.
 
 
May 20 -22 -2005
 
Wind,rain,hail and snow. That is what my mom and I had to put up with the first day of fishing at Paulina Lake. We were only fishing for the weekend and the weather report said it was going to be partly cloudy. Oops they blew that forecast. It had been a few years since my mom and I had been fishing together. I had high hopes that we would do well fishing Paulina lake together. My mom caught a brown at each prime time (prime time to me is at twilight) and caught a nice looking six pound brown the first few minutes of legal on Saturday. Paulina Lake has been a very tough lake for me. I have spent hundreds of hours between fish,but my mom and I have both caught our only brown trout over ten pounds out of Paulina. This weekend my mom had pretty good success using a rattle trap. On the other hand I had nothing. Not a bite, a bump, or any sign of a strike. I did have a great time and I guess that why they call it fishing. You can't catch them all the time.
 

Crescent Lake April 20-24 2005 
 
I went on a five day trip to Crescent Lake for opening weekend. This was my last trip this spring to Crescent Lake and I was hoping to do well. With not having a good year so far I decided I was going to change a few things that I been doing. First I changed my line to yo-zuri hybrid line. Second I started using scent again. I had use scent in the past,but stopped because I was not sure if it was helping. The scent I was using this trip was Pro-cure rainbow sauce. I caught a 12 & 19 pound Mackinaw off a Excalibur Minnow, a 6 pound Hook jaw Brown Trout & a 18 pound Mackinaw off a A.C. Skinny Lure. I would say that the scent is helping a lot for me. Fishing was tough,but I can't complain about the size of the fish I caught on this trip. I will use scent next month when I go to East and Paulina lakes. I will probably use trophy trout sauce because of the high populations of chubs in both East and Paulina lakes. I stayed with a few friends this trip that also enjoy fishing for trophy trout. We all stayed in the large cabin at Crescent Lake Resort and it had to be one of my favorite trips in the past couple of years. With almost ten of us in the cabin it also made for a inexpensive trip. The only problem I had was the lack of sleep.The first two days of the trip I fished alone in my boat then Bret joined me for the last 3 days. Bret had a tough trip with only catching one 11 pound Mackinaw and a few small browns. Bret's mackinaw was caught off one of his favorite lures, a Predetek. I have about 3 weeks until my next trip and it will be my last one of the spring. I should get a few fishing reports this week from the other anglers that were fishing with us.
Jimmy
 
Crescent Lake March 12-13 2005
I went up to Crescent lake with Bret to spend the weekend trying again for a trophy trout. The trips to Crescent lake are just to long for a day trip. We met RD and his friend Brian at the lake a little after 5 am Saturday morning. Bret and I made one pass along Simax Beach without a strike and decided to head down to Tandy Bay area. I only managed to get one small brown. After 8:00 we then tried fishing for the Macks. We fished for a couple of hours around the summer homes without a strike and headed to the resort to meet Rd and Brian for breakfast. After talking to RD and Brian and finding out that they had pretty good success for the Browns and the Macks along Simax Beach, Bret and I trolled along the whole east side of the lake and still was not getting any luck. Just before 5 pm I caught a 11 pound Mackinaw. I was trolling with two lines off my rod and the Mack hit the upper lure which was a Excalibur Minnow. After releasing the Mack, Bret and I started to fish Simax Beach for Browns. Bret caught a couple of smaller Browns, but they were the only fish for us that evening.
Sunday morning we all decided to head down and try Tandy Bay for the Brown Trout. Bret and I started to fish around 5:30 and Bret caught a beautiful 8 pound hook jaw Brown within the first few minutes. He was trolling a Excalibur that has worked for him in the past. These lures have a great wobble action that seems to work good for both the Browns and the Macks. Not much later we found out that Brian had caught a 9 pound Brown also at Tandy Bay close to the creek. That was pretty impressive to have two nice browns caught in the same morning at around the same area of the lake. Before we stopped fishing Bret had caught four more Browns with the largest being 4 pounds.
 RD will be posting his report later this week and I should also have a few photo's from him also. His report will be on the readers report page. I should be back to Crescent Lake at the end of next month.
 
Jimmy

Crescent Lake 2/26/05 
  
I went on a day trip with Bret to Crescent Lake. Day trips can be tough on us guys over 40. I was up by 2:30 am and we were on the road within a hour. We arrived at Crescent Lake before sunrise and we were fishing little after 6 am. Bret caught a nice looking hook jaw Brown Trout that weighed 6 pounds in front of Simax Beach on the first pass. It was still before the sun was on the water and I thought we were going to have a great day fishing. We fished till 10 am and took a break for Breakfast at Crescent Lake Resort . Were were back on the water by 11 am and fished until 6:30 pm. With all the hours on the water Bret and I only caught one Brown Trout each in the afternoon that weighed 2 1/2 pounds each. I could come up with excuses like it was a full moon, we had a east wind and the water temperature was below 40. The main reason we did not do well today is that we only had one day to fish. The secret to my success is time on the water. It takes a lot of time on the water to have the correct lure in the right place at the right time to get a trophy trout to bite. After we loaded up and started on the way home we stop by one of the gas stations at Crescent Junction. They had photo's of a 30 pound Mackinaw and two Mackinaw over 20 pounds that had been caught from Crescent Lake this year. At first I could not believe that after such a bad day on the water that somebody had caught these Mackinaw from the same lake I was fishing today. But after thinking about it, I realized that these fish were not going to be caught by some one who was only going to spend one day fishing for them. That is why I will be back fishing at Crescent Lake in two weeks spending more time on the water for a chance at a trophy Trout.
Lake Billy Chinook 2/3-2/6 2005

I went on my first fishing trip in months to catch some Bull Trout. I had read that fishing had been slower this year than normal and the reports were true. Five to ten pound Bull Trout at LBC are very common to the point that catching any Bull Trout under 5 pounds is consider a small fish. The minimum length is 24 inches which should weigh about 5 pounds. The reason why I say this is that I have pretty high expectations of what I should catch. In just over three days of fishing I only caught six Bull Trout which weighed a total of 40 pounds. Most lakes I fish I would be happy with a total like that, but not LBC. That would be a great one day total or a good two day total. The fish are deeper this year than what I have seen over the last few winters. We were fishing down to 120 feet using large plugs like AC Lures, Assassins and Ms Slammers. I fished with Dan McAllister and Bret Martin this trip and the total for the boat was just under 75 pounds. Our largest fish were two 9 pound Bull Trout that I caught and Bret and Dan caught a 8 pound each for their largest. Saturday Dan fished with Ryan Daniels (RD) and RD caught his largest trout ever a 11 pound Bull Trout. This happened to also be the largest fish of our trip. I may be back next month to Lake Billy Chinook when the Metolius arm opens or try our first trip to Crescent Lake. Be sure to take a look at the photos on the 2005 photo page.

Last trip of the season November 6,2004

 Went to Crescent Lake for my last trip of the year. Bret and I showed up to the lake a hour before sunrise and fished till 5:30 pm. We tried trolling for Brown trout out in front of Simax Beach the first hour than ran down to Tandy Bay fished that area for another hour. With not even a strike we decided to try our luck for the Mackinaw. November is our favorite month for Mackinaw. My largest Mackinaw was caught in November 2001 and Bret caught his largest last year in November. We started trolling in front of the summer homes and with in just a few minutes Bret caught his first Mackinaw of the day. It was 11 pound Mackinaw caught off a Predatek Lure. We made a few more passes out in front of the summer homes and Bret had one good strike and caught his largest Mackinaw this year, a 18 pound Mackinaw off the same Predatek lure. After a few fast photo's he released it. After a great breakfast at Crescent Lake Resort, we went back to the summer homes and tried for another Mackinaw. Bret did catch a small 4 pound Mackinaw in the afternoon,but the bite was over and I had not had a strike all day long. 

Three lakes in four days
                                                October 21-24 2004
 
  I went up to fish East and Paulina lakes on my 4 day mini vacation. I met up with Dan McAllister at 6:30 in the morning on Thursday. We fished East lake for 7 hours and Dan only caught two small browns. With having no luck at all myself I was not wanting to spend any more time at East Lake. We went over to Paulina Lake Resort to see if anybody was having any better luck than us. We talked to several other anglers that told us it had been very slow. We did meet Alan Cole, the creator of the AC Plug. He gave us a couple of lures to try and I just want to thank him again for that. I have used his hatchery trout model before and have been very impressed with the action of the lure. We decided to give Paulina Lake a try and we set up camp in the snow. We only had a few hours to fish Thursday night and we got skunked. The next morning we tried again and I caught my only brown of the trip. It was the smallest brown I caught this year. It was so slow that we took a break from trolling and tried casting from shore for a while were Dan caught a spawned out kokanee. With the poor results we had from both East and Paulina lakes we pulled up camp and moved down to Crane Prairie. After setting up camp we fished for about 3 hours where I caught a 20 inch,4lb Rainbow. It was nice to catch some thing that gave me a few head shakes. After a night of heavy rain we were back on the water by 7am. Dan was trolling a small rapala in the Deschutes channel and caught a great looking 4lb brook trout. Dan is the best Brook Trout fisherman I know. He has caught many Brook Trout over 5 pounds. Dan had to leave by noon on Saturday and I was not sure if I wanted to spend another night in a damp tent. I was talking to my wife on the cell phone to see if she could find out if there were any cabins available and during our call I got a strike and had to hang up on her. I caught my first 5lb fish of the fall, a nice male Rainbow that measured 21 inches. I was trolling in the Cultus channel using a gold Excalibur lure. I called my wife back to let her know what I caught and she had already reserved a cabin at Paulina for me. Dan and I packed up and said good bye and I headed back up to Paulina. The night before when we had all the rain at Crane it had been snowing up at Paulina. There was close to a foot of new snow at the lake. I don't think my tent would of supported the weight of that much snow. We were very lucky that we had moved to Crane the night before. I fished two hours Saturday night and Sunday morning at Paulina with out even a strike. It was a very tough trip fishing for browns with 21 hours on the water and only one small brown trout for my time. Even with the poor results I had this trip, I am still planning on a week long trip to Paulina and East next May. Both these lakes hold very large Browns and it will just take more time on the water for me to get my second brown over 10 pounds.
 
Jimmy      

Crane Prairie October 9-10
 
 I went up with Bret to fish Crane Prairie this weekend. We arrived Saturday morning before sunrise and fished all day Saturday and till noon on Sunday. Fall is my favorite time to fish Crane because it usually produces some nice fish this time of year. This weekend the water temperature was around 50 degrees in the main part of the lake and down to 40 in the Cultus channel. A little warm for this time of year, but the problem we had this weekend was  that the water was very stained. The algae bloom earlier this year must have been bad. The water was still a dirty green color and visibility was under a foot. Bret was lucky enough to get his lure in  front of two nice Rainbows this weekend. The first one he caught was a 4.5 lb Rainbow that he caught in the Cultus Channel and the second one was caught in the Deschutes Channel and weighed 4 pounds. Both fish were caught trolling small jointed Rapala's. I only managed one small trout all weekend long. Bret caught a small rainbow also which is a good sign that the Bass are not getting all the smaller trout. This was my last trip to Crane this year and I should be back on the water in less than two weeks at East and Paulina Lakes.


Crescent Lake 9/11/04

 Bret and I went on a one day fishing trip to Crescent Lake. We arrived at the lake to find that a train was blocking the road to the boat ramp. We had to wait about 15 minutes before we could proceed to the boat ramp. We were on the water a half hour before sunrise and fished till a hour after sunset. We only took a small break to have lunch at Crescent Lake Resort. With over 12 hours on the water we managed nothing. Not one single fish! I had been waiting for months to get away for a day to fish and I get skunked. My only excuse might be that the water temperature is 63 degree's and the fish were scattered . I prefer to fish in 40-50 degree water for trophy trout. We did find a large school of kokanee in about a 100 feet of water off the boy scout camp. I did get my only strike trolling under the school of kokanee fishing for Mackinaw. I had my line to far down in the downrigger release and by the time I could get it released the fish was gone. I will be going to Crane Prairie in a couple of weeks and I hope my luck will change by then.

 Jimmy

10 Days in Newberry Crater May 7-16 2004
 
 My plan was to write a daily fishing report from fishing Paulina and East Lakes. The problem is that fishing was very slow on my trip. I have always said that time on the water is my best tip on catching trophy trout,but when fishing for Brown Trout you also need a little luck. I fished my first weekend with Max Maurer and we did catch a few Browns under 20 inches from East Lake. Saturday afternoon we tried fishing Paulina Lake and Max caught a 15 pound anchor off his downrigger. I think that is his best catch this year. Max left me on Sunday morning and I fished Paulina Lake by myself for the next three days. I only managed a small Brown and lost a nice fish after a few head shakes. The surface water temperature at Paulina Lake was below 40 degree's and that is the excuse I am going to use for my poor fishing results. Bret Martin joined me on Wednesday night and we fished East Lake. Neither one of us managed a fish over 20 inches and I was getting discouraged about getting a nice Brown Trout on my trip. Thursday I was at East Lake Resort and seen a photo of a large Brown Trout that a angler had just caught the night before. It gave us a little more hope that are luck might be changing. Dan McAllister joined Bret and I for Thursday night and Friday morning. I mentioned that a little luck is needed for large Browns and Dan had it. After I fished nine nights without a large Brown, Dan caught a great looking 8.5lb hook jaw Brown Trout off a AC lure. Two hours later Bret caught a nice 5 pound Brown off a Bomber Long A. I was happy to have a couple of nice fish caught in my boat,but I was looking for my first one over 20 inches. The next morning Bret caught a 23 inch, 4.5lb Brown. It was the best looking Brown of the trip. Dan left us before noon and I went back to catching small fish. Finally on Saturday I caught a 28 inch, 7 pound Brown. It was the same length as Dan's 8.5 pound Brown,but a 1.5 pounds less. It was a long trip in all weather conditions and we only caught a couple of nice fish in my boat, but I can't wait to do it again next year.
   This is my last report for this spring. I have plans on fishing Wickiup Reservoir in August. After a few trips to Wickiup I will start fishing on a regular basis at the end of September. 
 
Jimmy

Crescent Lake 4/23-4/25-2004
 
 General trout season opened on Saturday April 24. Bret and I decided that we would stay away from the crowds and fish Crescent Lake again. With Odell opening for the Mackinaw Anglers and lakes like Wickiup,East and Paulina opening for the Brown Trout Anglers,Crescent Lake usually has very little fishing pressure. I said in my last report that " We spend a lot of hours on the water for one Trophy Trout " and this weekend proved that. For the three days we were on the water,we spent 24 hours trolling and only caught 5 fish between us. Friday we were on the water by noon and I caught my first fish by 12:15. I was trolling a size 22 magnum Rapala in front of the summer homes and caught a 18 pound Mackinaw off my downrigger. The Mack was 32 inches long and was a pig. I wish I had a tape to measure the girth on it. My next fish was a 12 pound, 26 inch Mackinaw I caught using a Stingfish Lure by Pro-Troll. I was out in open water using my downrigger. Friday evening Bret caught a small Brown Trout off Simax Beach. Saturday morning I caught a 28 inch, 8 Pound Brown Trout off a Rainbow Assassin Lure. I was fishing at the south end of the lake. This was my best Brown Trout out of Crescent Lake.It was also my last fish of the weekend. Bret caught a 6 pound Mackinaw off his downrigger using a Predatek Boomerang Lure. It was the first time in a long while that I did better than Bret at Crescent Lake.
 My next trip will be in two weeks, I will be spending 5 days in Newberry Crater fishing both East and Paulina Lakes then I am headed back to Crescent Lake for another 5 days. 10 days of fishing in a row. My goal for the trip is to catch one Brown Trout over 10 pounds. So my next report won't be till May 16th.

Crescent Lake, Easter Weekend 2004
 
 Bret Martin and I went up to Crescent Lake Friday night and planned on staying one night this weekend. Saturday morning we launched the boat at 5:30 AM to find  the motor would not start. After looking over the motor we decided we would probably have to take the motor to a shop and have it fixed. After getting back home, I  took a closer look at the problem and found a kinked fuel line between the fuel pump and carburetor. With the motor now fixed we decided to head back to the lake and spend another night. We were back on the water by 2:00 PM and fished till a hour after sunset. Bret caught a small 8 pound Mackinaw and a small Brown Trout.
  I thinks it's funny that after Bret caught his 23 pound Mackinaw last fall that any Mackinaw under 10 pounds he considers small. When I started to fish for trophy trout a few years ago I read a report from a local angler catching 7 to 8 pound Browns from Wickiup Reservoir and he consider them small. I emailed him and told him that there is a lot of people that would consider that a trophy. He told me that he was targeting Browns over 10 pounds and anything less was small. After a few years targeting (hunting) for large trout I would consider any Brown Trout under 5 pounds small and over 10 pounds a trophy. For Mackinaw  I would agree with Bret and consider a Mackinaw under 10 pounds small and over 20 pounds a trophy. We spend a lot of hours on the water for one Trophy Trout and my goal for a weekend is one trout over 5 pounds. I did not achieve my goal this weekend. I only caught one Brown Trout. It was a 24 inch Brown Trout,but only weighed 4 pounds. I caught it on a  rainbow  Assassin lure. Bret and I will be back at Crescent Lake Opening weekend (April 23) for our goal of a trophy. The public boat launch is now open.
 
Jimmy

Crescent Lake 3/12-3/14-2004
 
 Bret Martin and I arrived at Crescent Lake Friday morning to find that a large part of the lake had ice on it. Luckily it was thin enough so I could drive my boat through the ice to open water. There is no public boat launch open now at Crescent Lake so we had to slide the boat across the snow to get it down to the lake. The weather this weekend was to nice with blue skies and  very calm water except for Friday afternoon when the wind picked up for a few hours. The water temperature on most of the lake was close to 38 degrees and not the conditions I prefer for large trout. I only caught one trout, a 29 inch 10 pound Mackinaw out in front of the summer homes. I was trolling a Bomber lure off my downrigger set at a 115 feet. We noticed on the fish finder that there was a lot of big fish close to the bottom. I think when the water warms over 40 degrees that the Mack's will be scattered and easier to target while trolling. As for my fishing partner Bret, as always at Crescent Lake he out fished me. He caught a 11 pound and a 6.5 pound Mackinaw. He also caught a 4.5 pound and 16 inch Brown Trout. Not a lot of fish this weekend,but still over 30 pounds of trout for the weekend and that is hard to complain about. This was my fourth trip this year and with my 10 pound Mackinaw this weekend puts me at 130 pounds for the year. All my fish have also been released. My next trip will be in early April back at Crescent Lake.

Jimmy's past reports from other websites: