Mostly sunny today but some clouds are showing up this afternoon. The west wind kept a nice ripple on the water early this morning but settled down briefly before coming up to an average speed of 7 mph. Wednesday the temperature is expected to rise into the low 80's with low temps in the low 40's.

Water Temperature

South basin: According to my depth finder the surface temps are 67.1 to 71.5 degrees F in the afternoon. pH 9.35 North basin: 67.1 to 72 F(PM) pH 9.43 Middle basin: 68.9 to 70.8 F. pH of 9.47. The new criteria set by CDFG for posting the "voluntary catch and keep recommendation" is a uniform pH of 9.4 as this lake rarely goes below 9.2. The Department of Fish and Game is recommending to all anglers that they practice "catch & keep" until further notice. The pH in the north and middle basins has increased but we are still awaiting a reply from CDFG on the last water quality test results.

Lake Conditions

There were quite a few weeds on the surface towards Black Mountain and a few out in the middle of the south basin between Eagles Nest and Shrimp Island. It's a good idea to check your lines periodically if trolling. There were a lot of tules scattered on the surface between Pelican Point and the Youth Camp and north towards Spalding and Rocky Point this week. Probably from muskrats maintaining their dens as the water level has dropped some.

Buoys are on the lake. But, this being a natural lake not all the hazards are marked. The west side of the south basin all the way to and around Pelican Point is notorious for rock piles several hundred feet from shore. Miners Point and the Youth Camp as well as the channel between Buck Point and Little Troxel Point will also hazardous areas. We will lose between 2 and 3 feet of water by fall (and maybe a little more depending on the type of summer we have) so expect the water level to drop below 5100 this season. Be careful this year.

Fishing Locations and Depths

Water temperatures have steadied but get those lines down. The rising fish aren't interested in your worms. They are coming pretty much straight up, taking a few bites and descending very quickly. However, we have been bit trolling a brown leech on toplines.

The fishing has been good the last couple of days but some folks have been working harder than others. The bite has pretty much shut down around 8:30 AM . The best fishing has come very early in the morning. After that, folks have been working for them especially if the lake is calm and flat. Trollers, don't troll (zig-zag and maneuver) between all the anchored bait fisherman. For one, it shows bad manners and poor judgment. Many bait fisherman cast away from their boats. I can't even count how many times I have had to reel in my lines while inept trollers try to "move into the spot" when bait fishing this season.

From the Springs to Eagles Nest has been producing limits for trollers and bait fishermen a like. 50 to 65 feet of water 30 feet deep has been the ticket but some fish have been caught at 23 ft and others at 32 to 37 ft this week. Just cover the bases between 30 and 35 and you will catch fish. More fish are congregating off Black Mountain and the south end of Miners Bay (north of Eagles Nest) however, reports that the fish are on the move from that location came in today...but, the fish may have just had an off day this morning in the deep water. There are minnows schooling up and the trout really started eating them along with shrimp larva (applesauce eyeballs describes what it looks like). Some tui chubs are also being caught, see "Trolling" below for tips on recognizing the difference on your depth finder.

Between Wildcat Point and Shrimp Island (Lake of the Woods): the rocky ledges on the west side provided some action for trollers using nightcrawlers, flies and lures as well as the bait fishermen. We have picked up fish in 35 feet of water fishing close to the bottom this week but most of the trout still prefer to be out in 45 to 65 feet of water 27 to 35 feet deep, especially after sunrise. My favorite depth is 50 to 55 feet of water. More fish are starting to show up in larger schools just south of the buoys at Shrimp Island. Quite often we find a lot of fish out in the middle of the lake this time of year and many of the fish DO move from one side of the lake to the other occasionally.

Youth Camp to the Biology Station as well as the south side of Pelican Point was pretty slow but usually by mid August some fish move back to the south side of P Pt. Miners Point was clean today and I did see a few fish rising on the ledge but most were in water deeper than 30 feet on the south side of the ledge. A lot of boats do move the fish from one side of these ledges to the other quite often. Sometimes you have to chase the fish daily. And, they do have to swim over the top of the ledge to get from one side to the other. I can usually entice a strike on a top-line with a brown leech pattern trolling fly.

I'm starting to see some fish on the north side of Miners Point. With water temperatures still below average for this time of year, we are seeing some movement back towards Pelican Point today. Last year's high water temperature reached 77 degrees (south basin) and I have seen it come up to 80 (on a very hot dry year) and up to 83 in the north basin in the past. So if the temps stay in the low 70's we could see fish moving back into shallower water by the middle of August. But, if the water temperatures rise too much above the low 70's it won't happen until September or October.

Trolling

Some trollers are doing better than others but limits are still being caught. Most of the success this week has been in 37 to 65 feet of water 24 to 35 feet deep on the east side, 24 to 35 on the west side. For leadcore users: We are dragging 4 to 5 colors of 18 lb, (closer to 6 colors for 12 and 15 pound lead) in the water at 1.2 to 1.8 mph. We are also running at least one top-line with a small minnow pattern fly that has been good for at least one fish each morning. We took a shot today on a "trout scout" and accidentally found quite a few trout in 10 to 16 feet of water. All were 2.5 to 3 pounds at 10 feet deep.

I did hear complaints from some trollers catching tui-chub. Let me tell you a little something about the tui-chub that most folks don't know. 1) They appear as fish "stacked up" on your depth finder, not a bait ball but all stacked up. The school moves as a unit, not individually, that's why they appear stacked up. 2) they can live in lower oxygen levels and are often found at 40-45 ft deep when the trout are at 30 to 35. 3) Trollers don't usually catch them because they generally don't "chase" fast moving objects, however if you are trolling too slow you can catch the heck out of them. The key is to bump up your trolling speed by 50 to 75 RPM's and avoid catching them. That's all it takes and stay in the zone of the trout. The more chubs your are catching the less time you are fishing for trout. Please release these special fish safely, they are of great importance to the ecology of the lake.

Hot Lures, Flies and Grubs

Lures: Large "Red Dog" Double Jointed Sure Catch lure is doing well and medium "Goldie locks" (florescent orange and brass) has been working well too. I also like the German Brown Medium Sure Catch this time of year. But good old Needlefish were in the top 3 producers. No doubt that florescent orange is a hot color on this lake and various lures of that color often work. Since using the sure catch lures, I am now partial to using them but Needlefish have also been extremely affective on this lake for decades. Florescent orange with nickel or brass back were productive in size 2. The tiger and perch pattern size 3 has cooled off whereas the orange colors are now being a little more productive. Rainbow Runners have also been known to work well up here. Often, what is hot in one area is not in another. The red dot frog and crocodile patterns in size 2 and 3 have also been productive lures. We have a lot of baby western toads in all the grassy areas of the shoreline right now and don't think the trout have never seen one swimming in the water. It is near the time when minnow imitations from rapala's to rubber wigglers will be more effective.

Trolling nightcrawlers is also a favorite and was indeed a very affective method for many anglers. Use of flashers can be more productive in late summer and fall. (Flasher tip for Eagle Lake: shorten leaders up to 14 to 15 inches from the flashers. These fish often come from behind so quickly that they can miss your bait and hit your flashers. If you are getting lots of strikes without hooking up, your leader is too long.)

The trout have been pounding the minnows on the east side of the south basin but we also had a shrimp spawn (might not be the right terminology) and the fish just love breathing in food rather than working for it. The shrimp at this very young stage is a favorite for the trout and they can get hard to catch when feeding on this particular food source. When you cut into the stomach of the fish it resembles applesauce with small black flecks in it...we call it applesauce with eyeballs for fun. For those of us that use leadcores instead of downrigger's it's like "trolling through Jello" when your lines drag through it. If you increase your sensitivity on your depth finder you can usually see it as a density on your scope. If you are looking in the water it appears as a whitish cloud in the water. (The pinkish/orange clouds in the northern basins are cinnamon leeches).

Grubs: The grub trollers are working hard but the brown has bought a few strikes. Brown, orange, watermelon, white and root-beer have caught a few fish this week. Some folks prefer to run wiggle or action discs several inches ahead of the grub.

Trolling Flies: The plain Jane brown and florescent orange are catching fish but the brown leech (a very passive rather than aggressive fly) has been attracting more strikes especially after sunrise. The tui-chub pattern really starts working well this time of year. The ones I tie have more white than olive on them. Olive leeches are starting to pick up a few fish here and there but in general olive works better down by Pikes Point and the jetty....but brown has been the most affective for us still.

My best advise for trolling flies is to keep your rod in your hand and set the hook at the slightest difference in your line. The fish take flies differently than they hit lures. They basically "hold" it in their mouth rather than attack it like a lure (especially the passive flies in brown or olive). You have to sink the barb of the hook in order to land the fish. And, I mean you have to set it hard, and hold your line so the drag doesn't defeat the purpose. Quite often I use the motor to assist keeping pressure on the fish if I run out of hook setting room (rod over 90 degrees), but, don't keep your boat in gear after the hook set. You will lose them every time. Some fish hit harder on the more aggressive flies (orange, gold & etc.) but you still have to set the hook. Very few fish swallow a fly, they are always lip hooked. Keep your drag light enough for the fish to take it when he wants and tight enough that you can grab line up when he gives you some back or charges the boat. Too tight of a drag will result in tearing the fly out of the skin that it's usually attached to. We have a lot of fish spit the fly out in the net on a regular basis.

Bait Fishing

Nightcrawlers under slip bobbers at 30 to 35 feet deep are still catching some nice trout (we usually cover 27 to 35 but 30 to 32 or 33 is a good starting place). Our free lines were good for catching 50 percent of the fish yesterday, they were taken at about 20 feet. In general, the free lines are sinking down to the level of the fish before they have been taken, but every day is a little different and in some locations the current in the lake prevents the worm from sinking.

The tui chub minnows are schooling up in the deep water and the trout are right behind them. The speckled dace are in very small groups (not large schools) and the trout generally porpoise when scooping them up. The use of commercial attractants has been working well the last few years. Krill and Garlic Trout Gravy are the most effective. Don't under-estimate the garlic gravy, it works.

It is illegal to use minnows as bait on this lake, however many different imitations start working now. Nightcrawlers are the most effective bait used but some folks use insects too. NOTE: It is also illegal to keep live trout in a "live well" for any purpose including resuscitation.

Shore Fishing

As water temperatures continue to remain in the low 70's, expect the fish to be farther away from shore. There are a few places between the biology station and the Youth Camp where 30 feet of water is reachable by casting from shore, but the shore fishing will be iffy until early fall now. But, if the water temperatures stay cooler than normal, we could see it pick up by the middle or late August. This was the first day that we caught fish in 11 to 15 feet of water but a good hot spell will push them back out to deep water, especially after sunrise.

Fly Fishing

Osprey Management Area is closed to human access from land until September 15, 2007.

A few trout are rising to the caddis hatch. Sometimes the use of indicators is needed to see the slurp and these fish do get line shy when the water is flat. I had trout today in 11 to 15 feet of water early in the morning but they did eventually move back out to deep water around 8:30 AM. Brown was the color they wanted today.

My favorite flies are basic. #10 and #12 wooly buggers. I prefer brown along Pelican Point and the west side of the south basin. I like olive, gold, orange or black in the tules. However, the orange is extremely effective when the water temperature drops below 48 degrees F.

It is advisable to have a float tube or boat so you can reach those trout when they move out. Have a sink tip available.