Happy Independence Day!

Water Temp 62-67 degrees
Inflow (cfs) 3038'
Outflow (cfs) 3056'
Lake Elevation 7499' -- 20' low
Boat Ramp Hours 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Marinas Elk Creek and Lake Fork open 7-7

First off, Happy Independence Day!  Be sure to thank the good Lord for this wonderful, free country that we live in!  Now for a delayed fishing report.  The water level has dropped a little more, but not much as the BOR continues to flush water through the Black Canon to simulate a high run off year and clean out built up sediment.  Water temps have continued to rise over the last week as we are seeing warmer weather and warmer mornings!  In the morning, surface temps are around 62 degrees and climbing to 64-67 during the day depending on what part of the lake you are fishing.  We have seen some signs of life, especially arround the new moon and fishing has improved since last week! Most of the floating debris seems to have beached itself with the dropping water levels, but it never hurts to be extra cautcious and pay attention to where you are driving!  Shore fishing continues to be a challenge, but rocky and sandy areas that don’t have brush can produce!  I did hear of a legitimate report from my good friend Mark at Sawtooth Taxidermy that he had a 27″ rainbow trout come in from a gal who was fishing from shore!  Good luck and God Bless!

Kokanee Salmon- It’s work, but we are seeing some improvement and now the warmer water temperatures are pushing some fish deeper!  A lot of salmon are still shallow and seem to be pretty spread out in most areas.  We have been catching fish from the surface down to 45′, but every daty is a little different as far as where the “hot” spot seems to be.  Experiement because we are finally starting to see some depths that are patternable.  The fish are still pretty darn picky but experiementation will usually guide you to a mini pattern at minimal.  Most days I have been focused on finding 2-3 lures that they like and most of the time the pattern is not built off of a color or action but more off of several totally different presentations.  Days that start off sunny are still better than days that start off cloudy but we have had some good days that start off cloudy. We are seeing some absolute giant kokanee in the 19-22″ range and a lot of the males are already getting a bit of a beak!

A little bit of everything has been working in every color.  I know that doesn’t help narrow anything down, but it truly has been a guessing game each day to figure out any kind of a pattern. Rocky Mountain Tackle and Radical glow spinners and squids have been top producers as well as kokanee killers, arnies, wedding rings, and wee tads.  If you can’t seem to get a bite, pick out the lure you have the least amount of confidence in and give it a try!  This is the honest truth and some of the “oldies” are having moments of glory!

Rainbow & Brown Trout– The trout bite has been good to excellent lately!  Rainbows can be found from the surface to 20′ and if you can find a color they like the action can be good!  Reports of 5-7 lbs fish have been coming in!  Brown trout can be found 20-50′ and the action for them has been good, especially in the morning. Rocky Mountain Tackle, Venator lures, Arnies, Needle Fish, Taz’s and Radical Glow spinners have all been producing. Use your electronics to your advantage as some areas are stacked with trout!  Every day the preferred depths seems to change and some of the deeper fish are very keyed in on small red worms and another larva.

Mackinaw Lake Trout-  No change…We are catching some smaller lake trout mixed in with the kokanee salmon occasionally on the same baits.  You can improve your odds greatly by fishing 45-80 feet of water.  Once again, watch your electronics as some areas seem to have “layers” of fish at these depths!  The bigger fish are suspended at 50-110′ over deeper water. Always remember the importance of releasing trophy lake trout to ensure future generations get the same opportunities we get!  And despite no bag limit on the smaller lake trout, only take what you can eat! These fish are the future of the trophy generation!

Perch- The perch are in the coves.  With all of the brush that has been covered with the rise of the lake, the perch should have an excellent spawn and the fry should have plenty of places to hide!  Smaller perch can be found in the backs of brushy coves in 8-25′ of water.  They will be hard to see on your electronics due to all of the brush, but a small jig and a piece of night crawler will quickly tell you if they are in the area!

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