"Ten Mile Lake" and "Davis Lake" in Oregon

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

http://www.myoutdoorbuddy.com/fishin...p?fishing=5391


http://www.tenmilelake.net/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r36RIGwVXU



I want to fly fish these lakes for LMB......

[JAWallace]

Lake Davis in Oregon has been troubled for decades. Back in the 60s and 70s it was a great, great trout lake. Then the drought came and the fish population was nearly wiped out. It started to come back in the 90s and by the turn of the century it was again a great trout lake. Some of my best and biggest trout came from Davis; never saw a bass. Soon thereafter, the bass finally took over.

Haven't fished it for bass, and I don't know if I could. Same with Craine Prairie. Too many memories of wild, hot trout > 25" burning the reel on 25' of 4-5x leader.

Our 45 yr. reunion is this summer in Portland and I'm taking a week to fish my way up. I'l probably succumb to the temptation for bass on Davis, but never on Craine. That's still trout water to me, although most of them come from indicators.

[jbird]

Part of the problem with Davis is it leaks thru the lava. If that area had several drought years in a row that lake would be gone.

Brett and the boys have the Davis bass dialed. Its about as far from flyfishing as you can get with a flyrod in your hand. If you look closely at the video, youll see their reels are spooled up with mono, not flyline. And the fly is about the weight of a D cell battery.

Brett Dennis is also the top guide for Craine. That lake can be intimidating if youve never been there. Good idea to hire a guide like Brett to get you in the game quickly.

[JAWallace]

Craine can be intimidating because probably 85% or more of the lake doesn't hold trout. You really have to know exactly where to go and there are only five or six relatively small areas on the entire lake that stand out. Everyone has their favorite local shop; mine is Sunriver Fly Shop and Bob has always been great to me. I have learned a lot from there, from dozens of trips, and reading topo maps which is incredibly helpful there. You definitely need a sonar because in the summer if you're not in the old channels, you're practice casting only.

I haven't fished it for a few years, but in my experience they were/are the hottest fish anywhere in the West, and definitely among the largest. During the opener when the bait boys are fishing dragonfly nymphs on the bottom, anything under 30" won't turn a head.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

LC,

How did you get started fly fishing Crane Prairie?

[JAWallace]

Being from Oregon for the first 23 years of my ever extending life, I go up there a lot and have vacationed at Sunriver for years. I have never had a guide except for one time on the Deschutes. The Sunriver Fly Shop explained each lake in great detail, and (sorry Bill) I was a pretty good customer over the years. I think if you pump a shop for information that's your payback to them.

I had a pontoon and just started jumping in different places and working the lakes from May through September mostly. At that time no one used indicators. It was a 25' leader on type II, kick trolled and stripped in the channels. Now most trout are caught on indicators.

East Lake, Craine, Wickiup, Hosmer, the Fall River and the Deschutes out of Wickiup are all within 30 minutes or less of each other. Each is a unique fishery, none of them terribly difficult, but each with its own nuances and gathering spots for fish. There are a few put and take lakes there but I never fish them. These fish are either wild or fingerling/subcatchable plants. The Deschutes is 100% wild.

Further north is the Metolius River, with both Rainbow and Bull Trout. That is a tough river, but with some spectacular fish. That river requires a guide IMO. I had fished it about three years prior to a trip with a local business associate who fishes it 3-4 times a week. Prior to that I was pleased to land one fish in a half day. We got about 10 that day in a few hours.

There is so much great water in Central Oregon one may not know where to start. With the exception of the Lower D and Hosmer on weekends I've never seen crowds anywhere. The fisherman aren't overly helpful once they spot your license plates, but the shops are very helpful.

Some of the waters are fly only, and that means no split shot which you usually use in moving water there. Probably wouldn't want to be the Californian that gets caught with them, especially if he was ticketed the day before for going 56 in a 55 which will happen with our Golden State plates.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

LC,

That is a special part of Oregon that we were exposed to in 1976 by our old Cortland Line Company Rep Joe Patterson.

He had Oregon for a sales territory too so he knew all the shops up there.

Joe fished with Cal Jordon of LaPine, OR who was a famous lake fly fisher back in the day.

Cal only waded these lakes ..................?

We stayed at South Twin Lakes in cabin there for years and fish Craine, Hosmer and Davis Lakes for the most part. We fished little Fall River some.

I have not been there in the past 10 years but hope to get back up there now that I am semi-retired.

Some of our early group like Al Hulbert have been going there for all this time.

This was before indicators and before pontoon boats, before graphite rods, and before clear sinking lines.

You either had a round float tube or a small boat/pram....

.

[jbird]

I lived in Bend for 10 years. 88-98. Started a family there. Its where I learned this great sport. 1988 was when I flailed with my first flyrod on the crooked River. It is indeed a sportsmans paradise. In the spring, we would ski til noon, play golf til 5 and catch the evening hatch on the deschutes or fall river. Talk about a good nights sleep after a day like that! Oh to be young!

Wickiup and Paulina were my "home lakes". Some serious fish in those waters! Crane was in its "Hay days" back then. So was Davis. Hosmer was a lot of fun too. The bass were starting to take over Crane even back then. I caught a few monsters there back in the early 90s. Crane Prairie has gone thru some problems but is starting to come back now and is kicking out decent numbers of big fish again.

I do miss fishing central oregon, however it is insanely crowded now and with some real pricks.

[JAWallace]

Bill I still have several of Cal's flies. All of them are extremely dense with fuse lead. They were for the Fall. None of them are very pretty but they continue to catch fish after 20 years or so.

I had a Trout Traps tube first, then a JW Kingfisher pontoon. Never heard of a slime line until Rickards put me onto it.