Dorena or Cottage Grove Reservoirs reports?

troutdude
troutdude
A fellow OFFer and I will be heading to the Cottage Grove area this weekend, to troll for bows. Has anyone been out to Dorena or Cottage Grove reservoirs, and had any success? We'll be flat line trolling and hitting the creek mouths. But neither of us has fished those lakes before. So any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
Oldhammer
Oldhammer
Others may know better than I, but I believe Baker Bay is the primary stocking site. $5 parking.
 
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Oldhammer
Oldhammer
That's at Dorena. And, the wind can howl there in the afternoon. Don't know much about CG Res.
 
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troutdude
troutdude
Oldhammer said:
Others may know better than I, but I believe Baker Bay is the primary stocking site. $5 parking.
Thank you. We will be putting in at Baker Bay; at o'dark thirty. Hopefully no wind in the morning.

I didn't know about the parking fee, so I appreciate the heads up to bring some cash.
 
B
bucketman009
Nice smallies in Dorena as well as some big Yellow Perch.
 
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4labs
4labs
Dorena
Fished it 2 times ===0 bites
A big stocking this week they usually plant Friday or Sat.
Saw a huge school by the dam with lockjaw 3 weeks ago
If bank fisherman are stacked up at the ramp that's the place to be
Straight across the ramp on the other side of the lake is a second ramp with a creek that comes into the lake
the fish are at times there. Troll straight across the ramp at Baker to the opposite side and south to the rock wall.
The west side of the lake from Baker to the dam is the pattern.
Bass in the back of the lake in the shallows watch your FF it does get low but have seen bass guys catching trout there.
The east side from the dam has never produce for me except straight across from Baker
The ramp is single lane and the dock may be floating by now wasn't 2 weeks ago
Pay station is before the parking lot and is ATM only no cash
Standard rigs we fish mainly longline 100ft back with mag lips 2.5 with orange bottom and Berkley shad in trout
one guy swears flashers and a green wedding ring with a worm is all you need.
End of April has been the hot time of the yr for me as water gets into the 60's
Good luck
 
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troutdude
troutdude
bucketman009 said:
Nice smallies in Dorena as well as some big Yellow Perch.
Yes sir there are; and some bucketmouths too if I'm not mistaken. But I won't keep any of those residents, due to the mercury in their systems.
 
Kfreese91
Kfreese91
Fished below the Dam at Cottage Grove for a couple hours yesterday. No strikes but talked to someone there who pulled a Trophy Rainbow out earlier that day.
 
6
69198
If you didn't know: Both Dorena and Cottage Grove Reservoir have an advisory from the Oregon Health Authority on high mercury levels in fish and recommend limited consumption of fish caught there.

Info here: OHA Advisory

Mercury poisoning is not pretty, it's accumulates and can cause long term problems.

Info here: mercury poisoning

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do but just trying to inform.

HTH
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
I always do well this time of year on Dorena for trout. I take kids every year when the weather starts to turn nice and we usually get as many as they want. If you're not catching you're probably too deep. I never fish deeper than 10' usually closwr to 5'. Troll til you find them and then stay in that general area.
 
troutdude
troutdude
jamisonace said:
I always do well this time of year on Dorena for trout. I take kids every year when the weather starts to turn nice and we usually get as many as they want. If you're not catching you're probably too deep. I never fish deeper than 10' usually closwr to 5'. Troll til you find them and then stay in that general area.
Yes sir. That's what we did. We were marking fish, though, from 10-50' deep. So we tried all depths in front of Baker Bay, the Dam, in front of Rat Creek, and by the river inlet. Not a single bite. We tried dodger and worms, dodger and mice tails, flashed sets with training Rooster Tails and Little Cleo's, Wedding Rings, and more. We trolled in S-Curve patterns and were usually at 1.5 mph. Nada. No other boats had any bites. Nor did any of the bankies. We did mark fish--but there is NO way that Dorena got a load of 5,000 trophies last week. Nor the 10,000 trophies supposedly dropped in last month. ODFW needs to get their shiz together--and reactivate their confirmation line!

However it was fun to get out their with @PK Yi and enjoy the early morning. Thank you for the ride and camaraderie PK!
 
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troutdude
troutdude
I also drove over to Cottage Grove Reservoir, after fishing Dorena from 7-10 am. Only about 6 boats were out and 3 or 4 bankies there too. Talked with a couple taking their boat out. No bites for them either.
 
Oldhammer
Oldhammer
Had a great Sunday morning at Dorena including a 17in brute who fought like he wanted to pull me out of my kayak. (Micro fwg Flasher and a gold Kastmaster tipped with worm)……So I went up Monday afternoon after work…..NOTHING except two bullheads IN 35 FOW. (They really seem to like the gulp minnow on a slow death hook because when I switched to a rapala minnow I didn’t get another bite). Anytime I start to think I know what I’m doing the fish gods come along and laugh in my face!
 
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B
bucketman009
troutdude said:
I also drove over to Cottage Grove Reservoir, after fishing Dorena from 7-10 am. Only about 6 boats were out and 3 or 4 bankies there too. Talked with a couple taking their boat out. No bites for them either.
If you are looking for crappies this place has some bigguns.....don't trust peeps to be honest about them....and some really nice LM Bass too.
 
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troutdude
troutdude
LOVE me some Crappie slabs!
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
You'll get a fish now and then fishing deep but you'll catch them consistently between 5 and 12 ft down.
 
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