Estacada Lake Fishing

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Shallowbay
Heading out to Estacada Lake next week to fish for trout. Anyone have any suggestions on setup, bait, lures, etc. Thanks!

Estacada Lake Fishing
 
Solution
B
Fishing was good last week as the Estacada lake was stocked Tuesday. I did best on a ford fender trolling a wedding ring with worm. Worms, power bait, power eggs all work too. Chartreuse seemed to be the hot color last week. The catch drops off pretty quickly as the planters disperse up stream or get caught. I limited last week, will catch 2 or 3 this week and skunk out next week. To make it worth it, bring gear to fish the salmon and steel head.

Good luck. Remember there's a $5 park fee. And if you're backing a boat down the ramp watch out for the camper's kids. They actually use the ramp as a swimming pool. One of these days there's going to be an accident. Last week I watched a tiny toddler wandering around on the ramp with...
D
dozer365
They trap fish at Cazadaro. Most of the clackamas hatchery coho are destined for eagle creek. U could find a stray or two especially with the numbers of this years returns. However must fish up there are natives looking to spawn. There are a lot of quality fish up there. Springers in the pond can be fun. Jogging Nordic jigs by the dam or trolling spinners and herring can work.
For coho I'd suggest eggs or small plugs below faraday. Please be aware that the gravel up there is a spawning redd for all specices and should be for the most part left unmolested during peek spawning times.
Pm me if u want to get a boat out there come June and July. I can show u what I know about the springer and summer fisheries.
 
K
Kage
So I took a trip to Estacada lake for some trout fishing so I could actually bring something home from my fishing adventures. Hooked 3 and decided to leave but I noticed the salmon in there jumping occasionally. Now I swore to my wife that I wouldn't go chasing after salmon or steelhead but they're obviously there. My questions are if I were to fish for them OFF the dock what method would be most favorable. Should I try to find a better spot to fish from and how exactly do I get to the other end of the lake? I thought of fishing OFF the bottom and waiting for one to come always and bite. I don't know what type of bait to use as I've only attempted spinners and jigs so that's something I'd be needing help with as well.
 
S
sapo
I'm not sure how well you would do fishing for them in the lake, but imo just fish the river itself. Slower deeper holes are good for salmon with jigs, bobber and bait, and faster shallower holes are good for spoon and drift fishing for steelhead.
 
K
Kage
My reasoning for fishing the lake is that the salmon are, without a doubt, present. Every time I've gone out to fish specifically for salmon and steelhead it's been more or less a guessing game of if they are or aren't there in the river. Having that part of it already figured let's me focus on how to get them to bite. I suppose same technique just run deeper than in a river. Unless I decided to just sit some bait a few feet off the bottom.
 
S
sapo
The salmon are, without a doubt, present in the river itself, check the counts. I really think you'll be much more successful fishing the river, although not much success is being had there either. The salmon are in the river for sure, just don't give up and try every promising looking spot of water. When you walk away from a hole on a river you can't think "there aren't any fish in there" (because there probably are lol) you should think "I did something wrong, I'll switch my tactics and timing next time".
They are definitely there, just keep switching it up and eventually you'll get success. I'm not sure how well you would do fishing for salmon off a dock in a lake, really best bet is probably the river itself.
 
K
Kage
Pretty crummy trip, I had heard the lake was stocked last week and people took that as a sign that they could start fishing. So groups of people fished the lake out last week. There weren't many fish to be had today but the ones I saw caught were bigger than stocker size. I missed about 3 strikes which irritated me because I was set on trout for dinner.
 
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kimeun
What were you using? I was there yesterday around noon, and got a couple in 30 mins, which didn't feel too bad. I suppose me and my friend could've just been lucky :) we were taking a break from chasing steelhead on the clackamas, so we promptly left after that. Too many people and boats.

I agree, the stockers are larger than normal there this year. Definitely not the usual dinky, pencil thin 8 inchers.
 
K
Kage
Went after work so I was there around 5pm. Still had a crowd on the dock. I was in a rush to get out and fish that I didn't stop to pick up worms. I still had some salmon eggs that I was using. My preferred bait has been a chunk of nightcrawler with a single salmon egg. Has never failed to produce for me when they're there.
 
K
kimeun
Ah, I see. Floating garlic power eggs 18 inches off the bottom was what produced for us. With the amount of folks we saw rolling in and out, I believe ya that all bank spots got fished out by 5pm. I did however hear people muttering as we left about how they're not biting night crawlers that day.
 
K
Kage
I missed on the strikes I got which sucked but I was a bit surprised since I was using just a single or double salmon egg. Usually when I also fish with the nightcrawler the trout tend to get attracted by the egg and stay for the nightcrawler. Better luck next time I guess. I could have easily used some powerbait that I left behind at home.
 
K
Kage
Missed a good amount of strikes on a slow fishing day, two came off as I was bringing them over the dock rail. Took a good few hours but I went home with four though so I can't complain. Was curious though, a boat pulled up to the barrier near to the dam and was casting over it for what I would imagine would be salmon or steelhead. My question is if this is legal or not since I'm unsure but a barrier is there for a reason. The guy fishing on the dock that I asked said he didn't know but that he did it too, which neither confirmed nor denied whether or not it was legal.
 
HombreLibro85
HombreLibro85
Headed out to Estacada Lake today for some trout fishing. What has worked for you folks over here? Any spots in particular to fish from?
 
troutdude
troutdude
It only just opened up yesterday. Probably not too many peeps have been there yet.
 
S
steveangles
How'd you end up doing out there? Thinking about getting out this weekend.
 
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HombreLibro85
HombreLibro85
Its really just one dock to fish from. Fished deep with a bobber and closer to the dam. Landed about 9 fish and six more from a friend
 
305to503fishermen
305to503fishermen
What were their average size ?
 
HombreLibro85
HombreLibro85
Small, but keepers for sure
 
I
igquick
In a week, I'm moving to Estacada and I'm wondering what kind of fishing there is to do there? I see a few unmarked ponds and lakes on google that "maybe" have warm water fiah active during the summer. I know I could just read the regulations book on the legalities of trout and salmon fishing around The Clackamas River, but asking yall seems an easier start. I am very interested in catching my first hatchery salmon, in which I haven't hooked one since I was young. Any information would be helpful, and I am more than willing to exchange for good fishing information to another. Please and thank you.

Tight lines.
 
troutdude
troutdude
For rainbows and browns, take a drive up to Lake Harriet. Fish the Oak Grove Fork of the Clack, where it enters the lake. The stream is open through October 31st.
 
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RiverRat83
RiverRat83
i Would definitely recommend getting really familiar with the regulations while there is a lot of knowledge on this forum it is important for you to know the regulations here the game warden doesn’t usually go for “well the guys on the internet said” and they change periodically sometimes quite frequently so it’s just good in general to keep an eye on em. As for your question they’re are a few stocked trout areas around Estacada if that’s what your looking for north fork reservoir and Estacada lake are decently stocked throughout the season and as was mentioned above the oak grove fork is a good place as well. Good luck and tight lines
 

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