Lakes Henry Hagg Lake Fishing Reports

[DOKF]

Be sure to check the regs...

Willamette Zone | eRegulations

Description The Willamette Zone is all waters draining to the Columbia River between the city of St. Helens and Bonneville Dam, except for those portions of tributaries east of the Sandy River that are downstream from the Union Pacific Railroad line (see Columbia River Zone, for more details)...

www.eregulations.com

Not quite sure what you are implying here?

 

[troutdude]

Not quite sure what you are implying here?

Me too. @Raincatcher why did you mention that?

 

[DOKF]

The boy and I had another wonderful day out on Hagg Lake today. Any day on the water is better than all other options.

Not a lot of fish to the boat, but plenty of excitement.

We tried trolling wedding rings behind a ford fender / jet diver, and wedding ring behind flashlight / jet diver. But our first fish was on a leech slow trolled just north east of the no wake zone about 100' offshore in about 15' of water. A beautiful 16" rainbow nearly ripped the flyrod out of the boat. With a 2 lb tippet, we gently coaxed it into the net after 3 nice runs. Not 30 minutes later, we landed a nice 14" on the flashlight / wedding ring. Also a good fighter, but not as challenging with the trolling setup. Interestingly, this one was double hooked; he took the main hook in the lip, but the trailer hook caught him in the flank.

We caught a couple more smaller trout (8 ~ 10") on the troll rigs, and surprisingly also a small perch. Definitely did not expect that!

When the wind calmed, we tried drowning the leech again; missed a couple nice strikes, but none landed.

We timed our day perfect between yesterday's rain, and tomorrow's expected deluge.

 

[DOKF]

Dinner last night. Nice colour. I like these fresh on the grill. Colour indicative of insect and crustacean diet, not like fresh planters raised on fish meal (no carotenoids). Planters kept are destined for the smoker.

 

[Fishnsleep]

Anyone planning on fishing Hagg Lake tomorrow or Sunday?
I would think it has been stocked by now? Nice fish DOKF, in a canoe no less, nice!

 

[DOKF]

I think I read on the ODFW website (or the recreation report?) that stockings were done for the year because of the fires and hatcheries down.

But, I didn't see too many fishing out on the lake Weds. Should still be good this weekend.

 

[DOKF]

I went out to Verboort this evening to get my annual fixin' of sausage and sauerkraut.

On the way home, I decided to swing by Hagg Lake to see if anyone was getting lucky.

Saw a spectacular sunset, and talked to a fisherman just coming off the water. He had just had a nice fish on as he pedalled into the Eagle Point ramp. We talked a bit; he showed me 3 very nice fish all 14 ~ 16", all fat, all caught with a very simple lure trolled near the surface, very slow. But I will let him write his own report.

However, mission accomplished. Still lots of nice trout in the lake, available for those looking.

This Sunday is looking to be a nice bright day, unfortunately I have to work. May make it out again Wednesday.

 

[Fishnsleep]

It would not be fair to only post when fish are caught, lol. Went to Hagg on Wednesday with a friend Chad, fished four rods from about 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., we lost one nice trout, it jumped out of the water and spit the spoon out. We tried trolling and bottom fishing a few spots with power bait. We did see a few fish caught from shore, people fishing the bottom, and one boat at the ramp reported catching more than five. Maybe we were not deep enough, we did try different depths, using a rudder and two and three ounce weights. I was told it was stocked a couple of weeks ago by a fellow angler. Oh well, still a beautiful day, with the beautiful scenery and wildlife Scoggins Park has to offer. Now, to try and determine plans for the weekend, looks kind of wet, maybe some catch and release sturgeon in the lower Wi

llamette Sunday, or sleep in and watch some football?

 

[Jay K]

New to posting but thought you may like to know about Hagg. From 12-2pm I caught 4 trout and missed a 5th with rainbow power bait about 30” off the bottom at the small inlet at the south end of the Dam. The water is low so don’t do what I did and blindly walk the trail at the west end to the water to see there was no water

 

[Fred]

Been getting skunked a lot at Hagg any advice?​

Half the times I’ve gone it’s been super windy and rainy idk if that messed with the bite, but I couldn’t even cast right cause of the wind . Went like 4 times and caught one. I’m using yellow eggs with sent and lures. Been fishing the elk recreational area, boat ramp A, and twin oaks. My cuz Caught the only fish at elk rec area. Should I be going further out and deeper or closer to the shore. Should I try worms I heard someone got a brooder on a worm and bobber at elk Rec area.

 

[troutdude]

Trout in the cold water of winter are very lethargic. They don't want to expend much energy either. I'd recommend trying various colors of Berkley Power Eggs OFF of the bottom. And add scent, so they can easily find your OFFering. Also try floating worms OFF of the bottom too. Use a syringe to inflate the suckers. You can also use small marshmellows, to help the worms to float. And/or Power Eggs. The whole point is to let your bait sit, and let the fish find it. And the fish will be in the top 10' of the water (on, or close to, the surface). Cast close to the bank too as they are often cruising the shorelines. Or look a at a topographical map and toss your bait into the creek drop OFFs.

 

[troutdude]

 

[Dean]

Went there yesterday and I got skunked but my buddy caught 3 trout, and one was very large (I'm cursed, BTW - we were using same bait and everything!). He was using chartreus powerbait floating off the bottom with a sinker in a relatively shallow part of the lake. We tried by the dam and didn't have any luck. Hang in there!

 

[jamisonace]

Trout in the cold water of winter are very lethargic. They don't want to expend much energy either. I'd recommend trying various colors of Berkley Power Eggs OFF of the bottom. And add scent, so they can easily find your OFFering. Also try floating worms OFF of the bottom too. Use a syringe to inflate the suckers. You can also use small marshmellows, to help the worms to float. And/or Power Eggs. The whole point is to let your bait sit, and let the fish find it. And the fish will be in the top 10' of the water (on, or close to, the surface). Cast close to the bank too as they are often cruising the shorelines. Or look a at a topographical map and toss your bait into the creek drop OFFs.

Best advise is to fish shallow. No need to go below 12' for trout.

 

[hookturn]

@rogerdodger do you know if that is how to spot a holdover trout?

Those bands have nothing to do with how old the fish is, sorry but true. The growth rings, the wide ones only, are counted on the scales. Only certain scales are used as well.

 

[hookturn]

Also,
counting the rings of scaleless fish, such as a catfish, or fish with very
small scales, such as trout, presents a different problem.
Bony structures such as spines, vertebrae or otoliths (ear bones)
must be used. These are cut into thin sections so the annuli can
be read. In some cases, the bones are softened with chemicals
to make them easier to slice. For example, catfish spines are
treated to remove the hard, bony calcium and make the spines
soft enough to cut with a razor blade. They are cut just behind
the joint to obtain the section needed for aging. Once the
sections have been obtained, they can either be soaked in
rubbing alcohol or chemically stained to make the annuli
easier to see.

 

[hookturn]

A telltale sign of a hold-over is different colored bands, across the caudal fin (from top to bottom). At least that's what Sherry, at the Lake Stop Grocery store, showed me several years ago. Each band equals one year of growth. Just like the rings of a tree.

If anyone knows that to be incorrect--or knows of other ways to spot a holdover--please chime in.

@troutdude
Fish are aged by reading the wide lines on the scales, taken from certain spots on the fish.
On scaleless fish, such as catfish, or fish with very small scales, such as trout, presents a different problem.
Bony structures such as spines, vertebrae, or otoliths (ear bones)
must be used. These are cut into thin sections so the annuli can
be read. In some cases, the bones are softened with chemicals
to make them easier to slice. For example, catfish spines are
treated to remove the hard, bony calcium and make the spines
soft enough to cut with a razor blade. They are cut just behind
the joint to obtain the section needed for aging. Once the
sections have been obtained, they can either be soaked in
rubbing alcohol or chemically stained to make the annuli
easier to see.
Hope this helps

 

[Dean]

I went to Henry Hagg today with the kids. We somehow got skunked but had a great time. I fished multiple sections (from the bank) and tried a variety of different techniques. It was beautiful out and I saw probably about 30 other people fishing while I was there, and I saw not a single fish being caught. It was incredibly windy. Anyway, interested to hear reports from other people! Hope you all had a nice weekend and got out fishing.