Timothy Lake 7/31-8/12

T
twout
Fishing generally sucked. Unless of course you like catching 8” kokanee. I don’t, I wanted a few rainbow trout with some shoulders on them. Anyhow it was a great trip for hiking and camping. I must admit I really only fished a total of 3 hours. But I boated over 30 small kokes and no trout.
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Irishrover
Irishrover
Great photos! I was up there on the 9th with three grandsons and one of my sons. A lot of thunder and lightning so we did not fish a lot. We did get a bunch of crawdads that we brought home and cooked up. Grandkids loved them. Plan on making a few trips up there in September. The Lake has a lot of beauty and it's a short drive from Shorty's Corner. Might need to take the camera after looking at your shots!
 
troutdude
troutdude
Some friends and I camped at Timothy a few years ago (just before all of the campground remodeling work). It was also mid-summer with high's in the 90's. We caught NOTHING trolling. They only way that we caught anything; was to bank fish in the Oak Grove Fork bay/outlet.
 
T
twout
This lake is really hitting higher temps in summer. It use to stay cooler throughout the season but the last few summers have been brutal. Fishing really can suck there in the warm water temps. Looks to be the new normal these days.
 
O
olshiftybiscuits
Outside of Harriet, lake fishing on the mountain has been pretty rough this month. Too hot, not enough water in most of the lakes, algae blooms, glacial runoff, people absolute everywhere. Personally, I’m going to give them all a rest until autumn shows up.

Meanwhile, all the streams on the mountain are fishing better than they have in years. Get yourself a three weight, a light leader and a box of dries, you’ll be in business.
 
S
sixteenvolt
olshiftybiscuits said:
Meanwhile, all the streams on the mountain are fishing better than they have in years. Get yourself a three weight, a light leader and a box of dries, you’ll be in business.

I have gear, but am an absolute beginner on the fly. Where would be easiest to hone my skills? I've heard below the Timothy Lake dam is fairly good fishing.
 
troutdude
troutdude
sixteenvolt said:
I have gear, but am an absolute beginner on the fly. Where would be easiest to hone my skills? I've heard below the Timothy Lake dam is fairly good fishing.
Where the Oak Grove Fork flows into Harriet. Easy pickin's.
 
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O
olshiftybiscuits
sixteenvolt said:
I have gear, but am an absolute beginner on the fly. Where would be easiest to hone my skills? I've heard below the Timothy Lake dam is fairly good fishing.

The Oak Grove Fork below Timothy is probably not a good beginner stream. It’s close quarters pocket water fishing. If I was taking someone new out for a lesson I’d probably go with the Salmon at Wildwood or the North Santiam at Kimmel Park. Lots of casting room and willing fish close to the bank in both spots.

In the small streams on the mountain, you’ll find the majority of trout in soft water along the edges of faster current or, more likely, in the slower slicks behind boulders. They’ll come up for most dry flies and are aggressive enough to be forgiving of a less-than-perfect drift.

You might also try the Upper Clackamas above North Fork Reservoir, very underrated trout fishery that has benefitted greatly from the fires. The fish are much larger than they’ve been in past years. The Collawash is also now accessible, and didn’t burn at all. Beautiful scenery up there, and easy fishing. Smaller fish outside the burn zone, though.

All of the Gorge creeks are packed with little cutts and rainbows, very good practice but be careful not to relocate them into the bushes with an over exuberant hook set.
 
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sixteenvolt
Thank you so much! I also have a tenkara rod that may help with tighter spots. Will definitely get out to some of these streams as we head towards the stream closing date.
 
O
olshiftybiscuits
sixteenvolt said:
Thank you so much! I also have a tenkara rod that may help with tighter spots. Will definitely get out to some of these streams as we head towards the stream closing date.
You bet. The smaller Mt Hood streams that get anadromous runs, like the Zigzag and Salmon, will fish well through about the first two, maybe three, weeks of September. Once the rain and returning salmon/steelhead show up, the resident trout seem to be displaced from their usual spots and are much harder to locate.
 

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