My wife and I went up to Lost Creek yesterday morning. Great drive in with many deer, an elk, and lots of turkeys. The new paved cutoff is sure nice in Croydon. When we came up over the dam I got worried that we might not be able to launch. It is as low as I have ever seen it. This is a picture we took on the way out.
Got over to the small lot and looked over to see if the ramp extended into the water, it did. So we prepped the boat and did the long back down the ramp to the water. I waded out 1st to see if we would be OK, a bit of silt on the ramp under the water, but looked good to me. So I launched with no issues. Off on the north side of the ramp there is a shallow spot that runs quite a ways out into the lake. Stay close to the south bank for a ways out and you will be fine.
I spent a little time getting my new trolling motor paired with the compass and the I-pilot. We decided to troll for a while for trout and tour the lake. Trout fishing was slow, only caught 5, but that isn't what we were there for.
Most of the fish were deep on the finder, including the chubs. Using my new spot-lock feature we put ourselves over some chub looking marks in 40 ft of water. We used a drop shot approach with a bell sinker on the bottom and 2 size 6 hooks spaced up the line tipped with small pieces of crawler. My wife killed it. She had a blast and had the hot rod catching a double 5 times to my measly 2. We did catch a double at the same time though.
The cooler filled up fast and I finally said enough. When we counted at home we had 60 of them. We could have kept catching but we had things to do at home and I really didn't need any more. No other boats on the water and only saw a couple of guys in kayaks that were fishing. How low will it go?
Fun day on the water with enough bait to last into next year.
Great report and pics, thanks for the info about to launch too. I haven't seen elk this early in the year for a very long time, how early did you get there? Did you take that newly repaved shortcut that goes around Croydon? The last time we were up there we were catching the chubs in 25 to 30 FOW, so it's good to know they can be caught deeper.
(08-28-2021, 01:51 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ]Great report and pics, thanks for the info about to launch too. I haven't seen elk this early in the year for a very long time, how early did you get there? Did you take that newly repaved shortcut that goes around Croydon? The last time we were up there we were catching the chubs in 25 to 30 FOW, so it's good to know they can be caught deeper.
We got there around 7:30. Yes we used the newly paved shortcut which is a great upgrade to the dirt road. The lone cow elk was in the fields just past the shortcut on the west side out with the cattle. We also saw a bald eagle and some chukars while out on the boat. The chukars were moving along the edge of the sage just above the high water line.
(08-28-2021, 02:18 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote: [ -> ] (08-28-2021, 01:51 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ]Great report and pics, thanks for the info about to launch too. I haven't seen elk this early in the year for a very long time, how early did you get there? Did you take that newly repaved shortcut that goes around Croydon? The last time we were up there we were catching the chubs in 25 to 30 FOW, so it's good to know they can be caught deeper.
We got there around 7:30. Yes we used the newly paved shortcut which is a great upgrade to the dirt road. The lone cow elk was in the fields just past the shortcut on the west side out with the cattle. We also saw a bald eagle and some chukars while out on the boat. The chukars were moving along the edge of the sage just above the high water line.
Well that is very cool, we have only seen the chuckers up high on the ridge. The last two times we have been there we have only been seeing that ospray that hangs out there, haven't seen the bald eagle there this year. I'm always impressed by the number of animals I see when I go up there. By the way, did you catch the trout using downriggers to get down deep?
(08-28-2021, 04:24 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-28-2021, 02:18 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote: [ -> ] (08-28-2021, 01:51 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ]Great report and pics, thanks for the info about to launch too. I haven't seen elk this early in the year for a very long time, how early did you get there? Did you take that newly repaved shortcut that goes around Croydon? The last time we were up there we were catching the chubs in 25 to 30 FOW, so it's good to know they can be caught deeper.
We got there around 7:30. Yes we used the newly paved shortcut which is a great upgrade to the dirt road. The lone cow elk was in the fields just past the shortcut on the west side out with the cattle. We also saw a bald eagle and some chukars while out on the boat. The chukars were moving along the edge of the sage just above the high water line.
Well that is very cool, we have only seen the chuckers up high on the ridge. The last two times we have been there we have only been seeing that ospray that hangs out there, haven't seen the bald eagle there this year. I'm always impressed by the number of animals I see when I go up there. By the way, did you catch the trout using downriggers to get down deep?
Yes we were using the riggers. They were caught between 40 and 45 ft.
(08-28-2021, 04:32 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote: [ -> ] (08-28-2021, 04:24 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-28-2021, 02:18 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote: [ -> ] (08-28-2021, 01:51 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ]Great report and pics, thanks for the info about to launch too. I haven't seen elk this early in the year for a very long time, how early did you get there? Did you take that newly repaved shortcut that goes around Croydon? The last time we were up there we were catching the chubs in 25 to 30 FOW, so it's good to know they can be caught deeper.
We got there around 7:30. Yes we used the newly paved shortcut which is a great upgrade to the dirt road. The lone cow elk was in the fields just past the shortcut on the west side out with the cattle. We also saw a bald eagle and some chukars while out on the boat. The chukars were moving along the edge of the sage just above the high water line.
Well that is very cool, we have only seen the chuckers up high on the ridge. The last two times we have been there we have only been seeing that ospray that hangs out there, haven't seen the bald eagle there this year. I'm always impressed by the number of animals I see when I go up there. By the way, did you catch the trout using downriggers to get down deep?
Yes we were using the riggers. They were caught between 40 and 45 ft.
OK, thanks. Likely going to give it a try next week.
I'll take some chubs if you get extras next time! Or I can meet ya up there!
(08-29-2021, 09:33 PM)Fritzfishin Wrote: [ -> ]I'll take some chubs if you get extras next time! Or I can meet ya up there!
Hey fritzfishin, where did you get the nice walleye from?