Fishing Forum

Yesterday I fished a couple of the little reservoirs by Preston. I fished Twin Lakes from sunrise until noon and then headed over to Johnson Reservoir and fished there until dark.

At Twin Lakes the bite was best the first hour of the morning and then slowed down.[unsure] The trout in there are good sized but I wasn't able to pull anything onto the ice besides rainbows or perch. There were a couple guys that had caught a few bluegills and one guy caught a couple crappie. Everyone I talked to said fishing was slow. I don't think anyone was catching much more than a couple fish per hour. One guy said he has done much better other days this winter at Twin Lakes. Maybe we were just fishing during a slow period. I think I could have found at least a few bluegill and possible a crappie or two if I had been willing to move around more. Below are a picture of a rainbow and a perch From Twin Lakes. There was 8" of clear solid ice in the hole I measured. The ice appeared to be about the same thick in almost all areas of both lakes. I would be careful in a small spot in the narrows that separates the two lakes.

Below is a picture of a healthy rainbow and a perch I caught at Twin Lakes.


At Johnson the ice was only 5" thick in the hole I measured but it was clear solid ice. The rest of the lake appeared to be the same thick. At Johnson I was only able to catch perch and small rainbows (all 10”-12”). Most of the time the bite was fairly steady for the rainbows. I also caught some perch that had some meat on them. The bite slowed down the last hour before dark. I think I would have been able to catch more perch and a few bluegills at Johnson if I had been willing to move around to different areas. I’m going to get a power auger one of these days.[crazy] It will make it less work to move to different areas and find fish that don't move around as much as rainbows do.

Below is a picture of a skinny rainbow and a healthy perch I caught at Johnson.


I used a little of everything to catch fish. Night crawlers, wax worms and powerbait all worked well. The only recommendations I would make for either lake is to use small jigs or ice flies, watch for very light bites and be willing to move around if you want to catch pan fish. Jigging didn't seem to help much and many of the fish wouldn't bite a second time if I was too slow to set the hook. A few of the fish did bite a little harder. My friend had a fish take one of his poles down a hole at Johnson.[shocked] About a half hour later the 12" rainbow became tangled in one of his other lines. He was able to catch the fish and recover his pole. []
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Brian,

Do you have to pay a five dollar parking fee at Twin Lakes in the winter. I am not cheap, just wondering if I need a five dollar bill in my pocket if I go there this winter.

OvidCreek
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Brian,
How big was that 'bow?
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OvidCreek,

I checked the pay area on the NW corner of the North lake and it was not set up. I heard that it wasn't set up last winter either. I would bring the $5 just incase they do set it up but you probably won't need it.

bdn06,

The rainbows in Twin Lakes have only been planted in the spring the last few years. The ones planted this spring are in the 15"-18" range now. The one in the picture was probably close to 16" but I didn't put a tape on it.
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