09-22-2010, 02:22 AM
09-22-2010, 04:54 PM
I was at Johnson and Lamont on Monday. The water is low but not extreme on either of these.
Johnson is a pretty little reservoir that I dearly wish that they would make more of an effort to fix. The water was 64 degrees and probably clearer than most of the other Preston area reservoirs. Right now it is about 14 to 17 ft at its deepest. It is very buggy and has wide shoals of weed beds in the 3 to 10 ft deep range.[inline LJ1.jpg]
[inline LJ2.jpg]
I know that it has bass, trout, and bluegill. If the tiger musky are still in there, then they aren't doing their job! I wasn't able to catch anything except hundreds of 2 to 4 inch bluegills. No matter what I used or how big it was, they wanted it. I don't think I made a single cast that I didn't get one on. I had no chance to catch anything else!
To introduce a child to fishing and even teach them dry fly fishing, this place is perfect. The little buggers are great and very willing, but just too small to do anything with. Has anyone else been able to catch anything else there?
One thing to watch out for, if you drive over the dam, don't drive into the turnaround area at the end. I did and I am amazed that I didn't get a flat tire. There are two fire rings there that are avoidable, but nails from fires have spread all over the place. I picked up two cans full of nails of all sizes and I didn't get them all by any means. I got about two pounds pick up just to get cleared enough to get back out of there and I am not exaggerating by much if any. I didn't touch the fire ring areas so give them a wide berth.
Lamont was a nice change of pace. Its water was colder and milkier. It is down but not as much as I thought it would be. Deepest section is still more than 30 feet deep, and the temperature was about 63 degrees. There were not many weeds to speak of and little structure as the reservoir is well down from the banks. Dropoffs were fishing well. I caught trout, perch, bass (small, 6 to 11in avg), and bluegills (about 5 or 6 inches). I have been there a few times in the past year, but I haven't seen the tiger muskies that they put in there. There seems to be a fair balance in this reservoir. The bass are small, but I think that is from harvest not stunting. This is a typical 10 incher:
[inline LJ3.jpg]
The bluegills were a very light color from the milky water almost a gray with pink tinges.
[inline LJ4.jpg]
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Johnson is a pretty little reservoir that I dearly wish that they would make more of an effort to fix. The water was 64 degrees and probably clearer than most of the other Preston area reservoirs. Right now it is about 14 to 17 ft at its deepest. It is very buggy and has wide shoals of weed beds in the 3 to 10 ft deep range.[inline LJ1.jpg]
[inline LJ2.jpg]
I know that it has bass, trout, and bluegill. If the tiger musky are still in there, then they aren't doing their job! I wasn't able to catch anything except hundreds of 2 to 4 inch bluegills. No matter what I used or how big it was, they wanted it. I don't think I made a single cast that I didn't get one on. I had no chance to catch anything else!
To introduce a child to fishing and even teach them dry fly fishing, this place is perfect. The little buggers are great and very willing, but just too small to do anything with. Has anyone else been able to catch anything else there?
One thing to watch out for, if you drive over the dam, don't drive into the turnaround area at the end. I did and I am amazed that I didn't get a flat tire. There are two fire rings there that are avoidable, but nails from fires have spread all over the place. I picked up two cans full of nails of all sizes and I didn't get them all by any means. I got about two pounds pick up just to get cleared enough to get back out of there and I am not exaggerating by much if any. I didn't touch the fire ring areas so give them a wide berth.
Lamont was a nice change of pace. Its water was colder and milkier. It is down but not as much as I thought it would be. Deepest section is still more than 30 feet deep, and the temperature was about 63 degrees. There were not many weeds to speak of and little structure as the reservoir is well down from the banks. Dropoffs were fishing well. I caught trout, perch, bass (small, 6 to 11in avg), and bluegills (about 5 or 6 inches). I have been there a few times in the past year, but I haven't seen the tiger muskies that they put in there. There seems to be a fair balance in this reservoir. The bass are small, but I think that is from harvest not stunting. This is a typical 10 incher:
[inline LJ3.jpg]
The bluegills were a very light color from the milky water almost a gray with pink tinges.
[inline LJ4.jpg]
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09-22-2010, 06:06 PM
Looks like things haven't changed that much since spring. Maybe Lamont will develop some nice bluegills. Johnson needs a predator to cut down the # of those little guys.
You are exactly right about Johnson and fly fishing. My sons had a great time this spring throwing sponge spiders out there. They caught one almost every cast.
Windriver
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You are exactly right about Johnson and fly fishing. My sons had a great time this spring throwing sponge spiders out there. They caught one almost every cast.
Windriver
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09-22-2010, 08:01 PM
I enjoy your reports! Haven't fished Johnson's for awhile but fished Lamont a few times this summer. There are 16" Bass in it. My fishy finders alarm goes off when it pegs over 5llbers. It went off a couple times. Not sure what they were but my guess is LMB, Tigger or a big ol' Bow! Also I did well at Glendale and Twin too. Glendale has got some PIG PERCH in there too!
Thanks again for your great reports!
Smiles Always!
MA
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Thanks again for your great reports!
Smiles Always!
MA
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09-22-2010, 08:31 PM
I haven't caught a perch in Glendale. I didn't know there were any in there until some one else mentioned it a week or two ago. Where have you caught them? PM me if you would prefer.
Have you caught anything else besides the mini-bgs in Johnson? How do you get past the little buggers if you do?
I know that there are a few larger fishies around the area, but they are sure elusive to me, this time anyway. There will be a reckoning to come!
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Have you caught anything else besides the mini-bgs in Johnson? How do you get past the little buggers if you do?
I know that there are a few larger fishies around the area, but they are sure elusive to me, this time anyway. There will be a reckoning to come!
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09-22-2010, 11:52 PM
Thank you for a great report.
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09-23-2010, 04:30 PM
NP! I have caught Perch all over Gledale depending on conditions. The school I ran into over a month ago were west of the boat launch here's a pic of them. Notice the Bows were all over 14" so it gives you an idea of how big the Perch are. Funny thing they did not hit on jigs only nightcrawlers and grasshoppers.
I have not fished Johnsons for a couple of years....seems like it's been about 6 years since I caught a decent trout there.
As far as getting past the dinks. All I do is go BIGGER and stay aways from the live bait. Try 3/0 witha 10" Senko(my favorite looks like a snake) either wacky it or to pull the biggies out of the thick stuff go weedless like a Texas rig. I use 30llb braided...It was tough for me to switch out of my ultra light gear being a trout and fly gal most of my life.. but either way it's fun to catch a monster and not break off. I posted a pig sunny I caught on a 5" licorice craw 2/0 this summer. That sweety scmacked it right on the drop! I was targeting LMB.
I have great success using 5" weedless flies that look like baby muskrats/mice ..3ft leader clear bobber and just cast into thick shorelines. If I see boils I never cast right into them..instead cast 10 feet or more beyond and let your lure(use one that looks like the shad) sink before you reel towards you. Usually the biggies are lurking deeper than those shad.
Hope this helped! GL Kiddo!
Smiles Always!
MA
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I have not fished Johnsons for a couple of years....seems like it's been about 6 years since I caught a decent trout there.
As far as getting past the dinks. All I do is go BIGGER and stay aways from the live bait. Try 3/0 witha 10" Senko(my favorite looks like a snake) either wacky it or to pull the biggies out of the thick stuff go weedless like a Texas rig. I use 30llb braided...It was tough for me to switch out of my ultra light gear being a trout and fly gal most of my life.. but either way it's fun to catch a monster and not break off. I posted a pig sunny I caught on a 5" licorice craw 2/0 this summer. That sweety scmacked it right on the drop! I was targeting LMB.
I have great success using 5" weedless flies that look like baby muskrats/mice ..3ft leader clear bobber and just cast into thick shorelines. If I see boils I never cast right into them..instead cast 10 feet or more beyond and let your lure(use one that looks like the shad) sink before you reel towards you. Usually the biggies are lurking deeper than those shad.
Hope this helped! GL Kiddo!
Smiles Always!
MA
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