Smith and Morehouse- again

[TheOtherSide]

Being the lone "no" vote in the group- back to Smith and Morehouse we went.

It was a much warmer day and we fished in about the same spot as the last time, opposite the boat ramp and opposite the dam. 14" of ice and some slush spots were noted, but seemed to be closer to the ramp and dam. Best fishing was in 20' fow. Small green/pink plastics tipped with worm worked well. I think the most productive make/model was the trout magnet.

We ended up catching a handful of kokes (no red ones this time), a couple grayling, and around 30 little rainbows.

People were driving the road to the dam, but you need good tires and of course 4 wheel drive. The road to the boat ramp was more sketchy and I saw people getting stuck. Someone tried to get what looked like a newer Chrysler 300 past the ramp. Didn't appear to go very well.

[wiperhunter2]

Thanks for the report, were the kokes and the grayling about the same time as last time? Pretty crazy that someone would try and drive a car up there.

[TheOtherSide]

Thanks for the report, were the kokes and the grayling about the same time as last time? Pretty crazy that someone would try and drive a car up there.

They were all 10-12" the kokes were slightly smaller than last time, but the graylings were a little larger.

[PAC12_AfterDark]

Thank you for the report - I really wanted to get out there this past weekend.

[Boisan]

I'm thinking of heading there tomorrow but I have never fished hard water there before. Any tips for a first timer? By opposite the boat ramp and dam, do you mean toward the southern end of the reservoir? Also, I did a google search for "trout magnet" but there were thousands of results, all with different images. Other than small plastics, what jig/bait combo would you recommend? I'd particularly like to target kokes or grayling but a few rainbows would make me feel like I know what I'm doing. I need to wash the skunk off from my short outing at Rockport today. Sounds like S&M would be a good place to do it. Any advice would be appreciated.

[TheOtherSide]

I'm thinking of heading there tomorrow but I have never fished hard water there before. Any tips for a first timer? By opposite the boat ramp and dam, do you mean toward the southern end of the reservoir? Also, I did a google search for "trout magnet" but there were thousands of results, all with different images. Other than small plastics, what jig/bait combo would you recommend? I'd particularly like to target kokes or grayling but a few rainbows would make me feel like I know what I'm doing. I need to wash the skunk off from my short outing at Rockport today. Sounds like S&M would be a good place to do it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Towards the stream and campground end of the reservoir and not the dam side. I was in 20 fow and would aggressively jig off the bottom, pause, and let it drop all the way down again. The grayling and trout were off the bottom and the kokes seemed to be about 12-15' in the water column. I would see them on my flasher when they moved through and reel up to where they were at.

[Boisan]

I'm thinking of heading there tomorrow but I have never fished hard water there before. Any tips for a first timer? By opposite the boat ramp and dam, do you mean toward the southern end of the reservoir? Also, I did a google search for "trout magnet" but there were thousands of results, all with different images. Other than small plastics, what jig/bait combo would you recommend? I'd particularly like to target kokes or grayling but a few rainbows would make me feel like I know what I'm doing. I need to wash the skunk off from my short outing at Rockport today. Sounds like S&M would be a good place to do it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Towards the stream and campground end of the reservoir and not the dam side. I was in 20 fow and would aggressively jig off the bottom, pause, and let it drop all the way down again. The grayling and trout were off the bottom and the kokes seemed to be about 12-15' in the water column. I would see them on my flasher when they moved through and reel up to where they were at.


Thanks for the tips! Sounds like a good plan. I'll be sure to post a report when I get back.