Lucky Peak 11-27-20

[wiperhunter2]

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

[meancuznalfy]

Sounds like a good day to be out, even if you didn't catch anything. Always nice to learn new waters. Not sure why they'd close launches like that unless they are gonna work on them, did the lake look really low? Did you have a hassle getting your fishing license?

[physion]

The ramps on lake Lowell are closed to protect the migrating water fowl.

[wiperhunter2]

The ramps on lake Lowell are closed to protect the migrating water fowl.

OK, thanks, that makes sense, I thought there had to be a reason. Do you know what month they close the lake to boats?

[meancuznalfy]

It's open April 15 - September 30 for boats.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a good day to be out, even if you didn't catch anything. Always nice to learn new waters. Not sure why they'd close launches like that unless they are gonna work on them, did the lake look really low? Did you have a hassle getting your fishing license?

Which lake? Lake Lowell did not look low but Lucky Peak was really low, at least 100 ft down, imo. I'll download some pics I took today of LP, so you can see how low it is.

[wiperhunter2]

It's open April 15 - September 30 for boats.

Guess it won't do any good to bring my boat up next Oct then, thanks for the info Lyle.

[meancuznalfy]

Your welcome Curt, I got curious and had to look and see what the deal was.

[wiperhunter2]

Your welcome Curt, I got curious and had to look and see what the deal was.

Here is a pic to show you how low LP is.

[meancuznalfy]

Wow, that's really down.

[terek]

Your welcome Curt, I got curious and had to look and see what the deal was.

Here is a pic to show you how low LP is.



Its always that low in the winter. They use that lake for irrigation, so they make sure it is low enough to receive all the melt off and fill it up for irrigation the next summer. I prefer to fish in the winter because the water is so low all the fish are congregated in a smaller area. 

[meancuznalfy]

I'm sure it gets filled pretty fast in the spring with all the snow above it

[wiperhunter2]

Its always that low in the winter. They use that lake for irrigation, so they make sure it is low enough to receive all the melt off and fill it up for irrigation the next summer. I prefer to fish in the winter because the water is so low all the fish are congregated in a smaller area. 

Welcome to the site Terek. That was my first time fishing at LP, so I'm curious, what kind of fish do you usually catch there and which end of the lake do you have your best luck?

[terek]

Its always that low in the winter. They use that lake for irrigation, so they make sure it is low enough to receive all the melt off and fill it up for irrigation the next summer. I prefer to fish in the winter because the water is so low all the fish are congregated in a smaller area. 

Welcome to the site Terek. That was my first time fishing at LP, so I'm curious, what kind of fish do you usually catch there and which end of the lake do you have your best luck?

I have fished there a lot for around 30 years. There are all kinds of fish in there. Trout, chinook, kokanee, bass, and perch are most prominent. I typically troll for trout and kokanee. Ass far as where, it really depends on the day. Fish move around a lot. I typically start at the dam and troll to spring shores until i find a good school to stay on top of.

[wiperhunter2]

Great, thanks for the info. Maybe we just hit it on a bad day but we tried just about all the lures I usually use for trout and salmon and had almost no action. Even tried jigging after we found a good group of fish stacked near the bottom, about half way between the boat ramps. What I thought was very odd was the lack of fish we marked around the dam area. I though next time it might be better to launch from the ramp at the upper end of the lake, do you have any experience launching from that ramp and is it doable late in the season, when the water level is so low?

[terek]

Great, thanks for the info. Maybe we just hit it on a bad day but we tried just about all the lures I usually use for trout and salmon and had almost no action. Even tried jigging after we found a good group of fish stacked near the bottom, about half way between the boat ramps. What I thought was very odd was the lack of fish we marked around the dam area. I though next time it might be better to launch from the ramp at the upper end of the lake, do you have any experience launching from that ramp and is it doable late in the season, when the water level is so low?

yes, you can always launch from the spring shores ramp. The one at the far north end with the marina

[wiperhunter2]

Great, thanks for the info. Maybe we just hit it on a bad day but we tried just about all the lures I usually use for trout and salmon and had almost no action. Even tried jigging after we found a good group of fish stacked near the bottom, about half way between the boat ramps. What I thought was very odd was the lack of fish we marked around the dam area. I though next time it might be better to launch from the ramp at the upper end of the lake, do you have any experience launching from that ramp and is it doable late in the season, when the water level is so low?

yes, you can always launch from the spring shores ramp. The one at the far north end with the marina

Great, thanks for the help.

[MMDon]

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

It's a federal migratory waterfowl nesting area. No launches until April 15.

---

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

It's a federal migratory waterfowl nesting area. No launches until April 15. I have friends that fish LP in boats and off the bank several days a week. The fishing has been pretty poor going on it's 3rd year now. 

[wiperhunter2]

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

It's a federal migratory waterfowl nesting area. No launches until April 15.

---

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

It's a federal migratory waterfowl nesting area. No launches until April 15. I have friends that fish LP in boats and off the bank several days a week. The fishing has been pretty poor going on it's 3rd year now. 

April 15th, wow, that is a long off season, are all federal migratory lakes like that? I heard it was just lake lowell that had the rule but I have no idea for sure. 
That's too bad about LP, I had heard a similar story but I wasn't sure if stocking numbers were down or just that there are so many people fishing it that it gets fished out pretty quick.

[MMDon]

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

It's a federal migratory waterfowl nesting area. No launches until April 15.

---

My son and I made our first trip to LP today after a failed attempt to fish lake lowell. Decided to try lake lowell this morning after seeing reports of high winds at LP. Went to all three boat ramps and they were all closed, anyone know why they close up the lake to launching? 
 Decided to give LP a try anyway, we arrived to a pretty stiff breeze but we launched anyway, heading up the lake. We were trolling kokanee type dodger/spinner setups, on the surface, along with trout lures but LP was was not lucky for us. When the wind calmed down we even stopped to jig over a stack of fish but they were not interested. We started seeing a lot of boats as we headed back in and by the time we got off the water there was close to a dozen boats that had either launched or were getting ready to launch, Maybe the bite is better there in the afternoon or evening hours but it was still nice to get out, learn a new lake and be out with my son for some fishing.

It's a federal migratory waterfowl nesting area. No launches until April 15. I have friends that fish LP in boats and off the bank several days a week. The fishing has been pretty poor going on it's 3rd year now. 

April 15th, wow, that is a long off season, are all federal migratory lakes like that? I heard it was just lake lowell that had the rule but I have no idea for sure. 
That's too bad about LP, I had heard a similar story but I wasn't sure if stocking numbers were down or just that there are so many people fishing it that it gets fished out pretty quick.

1/2 the lakes in Idaho were historically closed until Memorial weekend. Idaho has worked the last 20 years to make most waters open year round.