Fishing for trout has been improving again for trout as temperatures have cooled down a bit. Reports of trout in the 14-19 inch size range are being caught by both bank anglers and trollers. Fishing for smallmouth bass should be good. The lake is now 53 percent full. Visibility in the lake is down due to algae in the lake but not thick enough to significantly affect fishing. With dropping lake elevation, boaters should be aware of submerged stumps and islands posing a hazard particularly around Buck Island. Not all water hazards can be marked with dropping reservoir levels. For best results under these conditions, get an early start when the fish are more active. Try using a threaded nightcrawler under a bobber or powerbait fished off the bottom. When water clarity is good, trolling with a wedding ring/bait combination and sliding sinker is a tried and true method on this lake. Legal-sized trout have been stocked to complement trout stocked last year and a good number of 15-20 inch holdovers. Boat access at the Marina ramp is still in good condition, but the floating dock at Klum and Willow Point only has probably another week or two left.

This past weekend anglers caught mostly smallmouth bass, however some trout were caught. A local fly angler, Tanya Haight of Gold Hill, caught a doozey of a largemouth bass on a recent joint Rogue Flyfishers/Southern Oregon Flyfishers social outing.