Rick, we were at Grandad 2-1/2 weeks ago. We caught lots of fish and they were not turning red but that could be changing now. Let us know how you do.
John
nice will head that way .Took my boat up to LP today (9/13) with my buddy. We fished from 9:30 to 2:30. Started fishing the channel south of the marina, heading towards the dam. Very slow for the first 1 1/2 hours. No bites at all using Ford Fenders and orange wedding ring-type spinners. Long lining with 3 oz. weights. Moved down the channel. No luck. Got to Goose Neck Bay around 11:30 and finally got some action after changing up a bit, going to 1 1/2 to 2 oz. weights and changing to blue-beaded, white spinner lures. Over the next few hours we caught 2 limits of nice Kokes, all 12" to 13 1/2". Released one small Koke (8") and one trout (15"). Saw only one other boat out there fishing. All in all, a great day.
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Kokaneekevin
16' Tracker (beige w/ green stripes), 75hp, 4-str Merc
Charcoal Creek comes out of the hills E side of the reservoir between the dam and the first big bay as you are going towards Spring Shores Marina. It's the primary opening on that side of the pool. We've done well all year fishing the rock wall just before the Charcoal Creek inlet and then all the way up to the first big bay..always opposite of the very shallow arm that sticks out on that bay (can't recall the name..? goose something) with the buoys on it as you head towards Spring Shores. We have definitely had to hunt around for them more since the smokey days from both of the fires up there. Pre fire we could catch them all over the lake but after the soot settled in it suddenly got a lot harder to find them. I'm a huge advocate of my Lowrance system for this kind of fishing. When we mark fish we catch em. When we drive around and there aren't any fish marked nothing happens. Pretty simple stuff to fish where you see loose group marks from 15ft to 35ft or big clusters deeper. If you see the birds working the water and don't mark fish then get your stuff between 5ft and 15ft deep and twice as far back as you would normally fish and you will get em. You won't see those fish on your sonar because you're only seeing a tiny portion of space and they peel away from your boat as you pass.
As you can tell I have no problem sharing what I have experienced. I absolutely love fishing for these damn things and consider myself really lucky that we have such an awesome opportunity 30 minutes from my door. There are a zillion fish in that pond and the few fish that anglers take have almost no impact on the resource. So I happily share my experiences with the hope that others can get some enjoyment as well. Not to mention that the policy makers pay attention to what is being fished and where the money is going and support those fisheries in a manor that keeps the opportunity available. People that are greedy with the info with a misguided intention for the good of their own fishing don't understand how the real world works. More boats puttering around on LP gathering in kokes means that the fish and feathers will keep pouring resources at it and that means the highest likelihood of the place continuing to be an awesome fishery.
go to youtube and search Shane Magnuson who is a fishing guide on the Columbia around the Dalles. Watch some of his clips and listen to his instructional stuff. That guy's theory on fishing and helping others is a model that we should all consider!
I'm not familiar enough with LP to know what you mean by Charcoal. Would you mind sharing?