Hagg Lake

[glennmcintire]

Has anyone fished Hagg Lake for kokanee? Its so close it would be nice to just go after work during the week.

I've heard that a decent koke gets picked up from time to time, but has anyone ever gone there in search of kokanee?

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Glenn

 

[crabbinbrad]

Tha

​

t would be cool but gets to warm in the summer been fishing there for 25
years never heard of a koke from hagg the closest place i know of are merwin in washington and green peter in oregon if any one knows of a
closer spot would sure like to hear it

 

[skookum9]

Timothy over at Mount Hood is supposed to have kokanee in it, I think. As to Hagg Lake having kokanee in it, I don't think so. My father tried his level best to convince the state biologist to put kokanee in there back when the lake was first opening, but this man would have none of it. He said he believed that kokanee would be too prolific and simply over-populate the lake. Sorry, but I think that man was an idiot. I did hear a rumor this last winter that the state was finally going to try putting a few kokanee in there this year but when I asked my friend from ODFW if there was any truth in it, he said not to the best of his knowledge. He tried to look up and see if there was such a notion but he found no such idea noted anywhere in his resources. I grew up at my fathers house about two miles below the dam since 1975 and I now live about 3 miles farther away than I did then, but never once have I seen a kokanee come out of that lake. I'm very hopeful that this will someday happen but I'm not going to hold my breath. Especially now that the bass have been illegally planted and have now taken such a strong foot-hold there. Maybe kokanee power will have the strength to recover this lake and have some kokanee planted there. I would have to see a kokanee caught out of there to believe that there were any in there but I sure would be happy if it were true. And, although the surface temp does come up during the summer months, there is still plenty of cool water down deeper in that lake. I've had a couple of late summer baths in the creek that flows out of the bottom of that lake and I promise you that the water is plenty cold enough for any fish, even kokanee.

 

[glennmcintire]

Has anyone ever considered a personal, illigal planting. How can you tell the difference between a male and female kokanee?

 

[skookum9]

As much as I want to see kokanee on the menu for this local lake, I cannot condone the illegal planting of these special fish. Even though I believe that it would be the very best thing for this lake, the community and the fishermen, it would be against the law, and that alone makes it wrong. That's how we got stuck with all those nasty bass in this lake, because some unwise and unthinking individual did what he wanted instead of what was right and planted them in there on his own. This has had long lasting results that I find completely repulsive and I hope that someday the people or person who was involved in it will meet the full enforcement of the law. I know that I could have begun planting kokanee in there years ago, but I cannot do that very thing that I detest so much in those who in other ways willingly defy the law. If I owned that lake, then there would definately be kokanee in it, but I don't, the state does and it is their decision. Please respect others by obeying the law. I am sure that the results would be completely positive if this were done, but what if I am wrong. Everyone would have to pay for such a foolish decision. If kokanee can be planted here within the law then I am all for it, but please don't be another law breaker just to get your own way.

 

[glennmcintire]

Well said. Consider the idea dropped.

 

[kokaguy1]

Timothy has Kokanee but every small ones

 

[skookum9]

I ended up fishing Timothy two weekends earlier this year and yes, every kokanee I caught was small. I caught two different sizes, 6 inchers and 8 inchers. But, I caught most all of them on a fly, which was something quite new for me. I heard stories from other fishermen there who had knowledge of larger kokes there at times. One such fisherman claimed to have caught koke's up to 13 inches there. Another claimed to have "seen" koke's up into the 2lb class or better. But I personally saw nothing of any size at all. It would not be my first choice for a kokanee lake by any means. But it sure was a lot of fun for trout. You could catch trout at an unbelievable rate, until you were just plain tired of catching them.