Let’s Go Fishing

It’s time to dust off your fishing gear! The opening of Henry Hagg lake is March 7th. This lake is home to some of the largest Trout in Oregon. It is a common sight to see an 8-15 pound Rainbow Trout being weighed at the Lake Stop Grocery, just down the road from the lake.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) is scheduled to stock the lake with 18,000 Trout a week prior to the opening. The lake receives more then 70,000 Trout throughout the year. There are also thousands of fish, which are holdovers from the previous years. These fish have not seen any bait or lures since Thanksgiving last year, so they should be ready to attack your line and give you a good fight.

The lake is also home to State Record Smallmouth Bass. The best time to catch one of these beauties is Mid April to the first week of June while they are in the flats during the spawn.

You can also see Bald Eagles and Osprey feeding on the fish in the lake.

The lake is located in Scroggins Valley, just south of Forest Grove, Oregon and off highway 47.

Ken Bear Cole
Fishing with Bear LLC

And The Winner Is:

I want to thank everyone who visited my booth at the Pacific Northwest Sportsman’s Show. I had a wonderful response with almost 300 visitors registering to will a free guided trip. Warren R. of Wilsonville, Or. was this year’s winner. He plans to take 3 of his friends with him as we will be fishing for both Trout and Bass at Henry Hagg Lake outside of Forest Grove, Or.

Ken Bear Cole

Fishing with Bear LLC

BALLOON FISHING

Before I had a boat, I would get frustrated when I could see the Trout jumping and feeding on the surface, but I could not cast that far. I knew if I could get my bait or fly out to the fish, I could catch them. If only I had Jesus shoes, so I could walk on water. I later discovered balloon fishing.

To make it work well, you will need the proper conditions. You will probably want the wind blowing at your back, so that it will carry the balloon further then you can cast. Next you will want a simple balloon. Nothing fancy. The cheaper, the better. I like the small round ones that you can get at the Dollar Store.

There are a couple of different strategies. If the fish are on the surface, then blow the balloon up about half to three quarters of the way full. The wind or breeze will cause your bait to cover a lot of surface area. In these cases tie the balloon to your main line about 3’ above the hook. Cast it out and let the wind do the rest. This works especially well when fishing for Brown Trout. They tend to get spooked easily. Fishing a long ways off will preventing spooking the fish. That is also why you will need a lot of line out when trolling for these beauties.

The next way is if you want to drop your bait into a deep hole far from shore. This time you could blow the balloon up full. Tie it to your line and allow the heat of the sun to continue to expand the balloon until it pops. It will then drop your bait to the bottom. It’s sometimes difficult to calculate the exact location with this method.

The most calculating method is to use a thread to tie the balloon to your line. You don’t need much. about six inches is plenty. When the balloon has reached the correct location, pull hard on you line and the thread will break. A word of caution when using this method, you will need to cast gently. Otherwise the thread will break during the cast.

So get some balloons and give it a try. Let me know how it works for you.

Ken Bear Cole
Fishing with Bear LLC