# CAUSEY!



## Got2Fish (Jul 22, 2010)

Hey everybody! This is my first post on these forums. I used to post reports on here before they changed everything. That was a few years back. I have a causey report from last Friday, and a bunch of questions after my report.

7/16, 1 pm. Hot and breezy. Little to no cloud cover. I got badly burnt. I apologize to anybody who saw me with my shirt off :shock: . I started by trolling a dodger and squid in my little pontoon boat for several hours with no success. I oared back up the canyon, switched to a worm on a split shot rig and dead drifted with the wind, and I slayed the trout. All were released except for one retarded bow that forgot how to swim. I fished for a couple more hours and headed in to find some shade. Total fish count was around 18 or 20 bows and 5 tigers. All of which were the typical planter size. Sorry no fish pics









I love this lake because it is the closest lake that I live to that doesn't have big boat traffic and water skiers. Besides that I can ussally catch a few fish almost any time of year regardless of heavy fishing pressure everywhere else. Whne I moved down here from Wyoming, I have been fishing this lake on and off for the last 10 years. And I have come to understand a few things. Regardless, this place is still a great mystery to me.

Gamefish include, rainbow, brown, tiger, splake, cutthroat, and kokanee. Some Old timers told me that there used to be brook trout up in the tributaries. I have yet to see or catch one though.

Rainbows and kokes hang at a common water column that changes with weather and season

Kokanee spawns and survival appear to have dropped in the years we had really low water level. And the populations is gradually rebuilding from those bad years. Last year I watched the creeks for spawning kokes and it seem like there is still a very low population. On one creek I counted 3 females in the water, and a half dead one, with a chunk taken out of it and a full skein of eggs. Lots of males though. I wonder if they are spawning in the lake.

Browns, splake and tigers can be found at any depth all over the lake.
Cuts are very uncommon, and I have only caught a few. One measured at 20 inches. They typically stay in the tributaires and are very wary. Beware of rattlesnakes when walking around the creek!

This lake harbors giant browns, I mean MONSTERS (most lakes with browns do). I will encounter one of these pigs cruising the surface or shore once or twice a year. I have seen 30 inchers hauled out of there by anglers who were bored and experimented different lures out of boredom. I have been targeting them for several years now and I have yet to break the 22 inch mark. But smaller ones are very chunky and a riot to catch.

Whenever the dwr stocks catchables in the lake they typically ball up in a big school , and hang near the low water mark of the tributaries. Feeding on whatever resembles trout pellets floating down the river. Fishing in this small window of opportunity, is like going to a trout farm. After a couple of days of being spanked by cheese bait fisherman and birds, they move deeper into the lake or get taken out of the water.

The structure of the lake is very deep. Not sure how deep but very deep and cold. The steep rocky shoreline prevents heavy weed growth of wich would seem like a limited food supply for fish. But many times fish are picky and selective ate even the lightest tackle or different presentations. Of which indicates to me that there is plenty of food and that they are not that desperate to chase something with a hook . While cliff jumping I noticed groups of 3 inch minnows that looked chubs. Can anyone confirm this? Most of the aquatic life (crawdads, minnows, bugs ) appear to be in close proximity to the tributaries and shallow rocky points.

Fishing pressure is heavy in the summer months with very mixed success. Some anglers have the best day they ever had or are skunked in mutlpe attempts. I usually have good success for trout. But I do have skunky days as well.

Ice fishing pressure is pretty moderate with the exception to the weekend crowd that pound the ice. Of which definitely has a negative effect on the fishing. Anymore though, there is getting to be as many fisherman on any given weekday as there is on the weekend. Don't you people have jobs?

Early ice is always better fishing anywhere you go. Never tried ice off at causey. I have other places to visit before the crowds move in.

I should probably stop here for the sake of the post length. This is just the basics.But there is so much more I need to know. Like, What are the gill net surveys showing? How can I volunteer for a gill net survey for causey. Why am I not seeing and growth in the tigers, bows or splake? I have caught 10-15 inchers for 10 years now. Fish stocked that long ago should have reached peak maturity and size by now. Or are there big hybrids in there but in small numbers? And finally my wife loves kokanee, but I only catch them by accident. How can I target kokes to bring home to the fam? Please post or pm your thoughts, input , or rants about this lake or similar ones.

BTW pics are always good


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## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

I also love causey. We were up there a few weekends ago fishing the tribs. There are some brroks in the tributaries but only in the first half mile or so. After that its all native cutts and they are hard to catch. If your not dedicated, in good a shape and can't trick a fish with a lure in a shallow river its hards fishing. Not for the weekend warrior for sure.

As for the resivoir. I have never caught me any Kokes but the guys that do that I've talked to seem to catch them trolling with down riggers at 20-30 feet using pop gear and a worm or something similar. It gets cleaned out almost as fast as the community fisheries when it get planted. The pressure has increased ten fold this year it seems like. I figure once the fear of recession passes a little and a year or so of bad fishing and it will be back to normal.


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## luv2fsh&hnt (Sep 22, 2007)

If you trolled dodger and squids and got nothing you need to adjust one or more of the following trolling speed,dodger color,squid color,trolling depth.


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## lunkerhunter2 (Nov 3, 2007)

We boated 16 tonight in 2 hours. We have boated 140 over the last 3 1/2 weeks. Only 8 trout between 2 boats and most of them tiny except for 1 we did not see that made off with 100 yards of line. Pretty sure it was a big brown. 
The kokes have ranged from tiny(4") to 18" long. The average is 13" to 14". Anywhere in the top 30' of water column holds a lot of kokes right now. 25' to 30' has been the best. They want something different each day. It usually takes a 1/2 hour to find and figure out what it is that day. It took us 20 minutes to find and adjust to their tastes tonight. But when we did it was hard to keep our rods in the water. Like Larry said, squids and dodgers in any combination(it varies from day to day)or Pink tiger/pink-anything Curleyslures trolled at 1.5 should catch you plenty of kokes. You need to use lighter action rods or the hooks will rip out of their mouths. 8)


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## t_wolfer (Jul 16, 2009)

We ended up with 23 tonight we stayed about an hour after you guys took off. Saw 2 decent bucks on the way home too. good to see you again, I think you're addicted.


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## Got2Fish (Jul 22, 2010)

Several weeks ago I had a bunch of kokes follow a black marabou behind a dogder. I'm not sure how fast I'm going in my little pontoon (its all I have) after oaring for an hour my arms are dead. is there any jigging technique that the fish will favor. I have caught a mess of them using a pink ratso under the ice. or what about using a trailer or teaser fly, behind a squid and dodger? what kind of action should a suid make behind a dodger? is it a darting motion or does it stream smoothly behind a dodger? I may head up tomorow morning and give it a try. hopefully i can dial in within 30 min like you say. if you see a little leaky blue pontoon boat, say hi. I should have my shirt on. I'm still recovering from my last burn.


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## Wells (Jan 6, 2008)

How hard is it to put a boat on Causey? I have a jon boat that fits in the back of my truck, but it wouldn't very fun to carry it very far.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

I think its about 30 yards or so. its not terrible, but it does have potential to suck.


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## t_wolfer (Jul 16, 2009)

depends on your boat/ motor. A light boat w/ no gear and 2 guys is no biggie. Then carry the motor and gas and gear and make a couple trips.


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