# Fish Lake / Johnson's



## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Fish Lake was rough! (June 21-24) Monday evening was our best day, 1 Brown, 2 Bows and a Kokanee (and 2 perch). Not a lot happening anywhere on the lake, and the fish cleaning stations were void of people. I have fished there for 45 years and don't ever remember it being so slow. 

We hit Johnson's on Tuesday. I figured we might catch some decent size bows with all the Tiger Muskies in there. I kept telling my girls if you catch a Bow it will be a good one because all the little one's get eaten by the Muskies. They caught 2 that were 3 lbs. 

The wind was terrible, not so much white caps, but just breezy enough to be annoying where the anchors wouldn't hold. (except the one time when it held too good and I couldn't free it. I cut the rope and lost the anchor) .


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## BG1 (Feb 15, 2013)

Nice. I actually didn’t think there would be any trout in Johnson’s. Do they stock them or do they come in from Fish Lake?


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Beats getting skunked!


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

BG1 said:


> Nice. I actually didn't think there would be any trout in Johnson's. Do they stock them or do they come in from Fish Lake?


I don't think they put anything in there other than Muskies. Johnson's was a great trout fishery back in the 70's and 80's. I imagine there are some good one's in there though. It used to be a dirt road from Fish Lake over to Johnsons and you could drive right down to the lake. It's a lot prettier now with all the rocks, instead of dirt. I will say this much, that place is under utilized. I never see more than 2 boats on it, or anyone fishing from the shore...&#8230;..


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

We used to stay at Johnsons, the rv type campground just before the lake. We used to get nice trout there, and even then it was very open and never many people. Beautiful area for sure


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I can honestly say that in the dozen or so times that I have fished Johnson's that I have never caught a trout out of it. 

The first time was clear back on Labor Day weekend 1968, we left Johnson's and went to fishing the Fremont River. Then the last time was in 2012 I believe during the general deer hunt.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Curious how full the campgrounds were? We are heading that way tomorrow morning without a reservation....




Johnson was ONLY a good trout fishery following rotenone treatments. It was always a vicious cycle: The fishery would crash due to downstream migration of rough fish out of Fish Lake, followed by a rotenone treatment, then restocked with trout. The trout would thrive for a couple years, followed by a downhill trend with an increase in chubs, suckers, perch, etc. 5 years after a treatment, the fishery would be sliding into a trough. By year 8 it would be nothing but rough fish, with another treatment scheduled by year 10.

While it very well may be an underutilized fishery, it still fulfills a certain niche for those people looking for tiger musky.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

PBH said:


> Curious how full the campgrounds were? We are heading that way tomorrow morning without a reservation....
> .


There were more campers than I have seen in many years, but there were still a lot of open spots available without a reservation. Good luck fishing!>>O


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

My wife and I headed to Fishlake Friday morning. We got the same camp spot we had back in June. Holy crap! the campgrounds from Doctor Creek to Frying Pan filled completely by days end Friday. The fishing improved since the last trip. Boat fishing was so-so, but the shore fishing at night was phenomenal, and some big Rainbows to boot.


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