Timothy Lake July 26, 2015

This summer has been a tough one. As anyone who lives in Oregon or the greater Pacific Northwest knows, there has been a record breaking drought for the last few months. This, coupled with the dismal snowfall of last winter, has led to nearly every waterway in the state drying up and being virtually unfishable. To reduce stress on coldwater fish, the ODFW set numerous regulations prohibiting any fishing for salmon, trout, and steelhead in certain river systems, notably the Willamette. Even the places where fishing isn't prohibited have strict regulations set in to minimize the angling activity during the heat of the day. Fortunately, these rules only apply to rivers and streams. With all the lakes in the state remaining unregulated, I gathered my tackle and set off to do some fishing on the Mt. Hood area's largest and most productive lake.

Timothy Lake is over 60 feet deep in some places and is fed by the Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas River. As a result, I believed that it would be cooler and a better place to fish during the heat of the summer than the numerous smaller lakes that surround it. In addition, I had heard several favorable reports from people who had gone earlier in the week. Deciding to give it a shot, I launched my canoe from the ramp at the Oak Fork recreation site and headed out onto the lake. 

A map of the entire lake. If you look closely, you can see the fabled Timothy Lake Monster.

This lake can be a challenging but rewarding place to fish. Although the three species of trout found here aren't overly difficult to catch, a large number of fishermen get skunked and write the place off as either only being a put-and-take fishery or completely devoid of life. This largely has to do with the way these guys are fishing. The biggest mistake I see people (and myself in the past) make is trolling around aimlessly in the middle of the lake with some sort of flashy lake troll. Sure, it might work immediately after the fish are stocked, but this technique will rarely produce for the wild fish. Timothy Lake is extremely clear and those ridiculous Ford Fender contraptions will spook the fish, especially the large Brook Trout. In addition, nearly all of the fish in Timothy will be in and among the shoreline structure. Stumps, rocky coves, creek channels, drop offs, points, etc. Fishermen who concentrate their efforts around areas such as these will have far more success.

What to look for. 

An average sized Timothy Lake rainbow caught on a Frog Flatfish.

I started off by heading to the southeast corner of the lake. This is where the Oak Grove Fork drains into the lake (at least one of the places where it does) and also acts as a spawning tributary for fish. I trolled a brown beadhead Wooly Bugger along the shoreline of the cove and caught one small Cutbow. Timothy Lake once had native Cutthroat populations, but nearly all have bred with the Rainbows to produce hybrids like the fish pictured below. It also set a record for the most failed photo attempts I've had on a single fish.

Now that's something you don't see on the cover of Salmon Trout Steelheader. 

Again. 

And again. 

Finally!

The fish had been through enough, so I released the little guy and kept fishing. I worked my way out of the cove and began trolling along the eastern shore of the lake. The Wooly Bugger I was using imitated a small crayfish, a prime food source for Timothy Lake trout. The lake is famous for its healthy crayfish population, and the Brook Trout in particular love to feed on these crustaceans. In addition, I deployed a Frog Flatfish on my other rod. Small plugs like the Flatfish are the ticket to trout in this lake, as their vibrating action is irresistible to the trout that live among the rocky structure of the lake. In addition, they look realistic enough to be readily taken by trout in the clear, shallow water of the lake. The Frog color is my favorite, followed by a rusty orange that resembles crayfish.

Most of the bites I received in the first few hours were on the Frog Flatfish. I worked my way along the shoreline and into the north arm of the lake. This section is by far the most productive. The narrow channel that connects the shallow, weedy area around the North Arm Campground to the main lake has excellent fishing. This section of the lake is rich in insect life, as well as the numerous baitfish and crayfish that the trout feed on as well. 

A decent sized Brookie from inside the channel.

Despite its size, Timothy Lake is ideal for fly fishing. Although I usually fish crayfish patterns, there are a wide assortment of insect species that reside within the lake. These include Callibaetis, Chironomids, Caddies, and giant Yellow Hexagenia Mayflies. The day I was there, trout were rising to Callibaetis duns and emergers. I hadn't brought any, but the fish were still eagerly striking my subsurface flies and plugs. Double hookups even began to happen.

I worked my way up the channel until it got too weedy to continue fishing. The aforementioned low water levels were also in effect at Timothy Lake, with normally fishable areas rendered weedy and impossible to navigate. The lake was also unusually warm, a factor that was likely stressing out the trout. In conditions like these, it's extremely important to revive the fish properly and minimize their time out of the water. This is even more important with larger fish that stress far more easily. Although none of the giant Timothy Lake trophies were caught today, there were still plenty of decent sized fish in the 12-16 inch class. 

Crawdad patterns catch lots of fish at Timothy.

A Timothy Lake Rainbow that took me into my backing! 

I worked my back a ways before reeling in my lines and heading straight back to the boat ramp. It had been a good day of fishing in one of Oregon trout fishing's best kept secrets. Although the conditions this summer have led to lousy fishing across the state, it still goes to show how good the fishing can be in the Mt. Hood area. The weather is also much milder. Even though there had been scorching temperatures in Portland and the greater Oregon area, I enjoyed mild overcast conditions in the mid 60's at Timothy Lake. This, coupled with the fishing, made for a successful day on the water. Hopefully there'll still be some left by the time the summer is over. 

Everything you need for a day of fishing.