Oster Lake #1, ID
NW point; South rocks
Outing Information
- Date
- Start/End Time
- 6:15pm to 8:15pm
- Best Fishing Time
- -
- Rating
- Fair
- Classification
- Public
- Water Temp
- -
- Water Clarity
- Clear - 5'+ visibility
- Water Level
- -
- User
- Jason Hansen
Fish Caught
Rainbow Trout
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15" | #12 Pheasant Tail BH |
Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Retrieve: Hang & Bob |
| 1 | 14" | #14 Red Copper John |
Fish Depth: 3' - 6' Retrieve: Hang & Bob |
| 1 | 13" | #12 Pheasant Tail BH |
Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Retrieve: Hang & Bob |
| 3 | 14" |
Weather
| Skies | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny | X | ||
| Mostly Sunny | X | ||
| Precipitation | |||
| None | X | ||
| Wind | |||
| Medium - 10 to 15 knots | X | ||
| Heavy - 15+ knots | X |
- Air Temp High/Low
- 55.0°F / -
- Wind Direction
- -
- Weather Front
- -
- Barometer
- -
- Moon Phase
- 17% Full (Waning crescent)
Other Patterns Tried
- #16 Brown Bivisible
- #10 Black Woolly Bugger BH
- #10 Yellow Stimulator
- #18 Black Disco Zebra Midgeling
- #10 Rust Mohair Leech
Hatches
No hatch information for this outing.
Insect Seining
No seining information for this outing.
Fishing Partners
No fishing partners were saved with this outing.
Waypoints
No waypoints were saved with this outing.
Tides
No tide information was saved with this outing.
Notes
Sunday didn't end up being as crappy as the weather peeps predicted so I decided to hit the Oster Lakes on my way home. I didn't feel like putting my waders on and getting wet so I focused on Oster Lake #1 where I could fish from the shore. The wind was steady and heavy the entire evening. I started off fishing from a point with the wind at my back where I could mostly just roll cast since I couldn't back cast. I had my sinking line on from my Mormon Reservoir trip last week so I made a few casts with a mohair leech and really did expect to at least get a couple hits, but nothing. I switched to a flashback pheasant tail and tried a few varying retrieves, but again, nothing. There were trout sporadically jumping all the way out of the water at tan fluttering mayflies that were getting blown along the surface by the wind.
I switched setups to a Hang & Bob and decided to use a Stimulator as the bobber since there were fish rising. I set a Pheasant Tail at 3' down and a Copper John at 6' down. I didn't catch anything for the first 15 minutes which really surprised me. Eventually I got into a couple fish and had a couple other on, but the action was never as fast as I was hoping. Other people were fishing and not catching anything so maybe my minimal success was actually good.
A little before dark I walked around the pond to the big rocks on the south side and tried the Hang & Bob without success. I then tried rerigging with a long leader and a BH pheasant tail and making various retrieves but the trout disagreed with my approach. I packed up before it was completely dark because the constant beating by the heavy wind and the 55 degree temperature had frozen me.
While I was fishing I kept thinking about LaFontaine's "Floss Blow Line" technique, which he recommends when trout are rising and the wind is heavy. This was the perfect evening for it but I don't have the correct setup for it. I'll need to get a reel with flat floss on it so I can start trying it. I think it will be an exciting and valuable technique since the wind is usually heavy on Idaho's lakes and reservoirs.