Hi there folks!
I wanted to pass along an exciting fishing report for those guests and prospective guests who are fishermen…the fish are here, hungry and waiting for you right outside the front door of Crystalwood Lodge!
Our first fisherman of the season visited this week, and had “his best day ever in our area”. This gentleman has fished our general area many times, usually putting in at Malone Springs which is about 3-4 miles below us on the spring creek system, halfway to Upper Klamath Lake. This time he brought his float tube and put in here at Crystalwood, allowing him to fish Crystal Spring itself and the upper part of Crystal Creek.
What a day he had! He landed 15 redband rainbow trout, which are our native trophy trout here in the spring creek system encompassing Crystal Spring, Malone Spring, Crystal Creek and Recreation Creek. Many of them were good sized with the largest being at least 10 lbs! That one also happened to be the closest one to Crystalwood Lodge, as Crystal Spring is just a few yards from our front door. Here’s a couple of pictures:
Redband Rainbow Trout at Crystalwood Lodge May 2009
Redband Trout landed at Crystalwood Lodge May 2009
Most of the day’s successful fishing was done with a leech pattern custom developed for this area, although mid-day the fish were rising and he did get one on a caddis dry fly. Another fish in the deep part of Crystal Spring was landed on a small chronomid. Typically the really big wild trout in Crystal Spring and Creek respond to either leech or wooly bugger patterns, as they need lots of food to grow that big!
For those of you who haven’t had the thrill of being able to fish our area, it is one of the finest wild trophy trout fisheries in the West…and one of its best kept secrets! We boast large redband rainbows, which are genetically related to steelhead with their size and fight, and although they are landlocked, they are highly migratory because of the extreme fluctuations in water temperature which occur in our waters. This time of year and throughout the summer, they head up the spring creeks and rivers seeking our cold water — Crystal Spring is a high volume chilly 39 degrees year-round! Locally we also have big German Browns on the nearby Wood River, lake fishing on Agency and Upper Klamath Lakes, and brookies in our local alpine creeks and lakes.
If this is your first time fishing in our area, we’d suggest a guided trip to maximize your chances of getting on the fish. As mentioned above, the fish are highly migratory, and the guides are on the water daily and know exactly where the fish are. We can hook you up with an expert local guide, and would be happy to provide Oregon fishing licenses here at the Lodge as we are a license sales agent.
Whatever your fishing preferences — fly or lure, bank or boat, dry or wet flies, self or professionally guided — the fish are waiting for you to take your best shot at them!