Winchester Lake, ID
Southeast shore
Outing Information
- Date
- Start/End Time
- 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
- Best Fishing Time
- 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
- Rating
- Fair
- Classification
- Public
- Water Temp
- -
- Water Clarity
- Stained - 1' to 3' visibility
- Water Level
- -
- User
- Derek Blandford
Pictures
Fish Caught
Rainbow Trout
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 11" | #10 Mahogany Gold Bead-Head Mohair Leech |
Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Kept/Released: / 3 Water Type: Above weedbeds Notes: caught using dry line with a bead-head blood mohair leech drifted over the top of underwater weedbeds in about 4 to 5 feet of water |
| 3 | 11" |
Bluegill
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5" | #10 White Blandford Antron Spider Streamer |
Notable Fish: a couple 7-8" Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Kept/Released: / 9 Water Type: above underwater weedbeds Retrieve: cast and kick/troll Notes: Located around weed-beds in shallow water |
| 18 | 5" | #10 Mahogany Gold Bead-Head Mohair Leech |
Notable Fish: couple 7-8" Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Kept/Released: / 18 Retrieve: cast, then kick/troll Notes: Located around weed-beds in shallow water |
| 27 | 5" |
Largemouth Bass
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 7" | #10 White Blandford Antron Spider Streamer |
Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Kept/Released: / 2 Retrieve: cast then kick/troll Notes: Located in shallow water above weedbeds |
| 3 | 7" | #10 Mahogany Gold Bead-Head Mohair Leech |
Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Kept/Released: / 3 Retrieve: cast then kick/troll Notes: Located in shallow water above underwater weedbeds |
| 2 | 7" | #10 Brown Gold Bead-Head Mohair Leech |
Notable Fish: 1-11" Fish Depth: 1' - 3' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Kept/Released: / 2 Retrieve: cast then kick/troll Notes: Caught in shallow water above underwater weedbeds |
| 7 | 7" |
Weather
| Skies | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mostly Sunny | X | X | |
| Precipitation | |||
| None | X | X | |
| Wind | |||
| None | X | ||
| Light - 5 to 10 knots | X |
- Air Temp High/Low
- 65.0°F / 45.0°F
- Wind Direction
- -
- Weather Front
- -
- Barometer
- -
- Moon Phase
- 71% Full (Waning gibbous)
Other Patterns Tried
- #14 Brown Pheasant Tail
- #14 Black Blandford Bead Thorax Spider Streamer
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.
Notes
I got on the water about 8am. I started fishing with my wet-line, but wasn't having any luck. My fish finder indicated some underwater weed-beds in about 4 to 5' of water, so I wanted to try fishing slow over top of those.
I switched to my dry-line with a Bead-Head Blood Mohair Leech and began catching blue-gill. Some were nice sized at around 7 to 8 inches long, but I was really hoping for some trout. After catching quite a few bluegill and bass, I finally ended up getting into a couple of 11" rainbows. There were no hatches taking place, and no fish activity on the surface. I saw a couple people catch fish from the shore, but most of the boaters weren't having any luck.
At the end of the day I ended up with 27 bluegill, 7 largemouth bass, and 3 rainbow trout. My best results came from using my dry-line over underwater weed-beds in about 4 to 5' of water. This was true for bluegill, bass, and trout. I didn't catch anything or even have any hits out in deeper water. Although I caught quite a few fish, this outing was disappointing in that I didn't get into many trout.
Comments
cwtob
That's too bad you didn't do better with trout. It sounds like you found an active zone that fish were feeding in, it's just that it was mainly bluegill and bass. Did you try fishing deeper water? How far out from shore was your weedbed?
Derek (splashbuilders)
Yeah, I tried fishing deeper water. I tried a wide range of depths from 3' up to about 28' deep which is about the max depth for that lake. I didn't have a single hit in water deeper than 5'. I expect the fish to be in shallow water this early in the season, but I'm not sure why I couldn't find more trout.
Most of the shore is lined with underwater weed beds. By summer these will grow up and be visible at the surface. Some of them extend a good 20 yards or more out into the lake. That lake actually has quite a bit of contour to it. Lots of interesting drop offs, weed beds, humps, etc. I'm interested to try it a few more times throughout the year to see where the trout end up when the water warms.