Updated East Lake report

East Lake - La Pine, OR (Deschutes County)


by The Fly Fishers Place
7-10-2024
Website

I’ve been lucky enough to get a lot of East Lake days over the past week. I moored my big boat at the Resort for a week and while 2 of my guide trips were rescheduled during the heat wave, today’s guide day was great, and full of news to share. 

Yesterday was hot and miserable compared to today weather wise. (Don’t kick yourself George)

One of the best aspects about all the sessions I’ve had up there lately is the diversity of fishing types. Dry fly callibaetis, ants, beetles, hoppers, damselflies and chubbys…. Indicator rigs with callibaetis and chironomids….Cortland 3 foot slow sink tip and 5’ emerger tips (scientific anglers) with callibaetis nymphs stripped slow during emergence. Type 3 and Type 5 full sink lines with a team of Callibaetis nymphs. The only thing that wasn’t a winner was a deep dangle on a type 7 line. So be it.

Hatches are incredibly good. Mayflies, Caddis and Damsels mostly. We’ve been having great success on a white extended body Callibaetis dry and an Olive Haze.

Fish were smashing damsels today. Best I’ve seen in 2024 anywhere so far. We fooled several fish on a blue chubby.

Today was really pleasant on the lake. None of us felt over heated and at 6400 feet it was breezy and nice. 

The water temperature started out at 64 this morning at 7:30. Around lunch time it hit 69-70 for a brief period, but the wind came up and the water temps dropped to 66-67 again.

When we did see the 69 degree mark we stopped fishing and moved out to deeper water and used my Osprey Thermometer and found it was in the 50’s down at 25 feet. Type 5 lines came out and got strung up and fish loved a flashback PT stripped deeper.

Once we saw the temps drop to 67 we went back to banks and fished a Royal Chubby with some good takes. I’m confident they are these as a hopper imitation.

Finally, my guys in the boat today were my friend Whit and his son Zach. Whit got a Unicorn landing about a 13” Brook Trout on a beetle. He’d already got a rainbow before that on an emerger tip with a nymph, and right after the brookie he got a brown a few cast later and several Kokanee when we got out the sinking lines. An East Lake Super Slam. 

By the way, there was no one there today for the most part. So uncrowded it was crazy to look around and have the place to ourselves.

Let me know if you need help getting your trip together. I’m not available for any more guide days in 2024 but Steve, Tonn and Troy all have motors and know the lake well and can get you on a trip if you’re interested in that.

nice to see the highest lakes doing well after our heat wave.

All the best,

Jeff aka “Bugs” Perin