Omak Fishing Report 5.15.2017

Ryan Kilgore sends us reports of his fishing outings in the Omak area. He was out this weekend at a couple of our local lakes. His report is below.

lahontan-cutthroat-omak-lake

I have been itching to get out and find some fish, so I packed up my gear, strapped my Buck’s Bags pontoon raft to the top of my Subaru, and headed out. Buzzard Lake near Loup Loup pass is a favorite spot, offering peaceful meadow scenery and usually some eager trout.

But I also hadn’t been to Omak Lake for a while, and I was hoping to get into a nice Lahontan Cutthroat. Driving southeast on Omak Lake Road, I found that the access road down to Nicholson (Beercan) Beach at the north end of the lake is closed. I could have parked there and hiked down, but I decided to keep going down to Cowpie Beach at the south end.

leader-lake

The dirt access road to Cowpie was also in rough shape, with soft mud and standing water. I decided not to risk it, and instead made the short walk to the lake. Since it had just rained the day before, the water near the shore was cloudy. I explored for a while with a small minnow pattern with no success. After a bit, I switched it up for heavier jig style streamer that has a larger profile and pushes a lot of water.

Check out our streamer options here.

Within a few minutes, I was rewarded with a beautiful cutthroat (fairly small for Omak lake standards!). I explored for a few more minutes, then headed back to the car to make my way toward Loup Loup.

mixed-bag-from-leader-lake-fishing-review

After a quick stop for food in Omak, I was driving up Hwy 20. The pass is closed due to a couple major washouts, but Buzzard Lake Road is accessible from the east side.

From the highway, it’s less than 5 miles to the lake on a gravel road. Unfortunately, I discovered that Buzzard Lake Road is closed about a mile and a half from the lake. However, the great thing about Okanogan County is that another terrific lake is right nearby.

Check out the paddle sports gear we have online here.

Leader Lake has a great WDFW picnic and camping area (Discover Pass required), and offers a wide variety of fish. I put in at one of the boat launches and didn’t need to venture far.

With a red chironomid and bead-head prince nymph under an indicator, I started to catch bluegill, perch, crappie, bass, and rainbow trout in about 10-15’ of water. I eventually switched to a type 3 sinking line and a size 12 brown & olive squirrel bugger.

We've got a type 3 sinking line and wooly buggers online here.

This proved to be even more effective, eliciting strikes on just about every cast. I ended up catching and releasing about a dozen fish in an hour and a half, before some dark clouds rolled in and I decided to call it a day.

If you guys are around the area and see Ryan-- be sure to tell him, "Thanks for the update." If you have any more questions, use the form below to ask them, and we will work to get back to you in 24 hours.