Oak Orchard - Bigger Browns

[Johnnyfishface]

It's my first year out of the Oak.  I fish mainly by myself in a 21' boat and I can't fish offshore for salmon/steelhead safely when the lake is rolling.  With a southerly wind, I can control the boat inshore in 100' or less and love brown trout fishing which frequently saves the day. The fantastic charter captains at Ernst's gave me great advice finding 62 degree water on the bottom making slow s - turns, speed ups and slow downs right on the bottom  for browns which works.   But I'm only getting skippers and yearlings.  Lots of them.   I have my black's releases set so light they fire when I speed up to almost 3mph  and 3/4 of the time they don't release when there's a fish on.   I cant seem to find browns suspended with cheater rigs which I suspect is due to them hunting gobies on the bottom.   Normally my instinct is to go to a bigger lure for bigger fish or go deeper to get a bigger class as with salmon but that's not working.   I think I'm on the right track finding 62 on the bottom and hitting them with spoons and Rapalas but I cannot find a bigger class of fish.   I've bought maps looking for rock structure on the bottom and cannot find any that far off shore.  Do I continue to cut through the yearlings to get to the bigger fish or are they in a different  place in the water column?   Will they be in deeper, colder water with the lakers?   Or do I throw magnum spoons or 5" rapalas on and  stay in that 62 degree line?   I fish from the weather buoy at the Oak headed West to Johnson Creek as it looks like it was sort of rocky between 60' and 70' where 62 is set up.  Not looking to spot burn, just some advice.

[GAMBLER]

This time of the year (late August)  I find bigger browns will be in 62-70 degree water.  As for structure,  deep points and shoals (which the oak doesn't have a lot of) are keys to finding numbers and bigger browns.  If you look East of the Oak, Devils Nose, Wautoma Shoals and Braddocks Point are some of the best deep water structure areas on the entire South shore.  I also find slower speeds (1.8-2.2mph at probe) with Stinger Standard, Stingrays and mags work best for me.  Free sliders and cheaters will take a ton of big browns at this time of the year.  Those big hooks you see up off the bottom in piss warm water are usually big browns.  Big browns seem to stray from the normal Thermal cline bottom intersection area more this time of year than any other.   If the weather is stable, they will load up in the thermal cline/ bottom intersection.  If the thermal cline is like it usually is in August (unstable), they move slightly off the zone.   I have caught a lot of big browns fishing kings up high not too far from the thermal cline intersection.  For example, 2019 in the fall LOC, we placed a brown fishing kings in 110' on a high diver.  We fished the early morning in 60' for browns and caught a bunch but not many good ones. We took 4 browns late that morning up high fishing kings in that 100'-110'.  

[Johnnyfishface]

This time of the year (late August)  I find bigger browns will be in 62-70 degree water.  As for structure,  deep points and shoals (which the oak doesn't have a lot of) are keys to finding numbers and bigger browns.  If you look East of the Oak, Devils Nose, Wautoma Shoals and Braddocks Point are some of the best deep water structure areas on the entire South shore.  I also find slower speeds (1.8-2.2mph at probe) with Stinger Standard, Stingrays and mags work best for me.  Free sliders and cheaters will take a ton of big browns at this time of the year.  Those big hooks you see up off the bottom in piss warm water are usually big browns.  Big browns seem to stray from the normal Thermal cline bottom intersection area more this time of year than any other.   If the weather is stable, they will load up in the thermal cline/ bottom intersection.  If the thermal cline is like it usually is in August (unstable), they move slightly off the zone.   I have caught a lot of big browns fishing kings up high not too far from the thermal cline intersection.  For example, 2019 in the fall LOC, we placed a brown fishing kings in 110' on a high diver.  We fished the early morning in 60' for browns and caught a bunch but not many good ones. We took 4 browns late that morning up high fishing kings in that 100'-110'.  

Thanks! I appreciate the info!


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[Gill-T]

Don’t be afraid to throw out a flasher fly on a long junk line near the bottom 

[tinfin]

What Gill-T said, purple has worked for me!

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[Johnnyfishface]

What Gill-T said, purple has worked for me!

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Thanks all



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[relaxer]

[relaxer]

I have taken some better browns east of the river on the bottom... also what Gil said... and Tinfin gave a good tip as black/purple white back has worked for me in warm water there.