Harrison Lake??

[cutbow_07]

Has anyone here fished Harrison Lake before?  I have lived next to it my whole life and have had very little luck on it.  It holds the only strain of trout in the state that have become naturally immune to whirling disease.  The dominant fish are Deschmidt rainbows and browns come in second.  These fish are absolutely massive!  If I catch one they are all over 3lbs and if it's a brown the average is 4-5.  I'm wondering if anyone has any idea of how to possibly increase the catch to getting skunked ratio.

[wingnutty]

Harrison is tough.  I think the best bet with Harrison is putting in your time on the ice.  I've only fished it a few times and neither time did I do too well.  7 guys, 3 lines/guy, 4-5 hours, 1 brown about 18".  I've seen some big fish come out of there, but I don't know that it is hot action very often.

Also, that wind sure puts a lot of sand in the ice.  You'll go through auger blades like nobody's business   We had 3 augers between the 7 guys, after 1 hole each, the augers were dull and getting through 12"+ of sandy ice with dull mora's is no easy task   I've since thrown my mora away and am very happy with my 6" lazer (unless the ice in thicker than 18", which on the lakes I fish isn't too often)

[cutbow_07]

Yeah I know what ya mean about the stinkn wind out there and the ice.  The best place to fish is on the south willow creek arm where it is not as windy next to shore where the fish are.  I fished it sunday and talked to two guys that had fished all day till 3 and caught 10 12" rainbows, 18" Brookie, and 7 suckers.  I didnt have a single bite but it happens.  That arm also is free of sand and will sometimes have dirt from our fields blown onto it.  Those guys walked all the way from the campgrounds---up the big hill to the north---down the other side----and pulling two sleds with seats and a gas auger.  I have property within 50yds of the lake so I drove to it and walked in.  They were certainly aggravated when they saw that I could drive to the lake...lol

[wingnutty]

haha, that's cool.  Do ever pull any hogs out during open water?

Those fields must have a few birds using um during the fall...lucky you

[cutbow_07]

Actually not many birds land back there even though we grow wheat there.  They land farther away from the lake on our irrigated pivots.
Open water can have some insane action but is often rare and requires an act of divine intervention.  I only fish in April and May cause the water isnt too hot yet and the rainbows are just getting back from spawning.  My average over all the years is.....get this.....nothing under 20".  I usually catch 2-3 pounders but the biggest I've seen ever caught was shore fishing with my dad who caught a 28" Brown.  Didnt get a chance to weigh it cause as we were taking pictures it flopped free and bounced off the rocks back into the lake.  Needless to say I will never live that one down.  If you want to see how big the bows really are you should come up in the spring and visit the FWP Milking station over in south willow creek. Average last year was 23" and 2.5lbs.  They milk them there and use the eggs for research on whirling disease and to introduce elsewhere.

[cutbow_07]

Finally caught some fish out of Harrison lake.......a total of a whopping 2....yay for fun.  I swear this is the most random lake I have ever fished and no idea why.  I caught the 22" brown on a red ratso and the rainbow on a chartreuse pimple.  I used salmon eggs and a worm on the pimple and nothing on the ratso.  Then I had a fish hit that was of the "watching a pole go on vacation through the hole" and that was on a yellow mouse creation jig with gulp maggots and a salmon egg......Has anyone else had this kind of a situation arise fishing elsewhere or at Harrison as well?  I hear ice flies are good through the ice as well but I have never used them.