“Cold Water Scatters Trout, Warm Water Concentrates Trout”
Denny Rickards: Stillwater fly designer, author and fly-fishing guide
In the heat of summer Klamath Lake can reach 80 degrees on the surface. With an average depth of only 10 feet trout have to leave the main body of the lake. Their choices are a pair of tributary rivers coming in from the north or Rocky Point on the northwest shore of the lake. Rocky Point has a number of cold-water springs that provide a refuge in a limited area.
This year, 2025, I received reports from three different trips to Rocky Point, the 3rd week of June, 2nd week of August and my trip during the 3rd week of August. What all of these reports had in common was the number one fly the fish would take was a black leech. The #1 fish producer was the “Black Vampire Leech”. The Jay Fair Black Leech also worked. The largest Redband trout, 11+ pounds, was caught in June with a Pine Squirrel leech. It was caught by fly casting and retrieving from a pontoon boat.
The top producing “Vampire Leech” in black was trolled at 2.0 mph behind an Action Disc by Ron Gaston. Ron fished the June trip and the 3rd week of August. The second week of August report came from customer Justin Mitchell from Oregon. He also caught the majority of his trout with the black Vampire Leech as well. Justin fished from a pontoon boat rowing to troll the fly.
If You Go: Klamath Lake is just north of the California border in Oregon. Rocky Point Resort, on the northwest shore, is in the middle of the best summer fishing. This place can be fished with a paddle craft or a boat. This lake is weedy. There is deep water just off the docks near Rocky Point Resort, 6’ to 12’. The creek channel south of the resort has 51 degree water coming in from springs. You will see a series of buoys as you head toward the main lake. The buoys mark the channel as well as the best water you can easily troll. As you head toward the main lake you will notice the surface temperature rising. You will also notice that you enter into “algae” water (see photo with net floating on surface with trout in it. The algae is less than a foot thick with clear water below. Below the algae, the water is shaded from the sun and there is cool water near the bottom. This large area is an excellent place to troll with a Jay Fair Top Line. I cut my Top Line lead-core from a half color down to 6’ to stay above the bottom throughout the area.
The first time I visited Rocky Point, 30 years ago, I fished with legendary angler Jay Fair, it was late August. Jay moved his guide service from Eagle Lake CA to Klamath Lake each year when Eagle got too warm to fish well. In years past, late August was a great time to fish Rocky Point. Along with the dams that were removed from the Klamath River, the small dam at the outlet of Klamath Lake was also taken down. When I was there 3rd week in August 2025 the lake level was falling an inch or so per day. A falling water level is not good for fishing. I will be going back sometime from late June through early August next year for the best conditions.
The above two photos are from Ron’s June trip. The left photo is a member of Ron’s group with an 11+ pound Redband trout caught on a “balanced” Pine Squirrel leech, casting from a float tube. Pine Squirrel hide is similar to rabbit hide for fly movement. If you want to ditch the downriggers and fish shallow for big trout in the heat of summer, Rocky Point Oregon is the place to go!