Bonnie Lake in Klamath County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Bonnie Lake in Klamath County, Oregon. The surface lies 6,171 feet up. It covers about 5 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It is high ground by Oregon standards. The nearest place of any size is Oakridge, 22 miles away. La Pine is 31 miles and Three Rivers 37 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Bonnie Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Across Klamath County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, klamath largescale sucker, brook trout, yellow perch and sockeye salmon. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. The shape of Bonnie Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 27°F to 54°F. Whether it freezes depends on the year. It is not guaranteed from one year to the next. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. On Bonnie Lake that shapes the whole year. A rising level after rain switches things on for a day or two.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Overnight stays are possible half a mile away. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Timberline Lake is 0.4 miles off. Ask locally about Bonnie Lake if anything is unclear.