Francis Lake Fishing in Marion County, Oregon

• Overview

  This water sits in Marion County, Oregon. The bank gives way to rolling hill. About 8 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. Nearest place of any size is Warm Springs, 23 miles away. For a city, Gresham is 61 miles off. Also on the doorstep: Lake Sarah 0.4 miles off, Harvey Lake near enough 1.5 miles, Lake Hilda 1.6 miles off, Breitenbush Lake near enough 1.7 miles and Spoon Lake 1.7 miles off. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Francis Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Open biodiversity records for Marion County list bluegill, largemouth bass and largescale sucker. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Francis Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect August near 56°F and January near 29°F on the long-run figures. The swings are modest, so patterns change slowly. In milder years the edges alone go, and the middle never sets. The hot months push the fishing to dawn and dusk. The season on Francis Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. 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. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Lake Sarah is 0.4 miles distant. For Francis Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.