Fishing at Lake Frances, Baker County, Oregon

• Overview

  Lake Frances is a Baker County water, Oregon side. It stands 6,742 feet above sea level. A pocket of water where every cast reaches cover. Most waters listed here for Baker County are larger. Nearest town is Joseph, 20 miles off. The big place round here is Boise, 111 miles distant. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Lake Frances

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name rainbow trout, brook trout, bluegill, flathead catfish and smallmouth bass. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Lake Frances light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 55°F for August and 21°F for December. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. The season on Lake Frances rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Warm Lake is 0.7 miles distant. Ask locally about Lake Frances if anything is unclear.