Melakwa Lake Fishing Guide, Lane County, Oregon

• Overview

  Melakwa Lake lies in Lane County, in Oregon. Country round the bank runs to farm and woodlot. At 22 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. The closest town, Sisters, is 19 miles away. For a city, Eugene is 59 miles off. Others close at hand: Coffee Lake within 0.4 miles, Irish Camp Lake some 0.7 miles off, Island Lake within 1.1 miles, Elf Lake some 1.2 miles off and Glaze Lake within 1.3 miles. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Melakwa Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Survey and observation records for Lane County include rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, largescale sucker and Coho salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Melakwa Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect August to average close to 56°F, with December the cold end at about 28°F. The freeze here is occasional rather than annual. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. February into May fishes hardest as the water warms. Melakwa Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. There is a pier recorded roughly 150 yards away. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Coffee Lake at 0.4 miles is the sensible second choice. Nothing here settles the position at Melakwa Lake for certain.