Upper Salmon Lake Fishing near Oakridge, Oregon

• Overview

  Upper Salmon Lake sits in Lane County, out in Oregon. The ground round it is mixed woodland. It covers about 10 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Oakridge sits 18 miles from here and is the nearest stop. For a city, Eugene is 53 miles off. Within a short drive: Lower Salmon Lake at 0.4 miles, Sapphire Lake some 1.2 miles off, Zircon Lake at 1.4 miles, Lake Chetlo some 1.5 miles off and King Lake at 1.6 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Upper Salmon Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. County-wide records name rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, largescale sucker, Coho salmon and Chinook salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Fish Upper Salmon Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 31°F to 58°F. A lid forms in a hard winter only. Some winters give nothing at all, so plan for open water. April and May are the settled weeks, with October close behind. That is the shape of the year on Upper Salmon Lake. A grey, mild day is often better than a bright, still one.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Lower Salmon Lake, 0.4 miles away. Rules at Upper Salmon Lake are worth checking on the day.