Tenmile Lake and Reports

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017

• By steve black

  Water Temp: 70-72

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: Awesome Lake, First time fishing it. Thanks to Ringo, at Lakeside Marina for the in site on the lake. Took my son and on the second cast using a Chart/white spinner bait caught our first 2lb fish off a shallow lay down.2nd fish came off the end of a dock pilling using a Hematoma 420 sweat beaver just over 3lbs. Continued using spinner baits and Zoom green pumpkin brush hog to fill best 5 bag of 17lbs. Great lake.

  Tips: Fish shallow in the morning, go deeper when sun comes out. Find shady corners of docks later in the after noon for the better fish.

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: 55-58+

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: Took the kayak out for 3 1/2 hours at Cottage Grove Lake. Fished a craw crank (4-5'), a 7" Senko and a jig and beaver. Fished across the dam and graphed lots of fish but couldn't catch 'em. Went all the way down the west shore fishing and paddling- stopping in some of the usual good spots and still couldn't draw any bites. Beautiful day to be out but a couple fish would have made it nicer! Did have a few smaller bass chase the jig back to the kayak but wouldn't hit it. Could have tied on a drop shot but I was really hoping to find a few of the early spring fatties this lake is full of. Tried a spinnerbait also by the dam and even bumping it along the bottom didn't get anything. Should have tried tossing a jerkbait- had one with me and that's the lure that caught my biggest bass out of this lake. Wouldn't mind tossing a trout swimbait but my swimbait rod is 7'6" long and is a pain in the yak. Next trip I'll try taking the boat out but if you do be careful- there's still a bit of floating wood out there. I bumped one piece that was twice as long as my kayak and only had about 2' visible. The water temps were a bit higher than I expected so I fully expect to start hitting a few here especially in the early morning before work.
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: If we get another 3-5 days straight of nice weather anytime soon and it happens to coincide with the full moon- look out- it will be on! I'll be there.

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: cool

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: Hit Cottage Grove a couple times in the last couple weeks. First time it was still way down- basically no water in Shortridge Cove. Next trip after a pretty solid week of rain it looked quite a bit better- Shortridge actually looked like a cove. I tossed a spinnerbait, a shallow crank, a senko and a jig and couldn't draw a bite. Had one small (9-10") bass chase the crank up to my feet but didn't bite it. Fished the whole shore from the south side of Shortridge around to the next cove south- both trips were early morning. I'm dying to get out in the kayak on one of those 60
  degree summer like days in the middle of the day and fish right up 'till sunset. My days off are almost always rainy lately. I'll post again soon!
  City: Yoncalla

Saturday, July 14th, 2012

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: 75 or so

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Had a fun day at Cottage Grove Lake with my 9 year old Stephanie. We went early and hit my big bass spot but didn't get bit with the swimbait or jig. She tossed a trout magnet with a bobber but got kinda tired due to the slow bite. We moved over to Lakeside boat dock at about 8AM. The sun didn't come out until about 9:30. We saw a ton of bedding bluegills and caught a few. We used the trout magnets sometimes with a bobber, sometimes without. At about 9:15 we started using chunks of nightcrawler. We got a ton of bites but for some reason Steph couldn't stick a fish. I got lucky and was able to get a bluegill,a crappie and a little bass in a total of 5 or 6 casts. I don't ever remember that happening before at least here in Oregon. About a half hour before we left I got a bite and yanked a 9" bass that hit a drop shotted chunk of crawler. I took a couple photos from a few different angles because I was almost positive it was a spotted bass!! Sure wish Steph would have caught it instead. We saw several swimming around including a decent one about 15-16". I e-mailed my old tournament partner to see what he thought and he said it's for sure a spot. One look at the photos and he called me right back. Kinda makes me wonder- if the 3 or 4 small ones I caught over by the dam 3 years ago- and thought were spotted bass- have all grown up and spawned of course- who knows maybe in 6 or 7 years we'll give Pine Flat a run at the record. I do fear for the largemouth fry though. The only cool thing about spots is that they'll bite almost year round. And they are aggressive feeders.
  City: yoncalla,or

  Tips: I'm not sure how to keep a 9 year old from getting bored when they are not biting! She did have fun swimming a 4" baby bass swimbait around the dock. And before she was done she was actually casting it 35-40 feet with a baitcaster and a 7'6" flippin' stick. She likes the way the paddle tail thumps. I told her wait until next time we go out in the boat- she'll love the way the bass eat it! Get out and go- summer's a wastin'!!!

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: perfect

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: A trout guy was in my favorite spot yesterday when I drove by at about 5:45AM so I went up and fished the creek area- no bites. Came back around and tried a different spot and had a nice 4 plus follow my custom painted crankbait right up to the shore. Tried my jig and swimbait on consecutive casts but the bass wouldn't hit them. Went to work and came back this morning at 5:25AM and the spot was open. I saw a huge ball of bass fry about 6' long and 2-3' thick that kept passing by right up against the shore. Within 15 minutes the water was boiling 25' from shore and I thought "Here we go". But it apparently was a pack of 7-9" bass slashing thru the fry. A couple followed my quickly retrieved jig all the way to shore. I tossed my jig way out and checked the clock- 5:55AM. when I lifted the rod to check for a fish I felt a good hard tap-tap- waited 2 and set hard. It was on! After I tightened the drag a bit I really pulled hard to try to keep it out of a small bush along the shore. Despite my efforts it got tangled in it but I was able to keep it hooked up long enough to let it swim out and then into my long handled net. Twenty inches long and 1 ounce shy of 5 pounds and the jig only had a small piece of lip! No more action for 20 minutes so I decided to go try a 10" Powerworm on the 4 plus I saw yesterday. Second cast I got a hard bite-set the hook and.....missed. Let it drop and when I set this time it had stolen my worm right off the hook. I can't remember that happening in a long,long time. Could have been a really great morning instead of just a great one. See ya out there- lets hope this is the start of crazy week! Read last years reports- by the way this report was for Cottage Grove Lake.
  City: yoncalla

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: low 60's?

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Took the kids to Disneyland last 2 weeks of June and while we were in Napa I took my 9 year old daughter striper fishing at the Napa River. She hooked and landed her first stiped bass- a whopping 10"! I hooked one a half hour later and handed her the pole- this one was 12" long. It was warm and windy but we had a 94 Qt. ice chest full of cool drinks so we were happy. Best part was no expensive out of state license 'cause it was a public dock! Now I've gotta figure out a way to get her a spotted bass. Tried Cottage Grove Lake yesterday and today and got nothing- not a darn bite. Shore fished 5 or 6 different spots with a jig and a swimbait. The lake is very clear.
  City: yoncalla

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: warmer

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: So much for the super moon! Do me a favor and don't tell the bass- maybe they don't know it was LAST Saturday. OOOOOOOOOPS!! And my 9 year old daughter was so looking forward to staying up 'till 11:35!
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: MY tip of the week- Pay just a bit more attention to the moon phases- DUH!

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: warm enough

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Got to fish at Cottage Grove Lake for about an hour before work today but didn't get there until 8:15 AM! It's within 3-4' of being full and the water looks great. I tried a couple of my favorite spots but couldn't get bit. Used a jig and a white/silver spinnerbait. Had a craw crank tied on a 3rd rod but chose not to toss it. With the "Super Moon" this Saturday I'm figuring there should be some super fishin' going on too. If I can swing it I'll shore fish Thursday and Friday and try like crazy to get the boat or kayak out on Saturday! You don't want to miss out on what could be a wild weekend. Be safe and don't forget sunscreen like I usually do.
  City: yoncalla,or

  Tips: Look for a good batch of early bed fish to flood the shoreline this week and into next week with the moon and stable/warm temps. It should be great. I'll try to post every 2 days if I have time or perhaps daily if it's fantastic! See ya at the lake!

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: felt good

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: FINALLY got to Cottage Grove Lake for the first time this year. The water level is about what I expected- half way up the Lakeside boat ramp but the water was a bit stained. Also saw a lot of big floating chunks of wood out on the main body. Heard a couple boats flying around and it was a bit foggy so be careful out there. Fished a couple spots from the shore up the creek with no fish caught. One of my favorite spots up there doesn't even have water over it yet. May have to drag a few sticks of wood over to add a few hiding spots for the spawners that are sure to show up soon. I'll try again in a few days and post another report.
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: All I tossed was a jig and beaver and a shallow crankbait. Did see a couple fish jump while I was fishing. One looked to be a 12-13" trout and the last one looked to be a bass eating the 12-13" trout! Way,way bigger splash for that fish! May have a report for Tenmile Lake in the early part of May- we're gonna do a 2 day special as soon as I can get 2 days off in a row. P.S.-Work sucks!!

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: no idea

  Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

  Report: Anyone fishing Cottage Grove Lake yet? Normally I'd have 3-4 good fish logged by now but too many other irons in the fire('56 Chevy, Hoop tourney, 6 day work week!). Would love to here about water clarity and/or temps if anyone's been out. I'm sure the first decent week of weather you won't be able to keep me away from the lake- see you out there soon!
  City: yoncalla,or

  Tips: Craw colored cranks and jig/beaver combos always seem to produce for me this time of the year- at pretty much any lake.

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: cooling slowly

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: Got a bit of a late start but on my 2nd cast at Cottage Grove I got a 3.0, 17 1/2" bass. I fished about 25 more minutes with no bites but on the last cast got a good hard, sharp bite and set the hook too soon. I'm 95 percent sure it was a good one and if I'd waited my customary 2-3 seconds then set I would've got that fish. Hurried back to my car and got to work at exactly 8AM!
  City: yoncalla,or

  Tips: I'd say the moral of the last 2 outings would be if you want bass get there early and if you want trout sleep in. This lake has always seemed to be an early morning bite type lake- at least from my experience. I'm off today and after Dad chores will try to sneak over to the Umpqua for a little smallmouth action. Take advantage of this unreal weather for this time of year. See ya!

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: 54-56.5

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: Carl and I went to Cottage Grove lake and didn't catch a bass...but we did have fun. On Wednesday,the 2nd of November, we took the boat out to the lake to try and get in one last shot at some bass. I had my rods loaded with 3 or 4 crankbaits and that was all I brought in my tackle bag. Also had a small box of rattletraps and 3 or 4 jerkbaits. We didn't launch until 9 AM or a little after and it was right around freezing. Carl got the first fish- a 13" fatty trout on a Bill Norman crank. He was casting it out near the rock wall area by the dam. Half hour later we decide to troll uplake to check water temps and I get a 13" trout on a Bill Dance crank. Then we have an hour and a half of no fish but lots of surface activity. The sun pops out and takes away the cold. We head back over by the dam and I can't stand it- I've got to try my trusty jig and beaver! As I reel it in quickly to make another cast a nice looking shiny fish follows it right up to the boat. I go back to my crankbait and speed it up a bit. We're now up against the barrier and the clock. We've got about 45 minutes left to fish and we'd sure like to get a bass. Carl holds up a craw colored crank and says "Do you think they'd hit this?" I nod and mumble something about bass always loving crawdads. I believe it was on the next cast he gets a bite at the side of the boat and the fish does 4 drag pulling runs before he gets it to the side of the boat. Mind you he's using a very light rod with 4 lb. line! Finally I put the net under the fish and just as I lift the crank pops out.....but the fish is in the boat. A beautiful 19", approx. 3 lb. rainbow- that fought like a steelhead. Carl and I were both amazed that he landed this fish- one scrape of his 4 lb. line on the bottom of the barrier and snap that baby is gone. He really fought it perfectly. I of course would have snapped it off on the hookset! I tied on a craw colored crank too- a Timber Tiger I believe it was and after 1/2 a dozen casts got another 13" trout. Then we decided to troll back over to the ramp- he with the Bill Norman and myself with the Bill Dance crank. About 1/2 way back my rod loaded up but no headshake at all. Sure enough, Guthook Bob strikes again. Another 13" trout stuck in the side. So we ended the day with 5 trout and no bass. But as usual when Carl and I go we always have a fun day. The temperature rose 30 degrees from the time we launched until we got home. Amazingly beautiful fall day! I'm heading out right now to shore fish before work. Maybe getting out early with the better moon phase will help me get a couple late season bass- who knows! Report to follow-stay tuned.
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: Dress warmer than you think you need to- you can always peel layers. Cranks and jigs.

Saturday, October 15th, 2011

• By Ranger 461

  Water Temp: 65

  Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

  Report: This lake is horrible in the late summer early fall due to the shortage of water and the thickness of dead weeds. This lake has two main places to catch any quality fish and they get hammered all the time. I only managed to get to small 2#'s for the whole day. When the rains start and the lake begins to fill again, there will be lots of fish in the back arms again esp. Coleman, Templeton and Big Creek.

Monday, September 19th, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: pretty warm

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Hey Swimbait- With the current water level there are only about 3 places "Up the creek" that you can fish from the shore. As fast as they're pulling water out now wait about 3 weeks and you'll be able to walk the whole shoreline as well as see the giant stumps that sit on the edge of the creek channel. I highly recommend bringing a camera the first or second week of November and some rubber knee boots. You'll be amazed at how low the lake gets and even more amazed at some of the great looking drop offs, stumps, rockbeds and more. It's how I learned most of my good spots and it's fun standing 400-500 feet away from the shore in what's normally 15' of water snapping photos. Be careful you don't hit a softspot and lose a boot. By all means bring a pole and try standing at the edge of the creek channel and casting back up to the creek dock. That's the opposite of how I got the 4.7! Boy do those big Senko's fly!!
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: When the water level bottoms out the lake becomes about 1/2 the size it is now. Most people have no idea about this 'cause who goes to the lake on a cold late Nov./early Dec. day? Take your binoculars and mudboots and a thermos full of hot chocolate and go get some cool photos!

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

• By Swimbait bassin

  Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

  Report: BOB..When u say i fish from bank "up the creek" can u b more specific?
  City: Springfield

Monday, September 5th, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: felt warm

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Fished from the shore up the creek today and broke in my new Dobbyn's rod the right way. Got a pressure type bite on a big Senko and set hard. I've got a baby Curado with braid and a floro leader and this fish was a digger. I had the drag 2 clicks shy of locked down and it still took a while to land it. The bass was a little over 20" long and was built like an NFL linebacker. The stick read 4 pounds and 7 ounces. Got 2 quick photos and slid her back in the lake. Couldn't get any more to go so drove around the lake and tried 2 other spots- nothin' goin' on over there. A short but well built dog came charging up to me just as I got back to my car. He was white with a black patch on his face and looked like a bulldog body with a pitbull face. Took 3 or 4 photos to show my kids and tossed him a chunk of a Pop Tart. To his credit he sniffed it and walked away. Gotta get up the creek in the boat and toss some swimbaits, crankbaits and big Senkos!
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: Only about 6-7 weeks of good bass fishing left so get out there and hit it hard. These also happen to be some of the most productive weeks and not just small bass! See ya out there.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: 72-75

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Had an amazingly fun day with my 8 year old daughter at Cottage Grove Lake. Got her up and out the door @ 5:38AM. Started fishing by about 6:15 and didn't get a bite for the first 2 hours. Good thing we got up so early. Tried a couple fairly reliable spots and was mildly suprised we didn't get bit. So we headed up shallow and broke out the bobbers and crawlers. We only brought a dozen of them and knew we'd be fishing 'till dusk so we tried to keep the pieces small. Steph caught her first Oregon bass finally- a whopping 3 incher. We had a little contest going with 5 categories: 1) first fish, 2) most fish, 3) big fish, 4) smallest fish and 5) most species caught. She won 2 categories with one 3" bass. By the time the day was over she won 4 categories and tied on the species one. We found 3 or 4 good spots and stayed with them for a couple hours each. Steph ended up outfishing me 31 to 13! I've been hearing it all week and she can't wait to go again. She got the biggest fish on her last cast- a 7" bright orange bellied fattie bluegill! Got some great photos and you should see her smile. She said this was the best fishing day ever. And I would pretty much have to agree. Take your kids fishing right now and take twice the bait you think you'll need just in case the bite is really on! My 5 year old boy is next up- wonder how bad he'll outfish me?
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: Met a couple nice kids (Tyler and Josh) who were all over the lake in their leaky old driftboat. We saw them all over the place and they were really trying to catch some fish. If we'd brought more crawlers we'd have shared some with them but all we could offer them were some plastic worms and a couple hooks. They were out there fishing for at least 8 hours. Gotta admire their desire!!

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: 70's

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Got to fish every day before work except the 27th this last week. The swimbait bite is starting to pick up and the jig always seems to work here. On the 25th I got a 4.0-19" on the 5" trout and on the very next cast hooked one maybe a half pound heavier. This was the hardest fighting fish so far this year. I was trying to keep it from burying me in the shoreline weeds and put a lot of pressure on it. About 8-10' from shore the bait shot past my left ear! Like to have put that one on the weigh stick! Due to my kids going to see Cars II with Mommy and the visiting nieces I was able to try out the afternoon bite. Got a 3.14-19" on the trout swimbait at a different spot than the morning fish. Saw some fry about 2-3" long swim by and then tossed the bait up fairly shallow near a weed pocket and wham! On the 26th I got another 3.14-19" on the first cast with the trout. One other small nip next cast and nothing after. Should have been there a half hour earlier. The 28th was a real nice morning. Hooked a good fish on the swimbait on the first cast. Pulled back and started reeling- never gave it the hard snapping hookset. Just as I reached down for the net the line went slack- DANGIT! Tossed the trout for about 10 more casts then grabbed the jig and started tossing it. A few casts in a 2.12-17" bass grabbed the jig on the way down. Never felt a bite- never saw the line jump- just felt pressure when I went to lift the jig. Same deal a few casts later but this one was 3.14 and 18" long. This fish was a chunk! On the 29th I got another swimbait fish- 3.4-18". Got my first bite on the next cast where the fish wrapped the tail up in the hook- must have changed its mind at the last minute. All in all a good week and I'm hoping August will be even better and it usually is.
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: Take your relatives from Minnesota and California fishing and show them Oregon has a few good, hard fighting, decent sized bass in our beautiful lakes. As fired up as these fish are seems like a Zaraspook should be working soon but it's so hard to park the jig and swimbait. Get out and GO NOW and don't forget your sunscreen and lots of ice cold drinks! See ya out there.

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

• By bassnbob

  Water Temp: plenty warm

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: Great job at the brown bag tourney Nick and Kev!! That was not an easy day to fish especially with lures you're not exactly used to using. My pal Mike and I fished it too- we only got 4 for a little over 10 lbs.. But I did win the Dobbyns rod at the raffle after so it turned out great. We got 3 on the sow chow craws and one on the green and black spinnerbait. This was my first brown bag tourney and I love that format. I was sorry to hear that it was Backlashes last one. I hope someone steps up and carries the tradition on. My 8 yr. old girl or 5 yr. old son might want to fish it with me someday.
  Started fishing Cottage Grove Lake on the way to work most days. On the 7th of July I got a 17 1/2" 2.10 on the jig and beaver up the creek. The next morning went back to roughly the same spot- about 100' north- and tossed my jig out. About 6 seconds later I set the hook and the fish comes completely out of the water thashing its head. I thought wow- another one of those full of piss and vinegar 2 1/2 to 3 pounders this lake seems to be full of. But when I lipped her I could see she was a tad bigger- 5 pounds and 8 ounces- 21" long! Almost all the fish I've caught over 5 pounds calm right down once you land them. This one would not she was so fidgety that I had to zero my scale and weigh her twice. Got a couple quick photos and took one of her swimming back into the lake. Wish I would have fished more this early spring- she might have been 6 pounds full of eggs.
  On 7/11/11 (If that isn't a lucky date- what is?) I got my first swimbait fish of the year. Got it on a 5" trout along a fairly steep bank. I tossed it a lot this week and knew it would pay off. This fish was a 3.14- 19" long and had the bait half in and half outof its mouth. Looking forward to an unbelievable week or two coming up. Once that bite gets going it's usually fast and furious- if the swimbaits not working the jig usually is. I've got 4 days off out of the next 9 and the boat will see the water at least twice. See you at the lake.
  City: yoncalla

  Tips: Take your kids fishing- it's fun and you make memories that will last your whole life. Be safe and wear your life jackets too. And again- way to go Nick and Kev!

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

• By nick and kevin

  Water Temp: 68

  Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

  Report: we won the brown bag tourney kev got big fish he is 16 it came with less than one hour left in tourney 18.33 total big girl 5.65 great day with son made me very proud brown bag consisted of 2 spinnerbaits 1crankbait rubbercraws calcutasenkos tha worked great fish would not let go
  City: G.P.

  Tips: we were fishing the fish we could not see done spawned 12 feet slow blade early