Timothy Lake Trout Kokanee Fishing: Seasons, Tackle

At roughly 3,000 feet on the west slope of Mt. Hood, the 1,540-acre reservoir holds both trout and kokanee, so planning your trip starts with knowing which species you want to chase. Hood, roughly 65 miles east of Portland, and holds landlocked kokanee salmon plus hatchery rainbow trout in the same cool, snowmelt-fed water. Portland General Electric manages the impoundment inside Mt. Hood National Forest, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife plants 25,000 to 40,000 rainbows a year to keep the trout bite strong from April through October.

This practical walkthrough breaks down everything an angler needs for a productive day on Timothy Lake, from picking the right month to rigging for either kokanee or the hatchery rainbows ODFW stocks each spring.

The Setting and Species Worth Targeting

Timothy Lake fills a broad glacial basin ringed by old-growth fir, pocket marshes, and a dozen Forest Service campgrounds, with deepest holes near 120 feet and a summer thermocline that settles between 25 and 35 feet. That 25-to-35-foot band is the single most important number for kokanee trolling because the fish stack on the temperature break rather than on bottom structure. Portland General Electric draws the lake down each fall for power generation and refills it through summer with Clackamas River diversions, so water level can swing 10 to 20 feet between Memorial Day and October.

Rainbow Trout Stocking and Behavior

ODFW plants the lake with roughly 25,000 to 40,000 legal-size rainbow trout each year, split between spring and fall plants, plus fingerlings that grow into two- to four-pound holdovers. Most planters run 8 to 12 inches, big enough to bend light trolling tackle. Rainbows here prefer 50 to 60 degree water, which pushes them shallow in May and June, then back into the top 25 feet by midsummer. The dam face and the Still Creek and Ollalie Lake inlets are reliable spring producers, while trolling the rocky shelf off the west shoreline picks up fish all season.

Kokanee Origins and Lake Behavior

Kokanee are landlocked sockeye salmon that ODFW first introduced to the Clackamas watershed decades ago, and they spend their lives in open water filter-feeding on zooplankton. Mature fish average 10 to 14 inches and 0.75 to 1.5 pounds, with occasional two-pounders pulled from deep schools, and they never leave the lake except for the September spawn run into Still Creek and the Ollalie outlet. Because plankton stays put rather than fleeing, a fast lure rarely triggers a strike; you have to place a small offering at the exact depth the school is holding, which is why downrigger or lead core trolling dominates over casting.

How Reservoir Management Shapes the Bite

Because PGE controls outflow, water can drop fast during a fall power draw, leaving ramp launchers stranded and pushing kokanee into the deeper main-basin holes where trolling depth must follow them down. Spring levels are usually high and stable, which favors working the upper water column for both species. Always check the current reservoir elevation on the PGE recreation page before driving out, since a low lake can put a half-day detour at the far end of the launch.

Once you’ve confirmed the water level, matching your effort to the seasonal rhythm is what actually fills the net.

Species	Typical Size	Best Season	Where to Find Them
Hatchery rainbow	8–12 in, holdovers 14–20 in	April–June, again in October	Dam face, creek inlets, top 20 ft in summer
Kokanee salmon	10–14 in, 0.75–1.5 lb	Mid-July through September	30–60 ft along main basin, schools roam
Spawning kokanee	12–15 in, dark and hooked-jaw	Early September through early October	Still Creek and Ollalie outlet mouths

A Month-by-Month Breakdown of Kokanee and Trout Activity

The bite at Timothy Lake swings hard by month because both species are chasing temperature and forage rather than just sitting on structure, so tracking the thermocline and the spawn clock beats any single “best lure” recommendation. The month-by-month plan below pairs depth, trolling speed, and lure color to the water you’re actually fishing.

April Through June: Trout Near the Surface

Early spring kicks off the rainbow bite as ice-out, usually late March or early April, sends hungry planters into the warmer shallows. Troll small inline spinners or 1/8-oz spoons behind a flasher 50 to 100 feet behind the boat, working the top 15 feet along the dam face and both creek deltas at 1.8 to 2.2 mph. Kokanee are still deep and sluggish in April, so most anglers focus on trout until water temps push past the mid-50s. By June stocker rainbows spread out along the entire shoreline, and small wedding-ring spinners fished from the bank at the north-end Still Creek mouth produce steady action for kids and kayak anglers.

July Through August: Kokanee Slide Into the Thermocline

Summer is kokanee prime time at Timothy Lake, with fish schooling at 30 to 60 feet and the most consistent catches coming from downrigger trolling right on the temperature break. Top trolling hours are the first three hours of daylight and the last two before dark, and the mid-day bite slows once the sun heats the surface above 70 degrees. A baseline spread of two downriggers at 35 and 50 feet covers the school, and trolling speed between 1.2 and 1.6 mph puts a hoochie in front of as many mouths as possible without outrunning a willing fish.

September Through October: Spawn Run and Tributary Action

As nights cool, mature kokanee push into Still Creek and the Ollalie Lake outlet to spawn, turning dark and hook-jawed by mid-September, and bank anglers do well there with cured-roe bags, small jigs under a bobber, or bead rigs that imitate salmon eggs. Boat anglers continue trolling deeper holes in the south basin where some fish still hold before running up. Holdover rainbows also re-enter the shoreline feed, taking spoons and spinners within 10 feet of the bank through the end of fall.

November Through March: Ice and Slow Trolls

Timothy Lake freezes only in the harshest winters, but safe ice is rare, so winter fishing means slow trolling from a boat for the holdover rainbows that survived the spawn and plant season. Work 1/4-oz jigs tipped with a single maggot under a flasher at 1.0 mph along the south shore, and expect fewer but larger fish. Always wear a life jacket and watch barometer swings, because the bite drops hard ahead of a storm.

Knowing when fish move is only half the equation; the right presentation decides whether they commit.

“Pro tip: Log the water temperature every hour on a clip-on thermometer. Once the surface hits 65 degrees and the 35-foot band reads 55 to 58, set your downrigger balls there and stay put, because kokanee rarely leave a comfortable thermocline for long.

Tackle, Lures, and Rigs That Produce Here

Matching your spread to the depth and mood of the fish matters more than brand choice, and the lake rewards anglers who run two methods at once and rotate colors every 90 minutes when the bite cools. The setups below cover both species across the full season.

Downrigger, Lead Core, and Dodger Rigs for Kokanee

Downriggers are the gold standard at Timothy Lake because they let you place a 4-inch hoochie or wedding-ring spinner at an exact depth, and pairing a dodger above the lure adds flash and thump that trigger follow-up strikes. Run a 4-foot leader of 10-lb test fluorocarbon and a size 4 or 6 barbless hook. Lead core line is the lighter option: 100 feet of lead core gets you down to about 25 feet, with a second 100-foot stack fishing closer to 50 feet. A dodger-and-hoochie rig without any downrigger works on the troll, but you’ll lose a lot of fish to depth drift and the dodger’s erratic pull.

Spoons, Spinners, and Plugs for Rainbow Trout

Rainbows here are suckers for small bright hardware, and trolled gear includes 1/8-oz spoons in pink, chartreuse, and silver, plus classic inline spinners like Mepps Aglia or Panther Martin in sizes 2 and 3. From the bank, cast small 1/16-oz jigs under a bobber near submerged wood at the Still Creek mouth, or work a Rooster Tail spinner on 6-lb line along the dam-face riprap. During the fall spawn run, smaller hardware imitating eggs, including glo-ball jig heads tipped with cured roe, work better than fast-moving blades.

Speed, Leader, and Color Rotation

Hold trolling speed at 1.2 to 1.6 mph for kokanee and 1.8 to 2.4 mph for rainbows, with leader length running 3 to 5 feet of 10- to 12-lb test, because shorter leaders sink faster in current. Color rotation is more than superstition: start with pink UV hoochies on overcast mornings, switch to chartreuse on bright afternoons, and finish with white or pearl at twilight. A solid rotation covers most of the lake’s mood swings without a full re-rig.

Bait and Scent Edges

When kokanee turn lock-jaw, the small additions often seal the bite, and shoepeg-corn dyed red and packed in a sardine-oil jar, a single maggot on a tiny treble, or a dollop of kokanee-killer gel on the hoochie skirt can flip a slow day into a limit. Bait restrictions are minimal in the reservoir itself, but check ODFW’s Mt. Hood zone before fishing the tributaries, where some bait rules tighten to protect wild salmonids.

With gear sorted, getting on the water cleanly sets the tone for the rest of the trip.

• ▸Downrigger ball: 8 to 12 lb, ball-bearing swivel, and 4-ft leader to dodger and hoochie
• ▸Lead core stack: 100- or 200-ft lead core, inline snap, dodger, then 3 ft of leader
• ▸Dodger-and-hoochie: 000 or 00 dodger, 4-in hoochie in pink, chartreuse, or white
• ▸Trout trolling rig: 1/8-oz spoon or inline spinner 60 to 100 ft behind boat on 6-lb line
• ▸Bank rig for spawners: Cured-roe bag or bead rig on 4-lb test, 6 to 10 ft under a slip bobber

Boat Ramps, Shoreline Access, and Launch Conditions

Four paved ramps ring the lake, and each one behaves differently as the reservoir drops through the summer, so knowing which ramp still floats your boat in mid-August saves a long day of trailering around the forest road. The table below compares motor access, parking, and late-season reliability side by side.

Ramp	Motor Type	Parking	Notes
Timothy Lake (main, south end)	Gas and electric	Large paved lot, vault toilets	Deepest ramp, holds water longest in low years
Still Creek (north end)	Electric and small outboards	Smaller lot, fills early on weekends	Best for kokanee spawn-run bank fishing
North Arm (mid-east side)	Electric only	Moderate lot, shaded	Closest to the west-shore trolling shelf
Little Crater (west side)	Electric only, can be very shallow late season	Very small, primitive	Skip in low-water years; great for kayaks early

Reservoir Level Sensitivity and Late-Season Launching

Because PGE pulls the lake down for fall power generation, the Little Crater and North Arm ramps tend to shallow out by late August, while the main south-end ramp stays the most reliable deep-water launch from spring through October. Before you drive out, check the reservoir elevation reading on the PGE recreation page, because levels below roughly 3,025 feet typically mean the smaller ramps are walk-in only.

Bank-Friendly Spots Without a Boat

Wade anglers do well along the dam face where riprap drops into deep water, at the Still Creek mouth during the kokanee run, and around the day-use picnic areas at the south end. Casting a 1/16-oz jig with a single salmon egg or a small inline spinner on 4-lb line covers water that holds both planters and holdover rainbows. The Forest Service day-use fee is waived with any valid Northwest Forest Pass or America the Beautiful pass.

Switching Setups in a Single Outing

One of the most useful tactics at Timothy Lake is to run a downrigger spread for kokanee until the bite slows, then shorten the leaders and swap to spoons to pick up rainbows in the upper 20 feet, and most successful two-species days spend 90 minutes trolling deep for kokanee, then 60 minutes running the shoreline for rainbows, then back to deep when the sun drops. Pack a small tackle tray with both lure types pre-rigged on snap swivels to make the switch in under three minutes.

“Heads up: The main ramp is paved and busy on opening weekend of trout season, so arrive before 5 a.m. or plan to launch from the Still Creek ramp with a cartop boat to avoid the line.

Current ODFW Regulations, Licenses, and Bag Limits

Regulations shift year to year, and the Mt. Hood zone has specific rules worth confirming on the ODFW website before you launch. For the 2024–2025 season, a standard Oregon angling license covers both rainbow trout and kokanee at Timothy Lake, a Combined Angling Tag is required for any angler targeting salmon, steelhead, or sturgeon, and there is no separate kokanee stamp in Oregon, which is a common point of confusion for out-of-state anglers.

License, Tags, and Endorsements

Anglers age 18 and over need a valid Oregon angling license, with the annual license running about $44 for residents and slightly more for non-residents, plus a two-day option for short trips. A Columbia Basin endorsement is not required for Timothy Lake itself, but you do need it if you plan to fish downstream on the Clackamas or anywhere in the mainstem Columbia system. Kids under 12 fish free, and youth 12 to 17 need only a youth license.

Bag Limits and Zone Rules

ODFW’s Mt. Hood zone sets a daily trout bag of five fish, with no more than two over 20 inches, and the kokanee limit sits at 25 fish per day as a separate aggregate, so an angler can keep up to five trout and 25 kokanee in the same day. The lake itself is open year-round for kokanee and trout, but the spawn-run tributaries are closed to all angling during the September salmon-egg window in some years, so double-check the current regulation pamphlet before wading Still Creek.

Catch-and-Release Etiquette

Even at take-limit fisheries, careful handling keeps the herd healthy, and using barbless hooks when possible, crimping down barbs on treble hooks, and keeping the fish in the water while unhooking all reduce stress. Spawning kokanee in the tributaries are often dark, soft, and low in quality as table fare, so releasing these fish lets them complete the cycle and rebuild the next generation.

• ▸License: Oregon angling license, no separate kokanee stamp required
• ▸Trout bag limit: 5 fish per day, only 2 over 20 inches
• ▸Kokanee bag limit: 25 fish per day as a separate species aggregate
• ▸Open season: Year-round for trout and kokanee in the reservoir, with tributary closures possible in September
• ▸Barbs: Barbless hooks recommended, especially in spawning tributaries

Camping, Lodging, and a Practical Trip Plan

Because the lake sits 90 minutes from Portland, most successful trips combine a night of camping with a full day on the water, and the on-site campgrounds range from developed loops with flush toilets to walk-in tent pads, with a handful of cabins within an hour’s drive for anglers without gear. The plan below folds launch choice, peak bite windows, and lodging into one workable schedule.

On-Site Campgrounds and Reservation Windows

There are eight developed campgrounds on the lake, all managed by the Mt. Hood National Forest, and the largest, Gone Creek, offers paved loops and flush toilets, while smaller loops like North Arm and Little Crater are quieter and a shorter walk to the ramp. Sites open Memorial Day weekend and run through mid-October, with reservations opening six months ahead on Recreation.gov. Loop C at Gone Creek fills first on summer weekends, so book the moment your window opens or aim for weekday stays.

Nearby Lodging for Non-Campers

Anglers without camping gear can find a bed in Government Camp, less than 20 minutes west, or in Rhododendron along Highway 26, about 30 minutes from the main ramp, and both towns have motels, a few B&Bs, and restaurants that stay open late during the summer. Government Camp is the closest to a store and a small tackle shop, so it’s the practical base if you arrive without gear.

Suggested Two-Day Itinerary

Day one starts before dawn at the main ramp, with downrigger balls set at 35 and 50 feet and pink hoochies working the south basin, then trolling until mid-morning before a breakfast break at the picnic area while the bite slows. Re-rig for rainbows in the afternoon with spoons trolled along the west shore, then finish the day casting small spinners from the dam face. Camp at Gone Creek that night, and start day two with a Still Creek bank session for spawn-run kokanee before driving home.

Pre-Trip Checklist

• ▸License and tags: Oregon angling license, Columbia Basin endorsement if fishing downstream
• ▸Water level: Check PGE recreation page for ramp conditions
• ▸Weather: Afternoon thunderstorms build fast; pack a rain shell even on clear mornings
• ▸Boat safety: Life jackets for every passenger, throwable cushion, working nav lights
• ▸Tackle and bait: Hoochies, dodgers, lead core, spoons, and cured roe or shoepeg corn
• ▸Camp reservation: Booked through Recreation.gov with a printed or digital copy on hand

Final Take

Match the depth to the month, the lure to the light, and the ramp to the water level, and Timothy Lake hands up both fat stocker trout and bright chrome kokanee in the same long weekend. ODFW’s plants and PGE’s stable cool-water releases keep the bite consistent enough that a careful angler can plan the trip six months out and still feel confident the lake will show up ready to fish.

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