Haystack Reservoir in Central Oregon
Haystack Reservoir is a 233-acre irrigation reservoir about 10 miles south of Madras, Oregon. It lies at about 2900-foot elevation. At times fishing can be extremely good, yielding large trout and abundant kokanee. Most of the time, however, fishing is slow. If you like catching fish, this is not a lake to visit just any old time you please; but if you time your visits properly, you will be richly rewarded. The best time to fish here is early in the spring before dense algae blooms make the fish taste funny. By mid-May algae can be a real problem. Early spring is also the time when the fish are feeding voraciously. This little reservoir offers fishing for trout, kokanee, largemouth bass, crappie, and bluegill.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the reservoir. The Forest Service works under a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to maintain three campgrounds at the reservoir. There are good paved roads up to the entrances of all three campgrounds.
The government websites that describe this Reservoir and its campgrounds provide very little information, leaving out much of the specific information a prospective visitor wants to know. Worse, what is provided is not all correct, We will provide more specific information.
(The satellite photo of Haystack Reservoir is provided by and copyrighted by Google. The green markings and campground names are ours.)
The West Shore Campground has about 10 large spaces for RVs of any length. The sites are lightly graveled, and well maintained. The campground road is dirt (or mud in rainy periods). Camping is free. Stays are limited to 14 days. This campground has no entry sign, but it nearly impossible to miss (see the map provided). It has no drinking water, no toilets, no electricity, no dump station, and no picnic tables. No campfires are allowed in the campsites, but fires at the lake's edge have been allowed so far. Despite being primitive in terms of amenities, this is a great dry camp site for self contained RVs, and has the best scenic views of the reservoir. The grassy lake's edge is ideal for pulling car-top size boats ashore, and there is a small dock for larger boats. This campground has a boat launch ramp. Open year around. No reservations. A campground host services all three campgrounds.
The South Shore Campground has about xx spaces for camping. It, too, is a free campground. Because of overuse and abuse, this campground was closed in 2008, and remains closed for all of 2009. From the lake, it looks like the denuded areas are regaining vegetation nicely. Hopefully this popular campground will be reopened in 2010, but we have no actual information on what U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has in mind regarding reopening it. Stays are limited to 14 days. This campground has signs directing visitors to it. Because we had no access to the campsites, we don't know the number of them, nor the amenities of the campground. We presume it is as primitive as the West Shore Campground. At this campground, the lake's sandy beach is good for pulling car-top size boats ashore, and there is a small dock for larger boats. This campground has no boat launch ramp, but two others are nearby. Open year around (except during the current closure because of overuse and abuse.) No reservations.
The fee-based Forest Service campground on the east side of the reservoir is called Haystack Campground. This campground has signs directing visitors to it. Fees are $8.00/night for a standard site, and a 50 percent discount for persons with Golden Age Passports. It offers "developed" camping with picnic tables, fire pits/grills, piped water, and vault toilets. There are 24 sites for tents, trailers, or RVs. Forest Service says the sites will accommodate RVs up to 22 feet, but it was clear to us that some of the sites can accommodate considerably larger units. This campground has a launch ramp. Leashed pets permitted. No reservations. Open mid-May through Sept.
Location: From Madras, go 10 miles south on US 97, to SW Jericho Lane, and turn east (left). After 1.33 miles, turn south on SW Haystack Drive. The West Shore Campground is on the left at 0.6 miles. Continuing on SW Haystack Drive for another 0.6 miles brings you to the turnoff road to the South Shore Campground (now gated closed). Another 1.1 miles beyond the turnoff to the South Shore Campground is the intersection of SW Haystack Drive, SE Springer Road, and Forest Service Road 1275. Take the Forest Service road to the left, and go another 0.75 miles to Haystack Campground (the east campground).
This high desert reservoir is surrounded by red rimrock and sagebrush. It is picturesque if you enjoy high desert scenery (we do; the high desert has a beauty all its own).
The best fishing areas change according to reservoir water levels which fluctuate widely. It is a small lake, and one can easily sample all areas from a boat. Bank fishing access is abundant and easily accessed.
Irrigation water flows into the Reservoir from a canal along the southwest side of the dam (and out again by a canal along the northeast side of the dam). During periods of low water storage, the inflow is a low waterfall, which effectively prevents fish from entering the canal from the lake. At higher lake levels, however, the waterfall is submerged, and fish can freely swim upstream into the canal. This has created an interesting kokanee fishery in the canal during periods of high lake level. Locals float angleworms down the canal and catch many kokes. It is not a picturesque fishery, but it is productive.
During periods of low lake levels, the waterfalls is an area of cold water, and a favorite fishing place for the cold-water fish species (bows and kokes). The cold water enters the Reservoir in a vertical plunge, and thus does not create a directional current in the lake; simply spreading cold water fairly equally in all directions. (Wind direction has some influence on the distribution of cold water, but not great.)
During periods of high lake levels, the waterfalls are submerged, and there is a strong directional current entering the lake, setting up a current clear across it. If you put a float tube into the current near the canal, you can ride all the way across the lake on the current without using your fins to do anything other than keep you in the current. It is a strange experience to be propelled across the lake at about trolling speed. It is easy to see the current line.
We visited Haystack Reservoir in mid-May, 2009, and an algae bloom was fully developed. Globular clots of algae greatly reduced visibility into the lake. It was interesting to see the band of cool water from the canal clearly all the way across the lake. The inflow water, of course, did not have an algal bloom. But the rest of the lake sure did.
We tried catching rainbows in the clear ribbon of water that crossed the lake. No dice. But just inside the algal blooms we found success. We suppose that the cooler, clear inflow water eventually sinks beneath the warmer, algae laden lake water, but remains relatively algae free for awhile. This seemed to be where the bows were hiding while we were there.
I reasoned that the high lake levels had submerged large areas of seasonally dry flats, and an angleworm imitation just might be the "go to" fly. I was right. Using a San Juan Worm tied on a #10 hook was the ticket to flyfishing nirvana. I tied the worm using bright red ultra-chenille, and sized the worm to 1 1/4 inch length.
I'd gently float my pontoon boat to within casting distance of shore along the flats, and lay the San Juan worm quite near the edge, in about two feet of water. Usually the worm (fly) would be inhaled on the drop. Sometimes a very slow retrieve was required. The bows were utter suckers for this fly. The only problem was that immature largemouth bass liked the fly too. I'd catch two small largemouth (in the 6 to 9 inch range) for every bow. The bows ran about 14 inches.
In many lakes I am a catch-and-release advocate. In others, like Haystack Reservoir, I am a serious "meat fisherman." It all depends on the origins and the spawning options for the fish. Some fisheries are purely put-and-take fisheries, and are great for satisfying one's lust for the taste of "free-range" trout, to which I am seriously afflicted. The trout of Haystack are hatchery fish released as fingerlings, and rapidly mature into mature, tasty quarry. They are destined to be eaten by me, another fisherman, or become part of the food web of the lake without ever having spawned. I prefer the option of eating them. The food web is rich enough -- receiving abundant nutrients from the inflow canal.
Unfortunately, once the heavy algae blooms occur, the fish take on a taste-tinge I don't care for. I never have acquired a liking for the flavor of algae. So we spent a day of catch and release and departed Haystack Reservoir for Lake Simtustus, which remains cool and clear in its upper reaches throughout much of the summer. But that is another story.
We left Haystack Reservoir with a vow to revisit it. It is close to Portland, a pretty little high desert lake, which is highly productive (fast growing fish). Only next time we'll get there earlier in the season, before the big algae blooms.
-- Marvin Fretwell, May, 2009
