Covering about 11,000 acres when full, Wickiup is often drawn down to just a small fraction of that and probably accounts for the reason that there are not more largemouth bass sharing the reservoir with the good-sized rainbows, kokanee and coho salmon and giant browns. Fluctuating water levels probably limit the spawning success of any bass that drop downstream out of Crane Prairie
Reservoir. Anglers casting, rather than trolling, plugs for brown trout in Wickiup, should catch an occasional bass. They don't seem to get too active until mid-summer. The best bass fishing will usually be in the upper end where the Deschutes River enters (above Sheep Bridge Campground) and in the lower end near the dam. However, during the last couple of years, the largest bass seem to be caught from the shallow water near the east side of the dam. It seems that the warm low-water conditions of the last few years have given the largemouths in Wickiup Reservoir a better chance to spawn successfully. In 2008 and 2009, anglers fishing senkos for bass in Wickiup have been surprised by the number of good-sized brown bullheads they are incidentally hooking. The bullheads will often feed on the surface during heavy insect hatches, but don’t seem to bite bait or lures until it sinks down to the bottom. P Heley