Diamond Lake

Oh hey, it’s you guys again! How’s it going?

5 weeks in Southern Oregon and I finally had time to wet a line. I pulled the drift boat up to Diamond Lake despite a less than favorable forecast and I was handsomely rewarded.

I got a few rainbows right off the bat that were just fine, nothing huge, but very fun.



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As I was messing around with them, I heard, shall we say, a commotion towards the shore. My assumption was that someone had thrown a stick and a large dog jumped in after it. I looked and there was no human or dog to be seen. Then I saw a brown thrash around in the shallows maybe 10 feet off the shoreline that was just absolutely massive. Okay, very interesting. I keep looking in that area. Okay, there are some BIG fish right there. I swear I saw one jump after a low flying bird. It might have been a coincidence, but a huge brown came flying out of the water, right at a bird.

So naturally I row over there. I go from blind casting to rainbows to sight casting these enormous browns and tigers in 1-2 feet of water. Good lord.

I only managed two browns. I was very happy with the first. The second…. I’ll probably never catch another brown of that caliber in my life. As usual, the pics don’t do it justice and I was alone so I was taking them myself. It was 22-24” and just fat and enormous. I couldn’t believe it.

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The fly of choice was, of course, a black drunk male prostitute.

Those diamond lake browns are no joke
 
I had a similar experience, but without any success catching, at Paulina one October. The big browns were busting what looked like kokanee staging at the outlet. Was a "wish I had a bigger rod and fly" moment
 
Oh hey, it’s you guys again! How’s it going?

5 weeks in Southern Oregon and I finally had time to wet a line. I pulled the drift boat up to Diamond Lake despite a less than favorable forecast and I was handsomely rewarded.

I got a few rainbows right off the bat that were just fine, nothing huge, but very fun.



View attachment 89219View attachment 89220View attachment 89221

As I was messing around with them, I heard, shall we say, a commotion towards the shore. My assumption was that someone had thrown a stick and a large dog jumped in after it. I looked and there was no human or dog to be seen. Then I saw a brown thrash around in the shallows maybe 10 feet off the shoreline that was just absolutely massive. Okay, very interesting. I keep looking in that area. Okay, there are some BIG fish right there. I swear I saw one jump after a low flying bird. It might have been a coincidence, but a huge brown came flying out of the water, right at a bird.

So naturally I row over there. I go from blind casting to rainbows to sight casting these enormous browns and tigers in 1-2 feet of water. Good lord.

I only managed two browns. I was very happy with the first. The second…. I’ll probably never catch another brown of that caliber in my life. As usual, the pics don’t do it justice and I was alone so I was taking them myself. It was 22-24” and just fat and enormous. I couldn’t believe it.

View attachment 89223View attachment 89224View attachment 89225View attachment 89226

The fly of choice was, of course, a black drunk male prostitute.

Those diamond lake browns are no joke
Nice….I will be in Klamath Falls this Oct / 2025 & would like to try this lake in my Outcast pontoon boat…any body fish it in Oct / November….Rick
 
A lot of us fish Diamond in October, and sometimes as late as November. You should do well fishing both the Southwest and Southeast corners.
 
Are there campgrounds / restrooms?
They’ll be closed down at that point. You can pirate camp past broken arrow campground, and launch a boat down there. The toilet at the ramp will more than likely be closed so bring a shit shovel. And hey, hit me up when you’re up here! Maybe I can join you if you’re the type that likes company
 
Are there campgrounds / restrooms?
Diamond Lake Campground on the east shore is typically open in the first half of October. The same applies to Thielsen View on the west side of the lake. Closing of the campgrounds is usually defined by when the snow flies, or the daytime freezing weather arrives.

An unknown this year is how reduced funding/services will impact the closure of campgrounds.

I have actually camped in the picnic section of South Shore Boating/Picnic Area during November when all the campgrounds were closed. Forest Service personnel were through the area multiple times each day and never hassled me.
 
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