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Trophy Rainbows at Antone Ranch

By Scott Richmond

Antone Ranch offers private lake fishing. How big are the fish? Well . . . bring the BIG net.

irst a bulge, then an explosion. The bulge was a large trout doing a head-and-tail rise on a midge pupa. The explosion was what happened when the trout realized the pupa was fighting back.

In this case, the pupa was a fake, a size 10 black Suspender Midge--a good fly for eastern Oregon in May--and it was tethered to my 3X tippet.

This trout was a fat, well-conditioned rainbow that weighed about four pounds. It was the first of many trout I hooked at Antone Ranch on a two-day trip in mid-May. At first it seemed like a trophy fish, but compared to many of the trout I landed later, it was a dink.

I don't often fish private waters, but over the years I've spent enough time on them to judge their good and bad points. Antone is one of my favorites. The setting is scenic, the lakes are accessible, the accommodations are comfortable.

And the trout are huge.

At most private waters you can expect an abundance of three or four pound rainbows, with an occasional five to six pounder to keep you on your toes. But when I visited Antone, six pounders were as common as robins, and trout to ten pounds--or more--were part of the mix.

The Ranch

Antone Ranch is a 40,000 acre spread in eastern Oregon's Ochoco Mountains. Sprinkled amongst those many acres are six lakes, each of which is stocked with trophy trout.

The property runs from typical High Desert sagebrush-and-juniper to ponderosa pine forest. Five of the lakes are in the forested area.

Shawn Jones has the hunting and fishing lease for the ranch, and he runs a good show. There are two cabins for guests. Each cabin sleeps six people in a loft. The downstairs has a fully-equipped kitchen stocked with seasonings and other staples. A large table will accommodate anglers, and there is a propane fireplace for heat and ambiance. A bathroom has a hot-water shower and all toilet facilities. Shawn provides towels, sheets, pillows, bedding, and even snacks. Solar panels generate enough electricity to provide light and run the appliances.

Antoine's accommodations are comfortable, clean, and tasteful. The cabins look out over Fred's lake, so you can scan the water for rises when you first get up in the morning.

Antone Ranch is off US 26 in eastern Oregon, about 65 miles east of Prineville. That makes it about five hours driving time from Portland.

The Lakes

Antone's six lakes are reservoirs created by damming small creeks. They cover a total of 186 acres, but vary in size and character. Each lake has a pit toilet (outhouse) and a picnic table.

1. Fred's Lake is a small stillwater within sight and walking distance of the two cabins. You can fish from shore or from a kickboat. Some anglers walk out on the dock and watch for cruising trout, then cast to the biggest fish.
2. Flora Lake is the most scenic of the lakes and a favorite with visitors--partly for the forested setting but mostly because it can hold some of the biggest trout. Flora is about 6 acres and is best fished from a kickboat. The lake is ringed with ponderosa pines and has good views of the surrounding mountains.
3. Clint's Lake is close to Flora but is much smaller. You can easily fish Clint's from shore if you're a good caster. I couldn't get excited about Clint's when I visited it, but the lake was murky and the trout were playing hard-to-get, so my judgement should not be relied upon.
4. High Lake is an 8-10 acre lake and is basically rectangular. At an elevation of 5,000 feet, this is the highest of the lakes; hence its name.
5. Rock Creek Lake. This is the biggest of the lakes, covering 103 acres. You definitely need a kickboat and some time to explore the lake. Since the fish are more spread out, you'll have to hunt harder to find the big trout. But the satisfaction that comes from tracking them down is higher, too. This lake is stocked with fingerlings, so the survivors--the larger fish--are used to eating fry. Some anglers will find this lake more satisfying simply because it's more difficult and the bulk of the trout are more "natural," having lived most of their lives in the lake.
6. Desert, or Fort Creek Lake. This is the first lake you see as you enter the ranch. It resembles a typical eastern Oregon High Desert lake: barren, surrounding by sagebrush, turbid due to winds and the silty nature of the bottom. Think Chickahominy Reservoir with more mountains around it. But silty bottoms grow midges, and midges can grow big trout. Don't ignore this lake--it has its rewards. This is the lowest elevation lake, resting at around 3,500 feet.

The Trout

Antone's lakes don't have much natural reproduction, so nearly all the trout are hatchery-raised rainbows. Once or twice a year Shawn plants trout that range from 2 inches to ten pounds.

The lakes are rich enough to grow a two-inch fingerling into a 22-inch bruiser, and they can maintain a larger trout at its weight when stocked. But the biggest fish--the five to twelve pounders--are stocked when they're already big.

Shawn used to plant triploid rainbows, but in 2003 he started using trout from a private hatchery in California. These fish are a cross between the Eagle Lake strain of rainbows and steelhead. Take my word for it: some of these fish are enormous. One even showed up in a recent G. Loomis ad.

The ranch's trout feed on the usual lake fare: midges, Callibaetis mayflies, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, recently stocked fingerlings, scuds, leeches. They also feed extensively on snails.

Antone's devotees love the June-July time because damselflies are thick here. Anglers talk about seeing blue clouds of damselfly adults, and when some of them land on the water the trout go nuts. So do the anglers, because who can resist casting a large dry fly to five-ten pound trout?

The Costs

It costs $175 per day to fish at Antone, where "day" means 24 hours. So for $350 you could start fishing at noon the first day, fish all the next day, and hit the water again the next morning. Only one group stays in each cabin, so you don't get mixed in with a bunch of strangers.

That $175 per day includes staying in one of the cabins, but it doesn't include a guide. For anglers who know their way around a lake, that's fine, maybe even preferred. However, if you'd like a guide, Shawn can set you up for a little extra. If you want the full-meal-deal, you can get accommodations, guided fishing, and full meals for $275 per day.

Many Oregon fly shops will book trips to Antone Ranch. Or contact Shawn Jones at 541-447-4082.

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 06/16/2003.

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Antone Ranch covers 40,000 acres in Oregon's Ochoco Mountains.

The ranch's six lakes hold trout of enormous size.

Flora Lake is the most scenic of the stillwaters.

This fish taped out at 27 inches, one of several that size--and bigger--caught in a single morning.

When you come to Antone, bring the BIG net!