The Fishin' Magician: Pateros is still great

I got another chance to fish with Shane Magnuson at Pateros. I went up to finish a segment for the new TV Show and, thanks to the folks at the Lake Pateros Motor Inn, spent the night and then headed out with Shane and his buddies in the morning. On board were Dave Murphy, of Northwest Bait and Scent, his friend Greg Steele and our fishing buddy Wally Juno. We headed down to the Rocks and went to work.

I hooked and lost a fish in the first few yards of our first drift. There was a good number of fish in this area and across the river at one of Magnuson's favorite spots and we ended up having a busy morning. When we headed in for lunch, we had hooked 12, landed eight and had four keepers to take home. Not a bad short trip on the Columbia.

We used a combination of Maxi Jigs, baited with Northwest Bait and Scent shrimp, and Keith Roe micro jigs, without any bait at all. I was surprised to find a pretty good current in this area and I think that helped with the good bite we had. The good action here at Pateros just doesn't seem to slow down, and may get even better as it gets colder in the Methow.