Fishing Magician Report - June 17th

If you haven't heard, fishing for triploid rainbow at Rufus Woods Reservoir is hot right now. I had heard reports of fish kills due to nitrogen saturation below Coulee Dam and that all the fish in the pens had died. Well, apparently some have survived. The river is full of them. I even saw fish jumping in the lower net pens on a recent trip there. Maybe fish were released from the upper pens rather than have them die in confinement. Whatever happened, anglers will be reaping the benefits.

Jerrod Gibbons, Okanogan Valley Guide Service, invited me to come along on a trip to Rufus Woods with his father Tom and daughter Katlynn. We launched at the rough launch on the Tim Ranch and ran about a half mile up to the lower pens. The Gibbons clan were into fish immediately and caught fat triploids of 5 to 7 pounds on ¼-ounce jigs and an orange spinner. When I switch to a rod with a ten-pound fluorocarbon leader I got in on the action, too. We were using single barbless hooks and no bait so we could catch and release until we had out limit. What a blast. When we quit, our stringer must have weighed 50 pounds!