Fishin' Magician - Dave Graybill

Monday, March 14

Winter has released its grasp on some fisheries, but is still

holding on to others. The best news is that the Okanogan River is

ice free and flowing. The water temperature in the stream is still

pretty chilly though.

Winter has released its grasp on some fisheries, but is still holding on to others. The best news is that the Okanogan River is ice free and flowing. The water temperature in the stream is still pretty chilly though. With the warmer weather forecast for the next week, it should warm a bit and the steelhead bite should be red hot. This is a fishery I wait for all winter. There are very good numbers of steelhead in a biting mood on the Okanogan in March, and the number of very big and bright fish surprises even the locals. Still covered with ice is Palmer Lake, so anglers are going to have to wait a bit longer to get at the big kokanee that inhabit this lake. This is the earliest kokanee fishery that I know of in the region. What makes Palmer Lake even more special is the size of the kokanee. Many taken through the ice this winter were already 19 inches! Roses Lake is shedding its ice cover, too, and anglers will be able to get at the trout that were planted in here last fall. Fishing at Burke and Quincy lakes should be great now, too.

I have heard that the excellent fishing for big kokanee at Lake Roosevelt has slowed a bit recently, but the trout fishing continues to be great. I am going to find out for myself. I plan to fish both Lake Roosevelt and Rufus Woods, and sure let you know how I do. The rainbow are being taken in the lower reservoir on Lake Roosevelt and anglers are traveling too far from the Spring Canyon boat launch to find fish. Most of the trout are being taken shallow, not more that 10 or 13 feet deep. Rapalas are a good way to go to attract strikes from the rainbow. A "purplescent" color seems to be the one the trout prefer. I am going to dedicate time to kokanee fishing and I have some lures that have served me well in other fisheries. A very good, for me anyway, has been the orange Super Duper. Anything in orange or pink, including small hoochies seem to work best for kokanee on Lake Roosevelt. I also plan to hit the upper net pens on Rufus Woods while I'm in the area, too. When the triploids are on the bite some big ones have been taken trolling in this area. We'll see.

If you like fast action for rainbow trout with some kokanee mixed in, Lake Roosevelt would be a great destination. I jumped aboard the Shane Magnuson, Upper Columbia Guide Service boat last Saturday to see how we could do. The boat was launched at Spring Canyon and we found most of the fish almost in front of the park there. Shane was trolling with side planers and three other rods, as we had a boat load of anglers with us. He was targeting the kokanee and using lures he figured would have most appeal to them, knowing that rainbow would take the same thing. They sure did. They liked the Rapalas and small hoochies just fine. We ran the pink hoochies behind small trout dodgers and baited the hooks with white, shoe peg corn. In just a couple of hours the boat claimed nine rainbow which were as large as 20 inches, and three nice kokanee. All of the fish were taken pretty shallow. We figured that our baits were never any deeper than about ten feet. It was pretty windy and Shane said we had the best action when the boat was cruising along at 1.2 to 1.7 miles per hour.

Since we were in the neighborhood, Shane Magnuson and I decided to spend a little time on Rufus Woods Reservoir, after having great trout and kokanee fishing on Lake Roosevelt. There was spot that he had found some fat triploids on a previous trip, and he wanted to try a new method and see if they liked it. We threw the boat in at the rough launch just above the middle net pens and ran up the reservoir a couple of miles. There was a great stretch of water there, and enough current to try is new trick, which was back trolling. Not just back trolling, but with side planers. We ran these out with diving Rapalas and two other rods in holders. We really hadn't backed down very far when SNAP, a release popped on the outside planer. I grabbed the rod worked the fish up to the boat. It turned out to be quite a surprise. A 21-inch brown trout! I had never got a brown at Rufus Woods, but there was the proof. We released the fish and continued fishing, but had not other success. I'll never forget that brown though; first one for me anywhere on the Columbia.