Fishing at Sprague Lake can still be damn productive. My father, brother and I slow-trolled bottom bouncers with both chartruese and orange hammer-plated worm rigs at Sprague over Father's Day, and did very well at times. Matter-of-factly, I recommend that any angler fishing Sprague should opt towards launching out of Four Seasons Campground, rather than out of The Sprague Lake Resort. Similarly, I'd think twice about the politics and practices of the Harder Ranch, which owns much of the land around Sprague (as well as just about every acre of land from I-90 to the Snake), and charges a several dollar access fee at two sites. Four Seasons Campground out of Bob Lee Road has a nice facility with all the amenities; however, it's the fact that the people running the place are considerate, well-mannered, and kind that makes it the logical choice for Sprague Lake anglers. In my opinion, that is.

We got on the water at about 2:00 PM, ran about a mile down-lake from 4 Seasons, and immediately began trolling our walleye rigs through the relatively deep (17 feet or so) trough that flanks Harper's Island. Within an hour we'd boated numerous small walleyes (from 11- 16 inches), as well as some of Sprague's monster perch. We incidentally caught close to a dozen perch during the day, and none of them were under 10 inches. We've taken perch on other trips to 16+ inches; however the largest we caught on this day was 14.

We continued to troll bottom bouncers for another two hours, in which time we boated two keeper walleyes (18+ inches), more throwbacks, and a monstrous bluegill. I'm six-foot-five and nearly three hundred pounds, and I've got a right hand like a corned beef. This bluegill, which was caught by my brother, totally eclipsed the size of my hand, and definitely weighed well over a pound.

We surmise that it was the clashing of fronts that turned the bite off, but for whatever reason, the fishing went from hot to ice cold at about 6:00 PM. We continued to troll relatively deep, as well as trying crankbaits, spinners, and bait rigs in the shallows until dark. The fish were either totally turned off or finely tuned in to a specific feeding pattern, because we had three well fished rigs in the water for nearly three hours during the evening with only two bites.

I'm primarily a fly-fisherman, but spiny ray fishing at Srague can be a blast. Although our luck tapered off over the evening, the action we had was worth the trip, and it was a good way to spend Father's Day.

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