If you live in Spokane area like me, you are probably having a
hard time finding a decent place to fish inside of 100 miles from your
home. The Spokane is way too high to think about fishing, and all of the
lakes save a few year round waters are closed. This is bad news when you
are a fanatic like me, so I had to figure out some way to hook some local
fish. Rock Lake is relatively huge lake that is open year round, and can be
accessed by driving 30 miles south of Cheney on the same road that provides
access to such general season favorites as Williams, Badger, and Chapman.
Rock has only one access point, which is a small chunk of Game Department
land that provides an un-improved boat launch, shore fishing, and
outhouses. The lake itself is almost always slightly off-color, but this
doesn't seem to deter the healthy population of wild, self supporting
browns from hitting.
Rock is somewhat of an anomally; it is 360 feet deep and remains cold
year round. I have never seen it freeze over, yet I have never seen more
than a handful of boats on it at one time. Its remote location and less
than stellar access point probably account for this. Rock is approximately
8 miles long, and is surrounded in places by basalt cliffs that must
measure hundreds of feet in height. If nothing else, it is the most
geologically diverse lake in the region, but the sometimes excellent
fishing for browns, rainbows, largemouths, and panfish also help to make
Rock an untapped resource. The only caution I would give is to watch the
wind and rocks. Rock is a wind tunnel at times, and genuinely dangerous
whitecaps can develop. We once found ourselves 2-3 miles down the lake when
the wind kicked up and we were in danger of being swamped in a 14 foot
boat! Also, rock shelves can extend way out into the lake. Your depth
finder can read 200 feet one minute, and 2 feet the ne!
xt! Just a word of caution for you. There isn't much to worry about as long
as you respect Rock as the huge lake it is. Keep an eye on the weather, and
stay in the middle if you want to run on plane.
My friend and I have been taking advantage of some nice weather and
calm winds by float tubing the first mile or so from the launch. We have
gone out several times, and have managed to catch and release several wild
browns a trip. The fish have run between 12 and 14 inches, but Rock is well
known for producing arm length browns. The big fish are in there, and there
is a legitimate shot at a monster anytime you fish the lake. I have seen
farmers using bait under slip bobbers catch 5 pounders off of the launch.
The water is silty, so our choice in flies has been limited to leeches,
wooly buggers, and crawdad flies. The browns feed actively on the shelves
that jut out into the lake. If you find the shelves, you find the fish.
Rock has a HUGE population of crawdads, and the browns seen to go crazy for
them.
Rock isn't an ideal lake for fly fishermen, but it can produce good
days, and will almost always produce a few fish a trip. Your odds of
getting skunked in the Basin this year sound a lot better than at Rock.
Boat fishermen who troll rapalas and other lures almost always limit out on
these fish, and we see impressive stringers everytime a boat comes in. Rock
is definitely an untapped resource, and I strongly recommend it if you have
an itch to get on the water.

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