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The number of fish we boated the last 4 trips to Sprague had increased each time so it was inevitable that a decline was coming our way. It doesn't mean we willing accepted it and we tried hard to crack the fish code Tuesday. Al and I certainly will never admit that the absence of CF affected our results. Thick fog greeted us at the west end boat launch. Our trip to the east end was slow as I followed our prior tracks on the GPS while Al kept his eyes on the water, at least until his glasses iced over. Fortunately there were no other boats on the water yet and we made it safely. 3 quick fat fish on rainbow trout rippin minnows and perch Kekeda fies had sugar plums jumping in our minds. We then started getting hits without sticks, lost a couple fish after aerial leaps and then 2 snapped lines, all in the next hour.

The bite at least for us then rapidly declined. We continued to get an occasional bite or fish the rest of the morning. We could not establish any pattern or location and kept switching gear. Pink rippin minnows took the biggest number of fish. The fog finally lifted late morning but the sun never completely found us. We ended up with 10 fish boated and released. 2 dinks, one pushing 22" and the rest about 18". It still was another great day on the water.

We assume that the fish we are catching are the steelhead that were released last year. Is there a difference between steelhead and RBT? Any comments appreciated.

rwl

11/30/2016 3:19:00 PM

Thanks for the report. Those look like they are rainbows but not the steelhead plants which had a clipped adipose fin. I caught a lot of them in the spring and they had a narrower body and I think fought harder. I haven't seen them this fall the few times I've been to sprague. It seems like the bite can just shut off, at least in past years that was the case. Are you finding any patterns between west vs. east end? I've also found rainbow trout pattern crankbaits to be very effective. How's the water temp? wondering if things will ice up soon.

afk

11/30/2016 5:54:00 PM

Thanks for the report and pics. Andy

hewesbob

11/30/2016 6:46:00 PM

We will be on Sprague about 9:30 next Saturday morning, if you see a boat with a Seahawk on the sides give us a wave.

fishindoc

11/30/2016 7:35:00 PM

Water temp 42 Tues. Have not checked for clipped adipose fin. Reviewed all my pictures and maybe one had a clipped fin.

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