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Our most recent trip to Roosevelt was in mid-October of this year. We had typical fall walleye fishing then, with 3 days worth of limits for two of us. Winter for us at Roosevelt usually means rainbow and kokanee fishing, since it is when the fish are usually the easiest to catch, and are in the best shape. So, we decided to make this trip a combination walleye and rainbow trip.

We fished the 28th, 29th, and 30th. We tallied 22 rainbows and 18 walleye. We only spent about 4 hours total fishing for rainbows, and didn't even pull the planer boards out of the cubby! It was a lights-out trout bite on dodgers and flies, trolled in the usual Lake Roosevelt fashion. The fish were in really nice shape....dark red meat, and all 15" - 20" in length. And we didn't have to run far - the Swawilla Basin was active enough. A nice big canner load of trout is in store for New Years Day!

The walleye were in even better shape. While we spent significantly more time on them, we learned they can be caught in good numbers in December. They are more scattered, but just as willing to bite when you find them...we often doubled up or tripled up. In fact, one walleye ate two baits on the same pass. I had never seen this before. One guy hooked a fish and started the fight, and moments later the other guy said "Double!" I scrambled because as they hauled them in, it looked like I would have to choose one to net first, or net them both and fight the usual mess that results. Turns out they had the same fish! We really didn't believe it, but after a good study, it appears to be so. The picture clearly shows the fish hooked up to both baits....I would have included the photo of both baits in its mouth, but that would give away our baits. I know some folks will pick on me for not divulging the bait....but our group has spent countless hours perfecting our set-ups, so go easy on us, ok? All of our fish were in the 15" to 20" range, except for a couple that were 12" or 13". Our next quest is to see if January produces walleye....if so, we will know all 12 months are productive walleye months!

buc

12/31/2012 9:46:00 AM

Nice job finding eyes. January will pick up and the big eyes will start to show. I would be more secret about the area.

mtngrizz

12/31/2012 12:23:00 PM

What ramp did you use and was it Icy at launch time? Sand needed? Thnx. Mtngrizz

Lundegard

12/31/2012 9:50:00 PM

Mtngrizz..... We launched at Spring Canyon. It wasn't busy, so we always had a dry ramp. But there were only 3 boats, including ours, that launched there all weekend. The lanes that were used iced up quickly. If it is busier than that, I would have 4 WD at a minimum, sand or salt if you can, and/or chains just in case. That launch can be a real bugger. I would just keep an eye on the weather, and if it's freezing, go prepared. Check the current conditions at Spring Canyon at the following site: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=otx&sid=SPCW1&num=72&raw=0
This will give you hourly observations for temp, wind speed and direction, and moisture. It's a NOAA RAWS so it's pretty helpful.
PS, you wouldn't be a U. of Montana Grizz, would you? GO GRIZZ!

fishinChristian

12/31/2012 10:02:00 PM

January is one of the best months for walleye, often kicking out 50-100 fish days. Gotta have the weather for it though! Nice report!

CCTMark

1/1/2013 9:32:00 AM

Sounds like a worthwhile trip. Looking forward to catching a lot of Roosevelt walleyes this year.

Jay K

1/1/2013 2:29:00 PM

What an awesome fishing report; Always love to see reports on walleye. Great-looking fish you have there. Thanks for sharing to story.

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