I am starting off this report with today's tidbit, because I believe it is one of the most important items every boat owner should know or be aware of.

Today's tidbit. Make sure every electrical apparatus that is on your boat and connected to your battery is fused. And I do mean EVERY last one.

A buddy of mine was probably 60 seconds away from loosing a $35K boat and his house to an electrical fire in his boat. His downriggers were connected to his battery without a fuse and short circuited. The wire melted and burst into flames. Had he not been standing there when it happened he could have lost everything. He had to knock the flames down till he could get access to the battery and unbolt the connection. FUSE EVERYTHING !!!

Decided to squeeze an evening trip in with an awesome family from Colbert. The kids were pretty happy they didn't have to wake up so early. We got loaded up at 3:30 and headed out. The river level has risen a couple feet from my last trip and the water is quite a bit more turbid with a lot of floating debris. I have been concerned how run off is going to affect the Kokanee bite, but so far so good. After a quick tutorial on downrigger and planer board operation we soon had our six poles in the water and operational. Fortunately, these fish were right where I left them. Five minutes later we had our first fish followed by another and another. Our first loop netted us two kokanee and two rainbow. Three more fish the next loop followed by two more loops producing two more fish each pass. Half of these fish were rainbows and because we were looking to fill a Kokanee limit before dark I decided to move locations.

By now my crew was operating like a well oiled machine. We got the planer boards and downriggers deployed in a very short manner. Soon 6 rods were back in the water, and before I knew it another planer board rod went off. To the delight of the crew a couple fish were caught before the rods could even be connected to the planer boards. Downrigger's only accounted for three of our 16 fish on this trip. Dodger selection really doesn't seem to matter, but I do like running Abe's and Al's. They are extremely light and have great action.

It's been fun having kids on the boat the last couple of outings. I love watching their enthusiasm and seeing their big smiles. It was also fun to send a great family home with 21 lbs. of fillets.

I'll be guiding Kokanee and trout thru June and then again in August after my summer salmon season in July. I hope to see more of you on the boat soon. The scenery is spectacular right now and so is the fishing.

Be safe and make sure your circuits are fused and your boat has at least one good fire extinguisher.

Captain Dave's Guide Service, Booking Now! Columbia River salmon - including Summer &
Fall Chinook and Sockeye, and Lake Roosevelt Kokanee and Trout.
509-939-6727
Captain Dave's Guide Service
Official Digital Anglers Sponsor

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