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My day began at 0115 with the foggy cobwebs of a short sleep giving way to the soft tones of the alarm. The day included more than 8 hours and 500 miles of driving for just 4.5 hours spent fishing. It included more nasty flies than one could ever imagine in the restroom facility and at the cleaning table by the boat ramp. The target species for the day was kokanee and the limit would be a very modest two native fish.

So why would anyone even consider enduring all of this in pursuit of a couple of simple landlocked sockeye salmon? Fresh on the heels of a wonderful and memorable angling experience I have ample answers to that question!

The long drive passed easily as I listened to a fascinating audio book, The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel Brown. There was almost no traffic in the wee hours of the morning and relatively little throughout the afternoon drive despite the holiday weekend. As I crossed through miles of pastoral wheat fields, just after first light, I noticed that one such field was sporting ears! A doe was peeking above the long golden-brown shafts of wheat with just her nose eyes and ears visible not far from the roadside. Another mile or so down the road four young healthy bucks, each with a rack over 4 points and still sporting velvet, bounded across a lush green wheat field.

The wee-hours go time meant arriving at the Keller campground boat ramp just on time to visit with a fellow angler who was on the water at first light and already returning with his limit at about 0600. This affable fellow was generous in sharing intel to solidify a starting point, not far uplake from the confluence of the San Poil, for the fishing part of the day’s adventures. The early start also meant enjoying the most comfortable temperatures and clam winds on an otherwise hot yet breezy day.

The best part about the day was enjoying the experience with good friend and fishing buddy downriggeral (a.k.a. 27-color-Al, more on that in a bit). As usual, the time fishing together was a fine blend of working out our game plan, comparing notes as we changed-up gear and bait tactics to establish an effective pattern, chatting about all of the goings on in our lives since last we visited, swapping tall fishing tales, and appreciating the resplendent landscape and abundant wildlife surrounding Lake Roosevelt. I also had the pleasure of visiting with NWFR friend AFK as I made my way back home. We exchanged accounts of the day’s events at Roosevelt as well as his recent chinook foray on the Columbia. He kindly shared the gift of fresh peaches and apricots from his orchard. Thanks again, Andy, for the amazing sun-kissed treats! They will be featured in the dessert course of our Independence Day celebration meal.

We enjoyed the sites of deer exploring the shoreline as we trolled along waiting for the first take-down of the day. Later we saw a pair of bald eagles circling aloft in one of the thermals created by the warm wind and heard them screech to each other. We were also visited by a large and colorful monarch butterfly at the boat ramp as we retrieved the boat at the end of the day.

The first hard slam down of the morning came about 45 minutes into our troll. The fish hit my lead line rod with 4 colors out and yanked at the rod furiously as I scrambled to remove it from the holder and engage in battle. The fish made a hard charge at the boat and I had the fleeting thought I had lost it, however, I reeled down rapidly until I could once again feel tension and head shakes. I angled the fish to the surface just off the port side of the boat and Al deftly slid the net under a bright beautiful kokanee in the 2-3 pound class. Not the biggest fish in the lake, yet a high point as it meant the skunk was officially splashed for the day. This fish bit on the combination of a Dick Nite purple/cerise hot head dodger trailed by a custom-tied spinner-hoochie pattern featuring a Spinner Dave holographic Colorado blade, Money Maker glow squid with pink dots and an assortment of cerise and chartreuse beads. All of this was added to a rasticle tied on size 1 orange Gamakatsu octopus hooks. We bagan the day fishing mostly anise krill scented corn based on multiple independent data points that we collected about what scent was hot lately. As it turned out, all fish for this day fell to a little concoction I like to call RAH+40 and we didn’t produce any bites until we began fishing this bait.

Next fish to hit the deck was a planter rainbow also taken on the lead core. This would prove to be the first of 6 – 7 rainbows hooked as a welcome bonus to kokanee we targeted.

We managed another kokanee at 60’ on the downrigger in about 100’ of water. This fish hit on a silver Arrow Flash dodger with moon jelly wings trailed by the Cyclops spinner designed by downriggeral himself. This fish was a bit heftier than the first at 3-4 pounds. We had half of our combined limit and we had been fishing for just over an hour! We established a pattern fishing in 80’ – 125’ of water and marked fish steadily.

Soon Alan had a hard take down on his lead core rod. He played the fish for a bit until it crossed another line and popped-off – RATS! Al reeled in the now empty line and took over at the helm as I offered to bait the hooks and reset the line. I added the fresh bait and began to let out line. First the top shot then one color, two, and three, then Al says, “Let it out all the way to the end of the blue.” Now, I already had three colors out and couldn’t even see any blue on the spool yet...turns out Al had been fishing 6 colors of lead core, thereby earning himself the ‘27-color-Al’ moniker for the day! This proved effective however, as it would later put the limit fish in the boat.

Best kokanee of the day came after Al saw me catch my fish on the Cyclops rig and tied on one of his own. He baited hooks with RAH+40, ran out 105’ set back and dropped to 60’ to match my program. He was at the helm just a while later when I looked over and saw a mammoth take down. The brute pulled his line clear of the release then pulled the rod tip clear down into the water as it peeled line off the reel. I hollered, “Fish-on, get him, Al,” as I quickly hit the idle switch then dashed around the boat clearing other lines to avoid a repeat of losing a fish to fouled gear. As I brought my down rigger rod in I discovered it had been trolling around a trout for some indeterminate period of time so we were actually working a double! I hauled in the trout and set rod and fish aside to fetch the net. Al’s kokanee put up an epic battle with hard diving runs and plenty of twisting and thrashing but he was equal to the task playing the fish deftly as it played out it repertoire of tricks. As the MONSTA came into view we could see it was a large deep-bodied buck in the 4+ pound class. Al guided the fish right to the net and I nabbed it with a quick scoop. By 0930 we had a limit of four kokanee in the boat.

We opted for a quiet cruise upriver while we snacked and chatted then closed our day with an hour or so of trolling for trout to add a few to the limit of kokanee chilling on ice in the cooler. We put out an assortment of plugs on lead core liens and surface lines and enjoyed the warm sunshine and the company. We managed a small walleye that was released unharmed and went 1-2 on rainbows before we packed it in and returned to the launch point around 1130.

We retrieved the boat and packed our gear then snapped a few photos before filleting the fish. We said our goodbyes and parted ways, Al heading east to Spokane while I headed west toward my Wenatchee meet-up with AFK and eventually a burger at Twin Pines in Cle Elum then back over the hill and home to Maple Valley.

Toni

7/4/2016 9:06:00 PM

Great story! I would be so tired. How do you keep from falling asleep in the way home?

downriggeral

7/4/2016 11:22:00 PM

There's more to the story .......I went night fishing at Loon (report to come) Friday night/Saturday AM and got to bed around 2:30 AM. I was on the way up there when Fish Dawg called and asked if I wanted to meet him at Roosevelt Sunday. Are you kidding after an all nighter? Talked with Bryan Saturday and he had not found a "net man" to go with him. I still said "no way". The day progressed into evening and my wife said you might as well go and get it out of your system; so I became the net man and boat provider. Up at 3:30 AM Sunday to meet Bryan at 6 at the ramp. WHEW... what a great trip we had; always fun to fish together and swap stories and tackle. Thanks Bryan for another great trip together.
Alan - "The Experiment Must Continue"

mav186

7/5/2016 12:38:00 AM

You guys rocked it! I know those spur of the moment, sleep deprived, driving through the odd hours of darkness... getting more exited as the first twilight begins to pierce the night sky... are some of the best trips of my life. Thanks for sharing!

afk

7/5/2016 6:20:00 AM

Hey Fish Dawg, I hope the fruit is as good as the fishing. Your spontaneity is what good times are made of. It was great chat. Hopefully next time I won't be on call and will be able to join in on the fishin'. Andy

Toni

7/5/2016 10:50:00 AM

WOW. No sleep or hardly any. Not a problem going but coming back must be hard! Lots of admiration for you two

outtheresomewhere

7/5/2016 11:15:00 AM

The Pulitzer prize nominations for Journalism are closed for 2016, however there is still a possibility in the literature category,
maybe a collection of short stories ?? The 2017 journalism nominations open for 2017 this December. Great reports,
keep 'em coming, thanks again.

Fish Dawg

7/5/2016 8:38:00 PM

Thanks for the kind comments all!

Toni - the audio book really helped along with some coffee and a few snacks to keep energy level high. Also helped that we left Keller about 1230 - 1300 so not too late in the day.

Mav - TRUE THAT!

AFK - The fruit is FABULOUS (I ate the leftover peach bourbon galette for breakfast today). I too hope we can connect on a date you're not on call. Maybe sox/kings at Brewster if they open it or sox on Wenatchee (could probably even do that one if you're on call).

Outheresomewhere - Thanks again for the flattering comments. I'm glad you appreciated the story. I admit I was inspired by the audio book I enjoyed during the long drive. Daniel Brown's tale of the UW crew that took gold at the 1936 Olympic games was woven of captivating prose. As a Husky alum, it was fascinating to learn the source of the long standing success of the UW crew program and also get some keen historical insights about Washington state in the depression era.

downriggeral - Thanks to you too. Fishing together really made my day - as always your venerable vessel proved fishy and I enjoyed sharing the experience with you!!

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