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Report is for 10/7 & 10/8.

Had planned a weekend at Roosevelt with my brother and SIL but a last minute work commitment kept them at home. :-(

Since we had planned for a weekend away, we went anyway, despite Friday's wind forecast of SE winds 8 - 18mph with gusts to 29mph. Winds were supposed to become SW in the afternoon, but no change in velocity.

Arrived mid-morning and had some maintenance tasks to take care of before hitting the water. We launched about 1:30 and winds had not subsided much, so to keep my girls happy, I turned away from the wind and headed toward Two Rivers. Not often I choose to fish this area, but no way my wife would tolerate heading into the wind and white caps behind us.

There's a spot downstream that tucks in toward the shore and that's where I decided to put gear out. Within 5 minutes it was "fish on" and the first was in the cooler. Continued that way for the rest of the outing and we had limits of mostly 17" - 17 1/2" rainbows in the cooler in 2hrs 5mins. Best for the outing was just under 19" and when I decided it was worthy of a photo, I realized I had left the camera in my bag. Oh well.

I fully expected winds to subside as evening approached, and they did. What I didn't expect was they would pick up again as we worked to put the last two in the cooler. So we ended up riding into the white caps back to Seven Bays anyway. It wasn't that bad with the motor tucked in full down trim and me keeping the speed at about 15mph, but my wife and yellow lab were both pleased when I pulled into the sheltered marina at Seven Bays.

With no need to rush, we launched just before 10am on Saturday, and though still windy, it was nowhere near as bad as Friday. I turned downstream for a spot I like in the Sterling Point area and with the exception of a pontoon boat, we had the spot to ourselves. Limits in 1hr 55mins with most being in the 16 1/2" - 17 1/2" range, one 19" and one just under 20". Debbie picked up a nice SMB as a bonus to the trout. :-)

With lighter winds, I was able to try an Old Goat Lures, OG1 fluorescent green with pink tail in the 2.8" size. Not being a huge fan of working downriggers this time of year, I made the effort. Even though winds were lighter than the day prior, they still made trolling a challenge, especially when turning. The OG1 produced a nice rainbow, but I stopped the experiment after one. With four lines out, it was too much to deal with a downrigger line 50' back. I'll give it another go later this month.

Those of you who follow my reports know I troll fast, and at speeds of just 2.3mph, the OG1 was really moving nicely. I used it bare, no bait, no scent so I could, if desired, release any trout caught. The one we hooked with it was a nice fat 17 incher, so it went in the cooler. :-)

Trolling speed varied, but I tried to keep it in the 2.5 - 2.8mph range both days which was challenging with the wind and waves. Hot lure was a Kekeda perch pattern fly tipped with a chunk of crawler. The Kekeda easily produced 80% of our two day tally. Perch pattern Rip'n Minnows produced the largest fish both days. As I usually do, flies on leaded line with 50' 6lb fluorocarbon leader out 155' and the plugs were out 195'.

Surface temps are still too warm IMO, even so, I think all the wave action brought the trout up top. I think they are in the top 15' or so of the surface or were Friday and Saturday.

We had more tangles on this trip than any other we've ever been on. I attribute that to conditions we were fishing in, and at one point, I almost stowed both mono rigs. Part of the problem is the 'bows hit, fight for a bit, then swim straight at the boat right until they're 15' - 20' out then go nuts. We had several that swam to the back of the boat then change direction and take off at a right angle into other gear. Just part of the game when fishing windy conditions. :-)

oldgoatlures

10/9/2016 8:35:00 PM

Hewesfisher: Really appreciate your willingness to test the OG1 lure! And, appreciate the detailed report.

Not sure if it would simplify things; but, in the freshwater, I've been fishing the OG1 behind a small trolling weight in the 1oz to 2oz range. (I haven't fished Roosevelt; guessing that down-riggers may be necessary to get the lures in front of the fish?)

--Donn Morse

downriggeral

10/9/2016 10:28:00 PM

Hi Hewsefisher - Glad to see you got out again, you now have me down two trips to none, way to go!! Looks like the Perch Kekeda flies are scoring well this fall as per usual. Did you run the OG! lure with the factory leader and hook combination? Looks like it has great action, will it tumble above 2.3 mph?

Tight lines - Alan
"The Experiment Must Continue"

PS Adding a planer board mast to the old StarCraft, can't wait to run it for kokes this winter. Got a couple of Frisky Jenny Boards for it should do the trick.

outtheresomewhere

10/10/2016 5:36:00 AM

Good morning Hewesfisher - Monday 5:30am and rain has been pelting the skylites since 12:15am - the bride and I are
waiting for it to just lighten up a bit and we'll head out - we all thank you for the info and will put it to good use this morning.
We were going to put in at 7 Bays and go south like you, but will give Ft. Spokane a try instead - the tuck in spot you scored
in was the same area we hit two weeks ago - will finish this as a post tonight on how things went.

hewesfisher

10/10/2016 6:48:00 AM

Donn - Downriggers let the angler go "weightless" on the line so, like the pass through line feature on your lures, you only fight the fish not the gear. Since the OG is not a diving or weighted lure, weight is required to get it down to the quarry's level. My preference would be to use a leaded line rig or a downrigger and since my leaded line rigs were outfitted with Kekeda trolling flies, I used one of my mono rigs off the downrigger. It worked well that way, just not with the windy conditions and our normal set up. I'll have plenty opportunity for a more thorough test later this month. ;-)

Alan - Best hurry, we'll be back up very soon. :-p I ran the OG1 as produced and it didn't tumble at the speed were running. As you know, 2.3mph is on the slow side for me. I'd like to see how it handles the higher speeds I typically troll but conditions weren't conducive to a more thorough test. I'll dedicate more test time the end of the month and, if I plan ahead, will bring my GoPro to get some underwater shots too. Thought you were making your own planer boards??

Outthere - I listened to the rain off and on all night here. Good luck today!

downriggeral

10/10/2016 2:59:00 PM

How do you resist a smoking deal on Craigslist? Bought them cheaper than I could build them!

hewesfisher

10/10/2016 4:32:00 PM

Some things you just can't pass up. :-)

Kekedatackleco

10/11/2016 8:31:00 AM

Looks like a great couple days. Good to hear you picked up a few of the bigger fish. It's always nice to round out the limits with a couple big ones in there. As always, I appreciate you using the flies and giving your feedback. Great to know the flies are catching fish for you. Looking forward to seeing more and more reports from Roosevelt as we get colder. I hope we get to see some of those underwater shots soon! It's fun when you can't get out to at least watch someone else having a great time on the water. Thanks again for the report. - Dave

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