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So, this is a report for the weekend of May 5th through about May 7th? My partner, 'Motoboat' i.e. "Wayne" and I, stayed at Reynolds Resort on Buffalo lake, which of course is located on the Colville Indian Reservation. We drove the long drive from Seattle, on a Friday night.
Over the the course of about 4 days we fished a handful of lakes, which I will report all on individually.

Buffalo lake was a bit of a hard pill to swallow for me. The tribe fish and game people had told me that they had stocked 3000, 2.5 - 3.0 lb fish just the week before. These are the same Triploids which come from the Rufus Woods net pens, etc. Some very nice fish.
In the morning we talked to our neighbors, who had caught an 8 lb and a 5 lb fish. We spent the first AM fishing on the end of the lake out in front of the resort. At first it seemed like lights out fishing was about to occur, LOL.. There were fish jumping nearly in the boat. Most of these were Kokanee, but there were some bigger fish included in the action. Nothing we threw at these Kokanee caught their attention.
We were strictly trolling. I troll a lot of spoons, or large plugs. Also some very large streamers behind a small dodger. No loves.

Next day we went to the far end of the lake. Of course, by then everybody had told us to not even bother fishing in front of the resort. It's all at the far end. We were running electric motor boats, so too far to motor down. Point to note.. You can launch at the far end of the lake, but the road in there is SUPER DICEY. I would not recommend it with anything more than a car topper boat, and 6 WD. There is another launch half way down the lake, which I think is legit for most trailers.

Finally at this end of the lake we found a cove that produced some triploids. I think we got two a piece from there and a few hits. My fish came on a Gold Mag Lip 3.0 plug. Thanks to TMBob for that plug. (-: The fish hit pretty hard, but they pretty much just walk it in to your boat, no real fight. A little bit when they see the boat. We released our fish, as we were on a 4 day outing with limited ways to maintain fish meat. I did a fair amount of bass fishing in the lake. There are some nice shorelines with trees, and the lake is super high, so a lot of brush with water covering it. Picked up just two LMB, about 1.5 and 1.0 lb.

Some folks had asked about the Resort in regards to accommodating very large travel trailers, etc.
The resort has a very solid launch, with two docks. Room to leave your vessel overnight if you are staying there. I believe there is PLENTY of backup room for a 32' travel trailer (Stryker17) There is a fish cleaning station to take care of those duties. There is a good size area in the back of the property for travel trailers/hook ups to utilities, etc. There are 4 out-buildings/cabins. These are very primitive. If you are just there to sleep you are fine though. Only about 1 electrical outlet, small refrigerator, two beds with no bedding or dishes, etc. Bring everything you will need. Not a place that your wife wants to stay while you are in the boat. (-: Well water is outside in the field. Toilet is a pit toilet.
Tenting available as well. All that said though, the cabins are only $25 and $30 dollars a night.

Talked to another angler who is very experienced at Buffalo. He absolutely swears by some online solar/moon-phase fishing calender which can be found online. He absolutely states that this calendar will tell you to the precise hour of the day, when these fish will come to the table. Apparently this past weekend the moon phase thingy said only 1 star. I'm not exactly mocking it, but I have never put a lot of salt into that stuff. Maybe a little agreement on a moonlight night might make for more active fish, but he swore by it.
On that note, don't be dismayed by a 2 star report. People with gas powered boats who could cover greater distances seemed to pull in more fish. We struggled where others seemed to not.

lohans4

5/10/2018 8:11:36 AM

The lake is loaded with crawfish. i go there every year to get a bunch. Have taken my wife one time to stay in one of their "honeymoon suites" and she says that was the first & last time! I've had both lights out fishing on some trips & nothing at all on others. The crawfish are a non native species as far as I can tell & need to be processed before leaving. You also need a Colville fishing license.

tightlines68

1/31/2021 7:20:01 PM

What do u use in ur trap

stryker17

5/10/2018 7:02:06 PM

thanks for remembering me, I think we will head up in a couple of weeks, going to try and hit a few lakes , Omak , Chelan and make it a nice week....thanks again....

The Quadfather

5/10/2018 8:17:40 PM

Keith, definitely hit Omak Lake. I would prioritize that over Buffalo, if you have not done Omak.
(Although be sure to inquire well on the launches. The far North end Bay launch is the best. Closed to non-native population until June 1st?? Not sure on date.
Beer can beach launch is VERY steep and *****y. The South launch is DIDFICULT to get vehicle down through swampy area to beach. 4X4 for sure.. no 32’ rig.

Bent hook pontoon

5/10/2018 8:47:39 PM

If going to Omak Lake and launching use the saint Marie’s mission launch. It’s the next bay over from beer can. It’s a good launch year round no matter who you are. You come in off SR 155.

Bent hook pontoon

5/10/2018 9:11:56 PM

*** north bay launch... St Marie’s launch is closed due to spawning grounds march 1st-may1st However that’s when you can catch them from shore.

The Quadfather

5/10/2018 10:15:30 PM

Bent hook, yeah... that is what I was referring to, the spawning Spring closure.

SnoKing

5/11/2018 3:56:05 PM

Quadfather; good report on Buffalo and on McGinnis. A word about Reynolds Resort and please don't take this wrong, the lake is one of best jewels in the county and holds a lot of great fish and the crawdads are amazing!. The resort leaves a lot to be desired. My wife and I have a 12' camper truck and the sites are reasonable size wise. The problem we had was theft. Both times we stayed there we lost equipment. The real kicker is that we did use the pit toilet once to save some walking and when I got home, we both had a fairly aggressive fungus that spread quickly requiring a trip to the urgent care. I wouldn't recommend using the pit toilet obviously. As for theft, just keep your stuff locked up.

I'd probably steer clear of the rattlesnake too although we never saw any.

The Quadfather

5/11/2018 4:04:32 PM

Snoking,
Ha! I think you may have misunderstood my report. Yeah, I totally agree with you. The lake is awesome. I didn’t want to tear the place up too badly online.... but Hell Yes, there is a lot left to be desired.

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