After reading a report by Lake Roosevelt Charters for Lake Spokane I just couldn't resist getting out to the lake to try for myself. Lake Spokane is the closest opportunity for fishing I have, and since I just finished upgrading many parts of the boat I just had to do it.

My son Braeden and I headed out to the Lake Spokane Campground hoping the launch would still be open. All sources of open/closing dates I could find online stated it closed September 15th, but it's worth checking out considering the only other option I'm aware of is the launch by Nine Mile, and that's just too treacherous this time of year for my blood. Posted dates at the launch state that the closing date is October 31st.

We launched around 7:45 and headed towards Willow Bay, following all the available information on the previously mentioned report. When we arrive, we could see trout rising everywhere. Large trout, not just feeding, but actually swimming along the top. We rigged up 3 rods. 2 for the downriggers, and one long line out the back. We used a mixture of lures and dodgers, all pink. First was an all pink Apex Kokanee Killer with a pink and white dodger, second was a Mack's Smile Blade Kokanee Hoochie with a Flash Lite Troll in Pink, third was an off brand 4" hoochie with 2 very large hooks. All with white corn and various scents applied.

I put 2 ounces of weight in front of the long line dodger, and let it out about 100 feet. The downriggers were set to 10 and 20 feet with about 30 to 40 foot setback. The long line and the 10' downrigger immediately hooked up, and continued to do so every 10 minutes for 2 hours. We had doubles a few times. After the first few fish I began running the lures without bait, and noticed very little difference.

We fished in about 50 to 70 foot depths at around 2.4 mph, and had both of our limits before 10am. I didn't measure or weigh any fish individually, but after processing the fish at home I had 7lbs of fillet, and 11lbs of fish carcasses. Not bad for 10 trout! It was pouring rain the entire time, and 40 degrees, but we had a blast. The launch is still open for another week or so. Go try for yourself!

For my daughter Alura.

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