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Intended to fish Lake Spokane. Only place to launch is Nine Mile and the best fishing is near the dam. Too far to drive my slow thirsty Yamaha 2 stroke outboard jet. Launched about 10:30 at Ft Spokane. No one else in the parking lot and only saw three boats all day. My brother and I fished 4 poles, one on downrigger, two with leaded line and one surface long line. Trolled the south shore of the confluence for about 2 1/2 hours and caught some nice trout close to shore and on points. Fishing went slack so we crossed the mouth and trolled the east shore north of the confluence to finish our limits. Got a little hectic when we hit a triple hookup. Two 17 inchers and a 19.5. Amazing that they all got to the boat. Best lure was a perch pattern fly. Others were caught on orange. All tipped with worm. Downrigger fished 15 to 20 feet caught some but most came on 2 colors leaded line with 50 ' leader. Surface line got a couple bites but no hookup. No flashers or dodgers. 1.8 was best speed. Fish ranged from 15 1/2 to 19 1/2 and fat. Finally got to break in my new 9.9 Yamaha. (It was supposedly prepped by the dealer in Troutdale, but apparently not just before I got it cause it wouldn't start when I got to Keller last week. Had to troll the electric. Shop found bad gas in the carb. About $200 later all is well.) All in all it was a beautiful day on Roosevelt. Wind was mostly calm and got some sun in the afternoon. We love winter fishing there as it is quiet, uncrowded, and the fish are the best anywhere I know of. It wasn't hot fishing, but we got our limits in about 4 hours. Graph showed very few fish so they must have been too shallow to find with the fish finder.

strikezone

1/11/2020 6:16:01 AM

Hi- Way to go out there. I have only had the privilege of fishing Roosevelt four times, but I have to agree with you that it is a privelige to be able to fish it no matter when you can get there. It's almost an 8 hour drive for me. We fished it for 4 days in the early part of November and also Sprague lake for one day, and it was lights out for us. 160 rainbows to the boat, but we released all but 20 for our trip home. All were caught on 3 colors of leaded line with 50 feet of leader too. And flies with no dodger or flashes worked for us as well. Hope to get over again later this year for some more fun days. Denny

hewesfisher

1/11/2020 7:06:33 AM

Those gorgeous fillets are your reward for enjoying a day at Roosevelt. Nice haul!

Part-Time

1/11/2020 11:14:19 AM

Thanks for the great report and the good info, glad you did well. Great picture of the fillets. Not sure I can tell the difference between a trout and a Kokanee when the trout are that nice. I always wonder if people that say they don't like to eat trout have ever had one of those. Keep it up.

apex

1/12/2020 10:45:58 AM

Great harvest and spot on comment regarding Roosevelt Bow's, they are excellent fare in many fashions, not just for smokers and your missing out if you don't.

hewesfisher

1/14/2020 7:08:16 AM

Love them fresh, cooked on the grill lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If I'm nice I'll add thin sliced lemon to keep my better half happy. In addition to smoking, they also can very well and you get to enjoy them all year long. :-)

Part-Time

1/14/2020 7:59:57 AM

Something new I have done is chop them up with some onions and whatever comes to mind and make fishwitch patties. Works for me.

bonanzamel

1/14/2020 2:30:34 PM

Hard to find a bad way to cook these. I usually freeze extras in vacuum seal bags. Easy way to cook is on a grill matt on the grill outdoors, Try ground pistachio on the skinless side. Dont overcook.

downriggeral

1/20/2020 12:46:10 PM

By the way you can launch at Willow Bay.
Tight lines Alan

bonanzamel

1/20/2020 9:01:32 PM

Tried to contact them nobody answered or returned calls Nobody there when we went by. How do you get access?

downriggeral

1/21/2020 8:25:09 AM

I have not tried to contact them. As long as we have water I launch at the Confluence when the resort is closed. As you said long run for the jet boat.

Bazzdude22

1/23/2020 8:44:18 PM

Bazzdude22

1/23/2020 8:45:24 PM

Fileting trout is much harder then spiny rays ya?

bonanzamel

1/24/2020 8:29:37 PM

Depends on which species of spiny rays. I dont think trout are difficult. Pike on the other hand are a challenge if you dont want the y bones. Walleye are easy. Smallmouth bass depends on the size. All pretty much same technique except the pike. Very sharp fillet knife is key.

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