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Split the day in half, between up and downriver a few miles from the confluence. Caught 2 limits worth of bows in the first 45 min. then hit a lull about for about a half hour and moved. Ended the day with close to half our catch each from both North and South of the Confluence.
Total for the day: 19. A quarter of the catch were native fish and the rest hatchery. Average around 18" and 4 over 20" including a fiesty 23.5" native fish. Kept some plants for friends and a few for smoking. The majority of fish were caught finesse trolling a chartreuse plastic bait.

Sidenote: I did not anticipate the water to be so high! This is the highest I have ever seen it this time of year and to me, this makes fishing more difficult as there's a lot more surface water to cover and virtually no flow to help concentrate fish. We'll see what the next couple weeks brings; fishing could be more challenging than what we are historically used to for this time of year, especially if one tries to pursue Kokanee.

clawman

1/10/2021 8:05:47 PM

FYI;
https://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/lakelevel/
https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=otx&gage=gcdw1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

JediMB

1/15/2021 7:28:54 AM

Ty Claw. I too use those links. Just hadn't checked before my last trip as I am so used to the water being at a certain level this time of year, so was to my surprise to see it was so high. Tight Lines

hewesfisher

1/11/2021 9:08:09 AM

Nice report and I agree, water levels are much higher than ordinarily found this time of year.

Part-Time

1/14/2021 1:43:15 PM

Sounds like a pretty good day for sure. I have seen you use the term "finesse trolling" and I'm not sure what that means to you but based on the number of fish you boat I think I should be figuring it out.

JediMB

1/15/2021 7:22:52 AM

JediMB

1/15/2021 7:33:34 AM

And, also, if I were getting out right now to target trout, I would focus more on the Spokane arm. In my experience, it is more productive than the Columbia when the water is high as it's easier to find concentrations of fish, you don't have to travel as far and it's more sheltered from the wind. So many times I have seen a 3-5 mph NE wind forecast and get down on the Columbia and it's white capping. That NE wind that blows down the canyon from Canada can be really unpredictable and it's hard to get refuge without going on some long boat runs. Tight lines

JediMB

1/15/2021 7:27:17 AM

Part-time. Try downsizing your bait a bit and fishing a little higher in the water. 20 feet on up. When the water drops, they should be higher in the water level later when there is more surface feed. It's a tough go right now, and if you fish on a sunny day, make sure you get there early as the fish scatter and go deep when the sun is high. In my experience, the bite goes slow around eleven and picks up after 12:30, all dependent however on the sun intensity and the amount of chop on the water.

Part-Time

1/15/2021 8:34:24 AM

Interesting what you said about the time, 11:30 to 1:30 is quite often a slow period for me also, but as in all things fishing not always. I once landed 3 fish up at Porcupine before I could finish my noon sandwich.

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