Need info on Chelan/Rufus

aguynamedmike · Post by **aguynamedmike** » Thu May 03, 2012 9:14 am

Few years ago, right after becomming a member of WL.com I seen reports on rufus woods and was hell bent on going there. And I did, with a row boat and electric motor and a buddy, didnt do so great but fell in love.
That trip made me buy my bayliner and I have been back ever summer and I do pretty good, 2011 was awesome most will know what im talking about. So, this year im planning a trip with buddies going to take a couple boats and camp at a state park up in grand coulee maybe and I have now got lake chelan in my sights. I know nothing about Makinaw/Lake trout.
My question is... How far is chelan from Grand coulee? And what is the best method/gear/time of day for lake trout fishing at chelan? Also does anyone on this site Live over that way on Property? Also need some walleye tips for rufus, the trout are too easy for me now!

Post by **Big D** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:21 am

You could stay at the state park in Bridgeport and cut your trip in half when traveling to Chelan. Or stay in Chelan at the state park and travel to Rufus Woods. It's about a 45 minute drive ether way.

aguynamedmike · Post by **aguynamedmike** » Thu May 03, 2012 3:15 pm

I have stayed at Bridgeport state park before its very nice there compaired to the camp sites at grand coulee. How far would Lake Chelan be from seatons grove?

Post by **Bodofish** » Thu May 03, 2012 5:36 pm

A long drive.

aguynamedmike · Post by **aguynamedmike** » Thu May 03, 2012 5:50 pm

So if I stayed at Bridgeport State Park I would have the same (under an hour) drive to either lake chelan or seatons grove? Also, who would be a good person to messge on this site about how to fish Chelan?

Post by **Big D** » Thu May 03, 2012 6:49 pm

aguynamedmike wrote:So if I stayed at Bridgeport State Park I would have the same (under an hour) drive to either lake chelan or seatons grove? Also, who would be a good person to messge on this site about how to fish Chelan?

That's correct. although if your staying at Bridgeport State park, why would you want to pull a boat all the way up to Grand Coulee? Unless you intend to fish only at the pens. If you've got a boat with enough hp and the gas money to burn I would recommend just heading up river in your boat. It's 53 miles of the most beauitiful, fishable, quite and awesome place on this side of the state just to get to the lower pens. And then just another 5 miles to the upper pens with a stopover at the middle set of pens. The area around pump #3 has been hot lately. For info on Chelan or Rufus Woods you could drop Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad's Family Guide Service a PM. Anton does put lots of good info into his Lake Chelan reports and fishes Rufus Woods often. By the way, the kokanee are running hot in Lake Chelan right now. You could also PM blufin loui (Lewis) for info on Rufus Woods (He's a god on Rufus) and he does drop a line into Chelan once in a while.

Also, depending on when you're planning your trip, don't forget about the Trippin With Triploids Fishing Derby
Saturday, May 12, 2012 5:30 am to 3:00 pm. http://www.washingtonlakes.com/forum/vi ... =2&t=14692

aguynamedmike · Post by **aguynamedmike** » Thu May 03, 2012 9:30 pm

I have done the whole 55+ miles between the dams in the boat I own and am taking this year. The 43 yr old merc im running wont get me past pump 6 with one tank (6gal) and used all but a gal of the 5 gal can I keep with me to refil on the way back. I dont have enough motor or boat for that cruise even though I would Love it!
I even trailered my boat from Bridgeport to seatons grove went down past the 2nd set of pens I believe and was afraid to try and motor back up to my truck for the sake of not making it, so instead we tried to motor back to the state park, and moor the boat and catch a ride back to my truck with the Fam we had there all was looking good except on that trip I did NOT know it was over 50 miles and ran out of gas half way down ran out of trolling battery another hour later and floated the last 15 miles wich took untill 11pm that night, we fished the whole time so it wasnt bad, cept my Bro inlaw has diabetes and was crashing bad and we had no food so that was kinda scary.
I saw that trippin derby and it looks awesome unfortunately the Guys im going with an I have already picked a july date and have only just begun saving for the trip

MarkFromSea · Post by **MarkFromSea** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:10 pm

aguynamedmike wrote:I have stayed at Bridgeport state park before its very nice there compaired to the camp sites at grand coulee. How far would Lake Chelan be from seatons grove?

http://www.mapquest.com/directions#e635 ... e12196553c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MarkFromSea · Post by **MarkFromSea** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:50 pm

aguynamedmike wrote:I have done the whole 55+ miles between the dams in the boat I own and am taking this year. The 43 yr old merc im running wont get me past pump 6 with one tank (6gal) and used all but a gal of the 5 gal can I keep with me to refil on the way back. I dont have enough motor or boat for that cruise even though I would Love it!
I even trailered my boat from Bridgeport to seatons grove went down past the 2nd set of pens I believe and was afraid to try and motor back up to my truck for the sake of not making it, so instead we tried to motor back to the state park, and moor the boat and catch a ride back to my truck with the Fam we had there all was looking good except on that trip I did NOT know it was over 50 miles and ran out of gas half way down ran out of trolling battery another hour later and floated the last 15 miles wich took untill 11pm that night, we fished the whole time so it wasnt bad, cept my Bro inlaw has diabetes and was crashing bad and we had no food so that was kinda scary.
I saw that trippin derby and it looks awesome unfortunately the Guys im going with an I have already picked a july date and have only just begun saving for the trip

I highly recommend you PRACTICE using a map for driving and boating. You seem to know the mileage limit on your boat now, maybe, but, I can't help but wonder how you ended up in that situation. Other than the obvious, that is. Learn how many miles you get on a gallon of gas by using a map and comparing that to how much fuel you use, it's not rocket science. NEVER plan a trip that is going to use more than 2/3 of your fuel on board. You might want to do a little extra sightseeing or the weather might turn to crap and you end up needing that extra fuel. I can put well over 100 miles on a tank of gas. Even if I go out for a 40 mile trip, I'll routinely have three 5 gal gerry cans on board as well as a full tank. Learn the easy math that it is, it could save someone's life.
I call this the DEAD duck video: http://nj1015.com/fatal-2010-philly-duc ... deo-video/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; It's not at all funny, the duck boat operator stopped the boat in a marine traffic lane when he didn't have to and the tug boat operator was distracted on his cell phone....... Bad deal all around, just because of stupidity, people died.
I'm not saying this to be cruel, as the boat owner and operator, it's your responsibility to keep your passengers safe. You'll feel better as well while out on the water knowing that you've got it figured out in advance. I find a Gazateer useful. Pick one up. Those little squares equal a mile, just count em or use a ruler along your expected route. Google Gazeteer or just ask at a sporting goods store to locate one, freddies walmart, everyone has them..........

hewesfisher · Post by **hewesfisher** » Fri May 04, 2012 6:14 am

The next best thing to having GPS on board, and for less than $10, - http://www.fishnmap.com/inc/viewImage.p ... height=700" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Get yourself one of these maps before you go back to Rufus Woods.

Your diabetic BIL should know to never go anywhere without something to eat or keep him from becoming hypoglycemic. Always, always, plan for the worst just in case because you never know what might happen.

Your best bet will be to stay at Bridgeport if you plan to fish Rufus and Chelan. Staying at Grand Coulee would be fine if you wanted to fish Banks Lake and Rufus, but would be an awful long drive to Chelan.

I don't think it's more than 10 - 12 miles (if that) from Seaton's Grove to the upper or middle pens. The upper and middle pens are within 1/4 - 1/2 mile of each other. I would be very surprised you couldn't make it there and back to Seaton's Grove on one tank of fuel. Maybe you should get a second tank for a trip like you're planning. How big is your Bayliner? How big is your motor?

As to info for fishing Chelan, in addition to Anton Jones as Big D mentioned, there are two other guides who routinely report fishing on Chelan, Biggar Fishing Adventures and Lake Chelan Advetures (Joe Heinlein). All 3 are WA Lake sponsors. You can read their reports on fishing Chelan and contact them that way. Highlight the "Services" tab across the top of your screen, and then click on "guides and charters" to find all three. For Chelan reports, highlight the "Lakes" tab, click on "Lake Index", click on "C", scroll down and click on "Reports". That will take you to reports submitted for Chelan only. You can do the same for Rufus too.

aguynamedmike · Post by **aguynamedmike** » Fri May 04, 2012 8:53 am

I appreciate the replies, and I have habbits now from my learning experiences to ensure certain things dont happen again.
My boat is a 14' mosquito with a 50 hp merc old school runabout turned fishing machine (sorta). The whole river experience was new to me and at the time, I only had one high pitch prop, and a saturation issue with my carbs. That trip taught me the limitations on my boat a little better.
I have put my boat in Puget Sound on the key peninsula and travelled all 3 islands by the narrows after launching at browns point on a tank of gas, so I knew somewhat what it does without a rivers current.
Now my carbs dont load up and I have 2 props repitched where I want them. Im not totally new to boating but must admit every trip is a learning experience. As for my brother in law, lets just say I would have used his bloated body for a seat cushion while flinging castmasters at the shoreline as we were drifting gasless if it came to that lol
I will be contacting some of the guides mentioned, Thanks alot for the tips.

MarkFromSea · Post by **MarkFromSea** » Fri May 04, 2012 9:48 am

"The next best thing to having GPS on board, and for less than $10, - http://www.fishnmap.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Get yourself one of these maps before you go back to Rufus Woods."

Good maps, GREAT idea!

hewesfisher · Post by **hewesfisher** » Fri May 04, 2012 3:59 pm

MarkFromSea wrote:"The next best thing to having GPS on board, and for less than $10, - http://www.fishnmap.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Get yourself one of these maps before you go back to Rufus Woods."

Good maps, GREAT idea!

Those maps are a great bargain, and waterproof too. I've got a GPS plotter with Navionics Platinum map chip, but I still like my coated paper maps, and have one of every WA map they produce in my boat glove box.

Mike - Sounds like you've got a plan in place. Good luck on your trip.

FishingFool · Post by **FishingFool** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:23 am

I'm going Camping at Banks next week, but we may hit Rufus too. I dont think we will bother making the drive to Bridgeport to launch and fish the cans. We might to check out the pens since I'm pretty sure the boat can make the trip no problems....

.

Here is a map and do I have the markings right?

I'm 100% sure the red marker on far right is the Seaton Grove ramp, but where are the pens? I'm looking at the overview of GoogleMaps . Do I have them marked correctly with the blue markers? There is only 2 pens right? Is the current there strong? Are there spots you can tie onto?

On the far left red marker on my map, is what I believe to be an unmarked boat launch. I fished on the shore off a rocky point there several years ago and landed my biggest trout to date. Since this launch isnt shown on my Rufus Map, is it a private launch? Or has it changed? Reason I ask is because you do drive through some kind of farm land area...

Also, is the Seaton Grove launch free or fee? NO tribal license is needed right to fish Rufus anymore, correct?

MarkFromSea · Post by **MarkFromSea** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:55 am

http://washingtonlakes.com/TopoMaps/241 ... s045_1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
this one doesn't help much, it's got numbers listed but ...... LOL no description of what the numbers are....
Other than the regs and reports, I got nothing......... Been quite a while since I fished it, we used the rough ramp you described since it was so close to the pens, 4x4 recommended.

Post by **Big D** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:39 am

FishingFool wrote:I'm going Camping at Banks next week, but we may hit Rufus too. I dont think we will bother making the drive to Bridgeport to launch and fish the cans. We might to check out the pens since I'm pretty sure the boat can make the trip no problems.... .

I'm 100% sure the red marker on far right is the Seaton Grove ramp, but where are the pens? I'm looking at the overview of GoogleMaps . Do I have them marked correctly with the blue markers? There is only 2 pens right? Is the current there strong? Are there spots you can tie onto? On the far left red marker on my map, is what I believe to be an unmarked boat launch. I fished on the shore off a rocky point there several years ago and landed my biggest trout to date. Since this launch isnt shown on my Rufus Map, is it a private launch? Or has it changed? Reason I ask is because you do drive through some kind of farm land area... Also, is the Seaton Grove launch free or fee? NO tribal license is needed right to fish Rufus anymore, correct?

I'll answer a couple of your questions. There are three sets of pens, You've got the upper and lower pens marked on your map. I always launch from behind Chief Jo dam because there are more choices of areas to fish (53 Miles) to the lower pens and less people. I've never been to Seaton's Grove but I believe the upper set of pens http://goo.gl/maps/zs4a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is about five or six miles down river from Seaton's Grove so what you have marked as the boat launch on your map would be wrong. The middle set of pens is just outside of Nespelem http://goo.gl/maps/6KvG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and is about seven or eight miles down river from Seaton's Grove and the lower set of pens http://goo.gl/maps/Yxnl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is about nine or ten miles down river from Seaton's Grove. As I stated, the Seaton's Grove boat launch is up river from the upper pens. The river current can be very strong at times and slack during other times. Pay close attention to the water and you should be fine. You should also watch the wind conditions. The wind can put some serious white caps on different parts of the river at any given time. A Tribal license is required if you fish from shore on Tribal land (North side of the river) with the exception of marked fishing areas like the fishing area on the shore at the middle set of pens. There is no place to tie up to at any of the pens and they are posted as such. I use my bow mount or anchor if I really want to stay put. Be very careful while in the area of the pens. You don't want to cause any damage to the pens and god forbid dump another 1,000,000 fish into the river for the rest of us to catch. It could be very expensive for you and good for us.
Also, be aware that the regs have changed a little this year. If you want to catch & release you are now required to use a single barbless hook. Use a barbed hook, and the first two fish that you catch will count towards your limit of two fish. Just the same as when using bait or scent.

hewesfisher · Post by **hewesfisher** » Thu May 31, 2012 6:15 am

Looking at this map, Seaton's Grove is upstream of the island on the right side at the hooked inlet.

The upper and middle pens can be seen in this map, the upper on the right and middle on the left.

Big D is right, you only need a tribal license if you fish from shore anywhere other than a "Designated Fishing Area". You do not need a tribal permit to fish from a boat at RW, but you do need a tribal permit to beach your boat on reservation property.

This rule has been in effect at least since 2010 (that's when I started downloading the regs to my computer) -

No min. size. Daily limit 2. KOKANEE are included as part of the daily TROUT limit. Only uninjured TROUT caught using artificial lures or flies with single-point barbless hooks may be released.

Like Big D said, unless you use single-point, barbless hooks hooks on your favorite plug or lure, the first two trout caught count toward your limit whether or not bait is used. Also, be advised, your possession limit is two daily limits in any form while camping. Please read the definitions for Possession Limit, Daily Limit, In the Field or in Transit, & Ordinary Residence in the current regs pamphlet.

There is a primitive boat launch just downstream of the upper pens where you could launch a smaller boat if you have a 4wd vehicle. I believe Seaton's Grove is a WDFW launch but not positive about that. I've only launched there once and that was 2 years ago.

I believe there are now buoys specifically for tying off at the middle pens, may also be the same at the upper ones. I'm sure I remember seeing them when we were there last Sept.

The water can definitely get rough at RW. Water conditions were smooth at the middle pens, but changed halfway back to where we were camping last Sept...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTRFyBc8 ... ture=g-upl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FishingFool · Post by **FishingFool** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:21 am

lol I just noticed my map got cropped on here. I guess it was a little too big. So according to the shown image that you can see, the far right red marker should be the primitive launch.

To my knowledge, it was always barbless and single hook if you want to catch and release. But anyways, is pinching back the barb still considered "barbless"? I guess I could always be OCD and use a dremel to smooth it out.

Post by **Bodofish** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:49 am

You're fine with smashing them down.

hewesfisher · Post by **hewesfisher** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:10 am

FishingFool wrote:lol I just noticed my map got cropped on here. I guess it was a little too big. So according to the shown image that you can see, the far right red marker should be the primitive launch.

Yes.

FishingFool wrote:To my knowledge, it was always barbless and single hook if you want to catch and release. But anyways, is pinching back the barb still considered "barbless"? I guess I could always be OCD and use a dremel to smooth it out.

Under the definition of Hook in the regs pamphlet, "Barbless - A hook from which all barbs have been deleted when manufactured, filed off, or pinched down."

Pinch and go!

Northwest Fishing Reports

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