It was unstable weather, but the fish didn’t seem to mind. We got out on the reservoir yesterday and found most of the fish pretty active and catch rates were good.
We started with kokanee, boating our two limits of fish ranging from 14-17 inches in under 2-hours. We found kokanee mostly between 35-45 ft in open water areas of Jarvies Bay. We trolled at 1.5-2 mph using #1 and #2 Needlefish in “pearl bikini” and Rocky Mountain Tackle dodgers in “fusion” rigged with a Shasta Tackle Koke-a-Nut in pink.
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We were unsuccessful finding cooperative lake trout, so we moved towards the shore for smallmouth bass and rainbow trout. Everywhere we tried we caught fish, main channel, canyons, backs of coves, etc. We caught both species, side-by-side, on a variety of tackle including: tube jigs in crayfish colors, single-tailed jigs in crayfish colors and black w/ blue and silver flake, hair jigs like the Zig Jig in olive, and shallow running crankbaits like Rapalas in rainbow trout. Most of the bass were caught close to shore, and we even saw one spawning bed yesterday. Rainbow trout were everywhere, close to shore and suspended over deep water, and most of the hits came as the jig fell. Some of the larger rainbows we caught were hugging the bank, a few of which were feeding on cicadas.
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Even with the recent cold front, surface temps were 57-59 F.
Thanks for the report. We are going to fish the river over the weekend (if the flows come down), but maybe we’ll also spend a day on the reservoir. Looks like fun.
Flows are dropping to powerplant capacity today (4600 cfs). They will drop again on Saturday at 5PM to about 4200 cfs. Starting Sunday they will begin single-peaking, with an average of 4075 cfs. Monday they drop again, but continue the single-peak, with a average flow of 3725 cfs. That should get the debris out of the water and hopefully better the fishing for you. I’m hearing and seeing lots of cicadas, hoppers, and crickets, so maybe the terrestrial pattern will also be more effective with the reduced flow.
i was over yesterday and got kokes but didnt see many on my fishfinder i think because they were shallow , did you see the schools when you caught them thanks
I saw quite a few schools of maybe a half dozen fish or so and they were all in that 35-45 ft zone. I often wonder about how many I’m missing shallow, where the down-looking sonar isn’t quite as effective with such a narrow cone. Typically this time of year, that’s where the kokes are at too. I pulled a planer board with a shallow rig for the first hour and only caught one fish, and it was a rainbow. Once I started stacking, we quickly finished our koke limit.