It’s getting tough to find a day of decent weather to head out in the boat. I am jealous of my friends that fished Rufus Woods last week. They enjoyed sunny skies, flat calm conditions, and excellent fishing for triploids at the net pens. I hope to get a day like this on Rufus Woods or Lake Roosevelt sometime soon myself.

I had not been up to Brandts Landing to try the fishing for triploids from shore this winter. I finally got the chance last Thursday. We got about a foot of snow the night before in Leavenworth and I didn’t know what I was going to find on the roads heading north. As it turned out the highway did have some snow on it as I approached Brewster, but it wasn’t bad after that. I was surprised when the roads became completely clear as I headed down the hill to Brandts Landing and there wasn’t any snow at all in the park. I set up at my favorite spot and cast my marshmallow and shrimp combo baits into calm water.

I fished for two hours, changing baits at intervals, but they were completely ignored. I turned down a ride to the net pens from a passing boat. Just didn’t have the time. Then I visited with a group of four anglers that were there when I arrived, and they were fishless as well. Just one of those days. This week’s photo was taken from the shore at Brandts Landing of a boat trolling by. I want to let anglers know that although a fire burned through this area last year, the shoreline, where the fishing accesses are placed, didn’t receive much damage. All of the fishing accesses are usable.

After a great day of kokanee fishing on Lake Roosevelt with Austin Moser, I still had time to try fishing from shore at Keller. I figured that I could put out a couple of rods while I filleted my catch of rainbow and kokanee taken earlier in the day. I set up two rods on the shore off the park just down river from the Keller launch. I have had very good luck from this spot in the past. I was surprised to see the water as low as it was for this time of year. It does go up and down a bit before the really serious drop it takes in April and May. I rigged the rods with slip sinkers and baited them with marshmallow and shrimp. I just got back to the picnic table when I noticed one of the rod tips jerking. I barely got to it before the rod holder tipped completely over and went into the water. I could tell that it was a good fish and when I pulled it up on the bank I estimated it at 18 inches.

Last year my brother in law Tom Verschuren and I took two limits from this same spot. The rainbow ranged in size from 16 to 21 inches. The rainbow from Lake Roosevelt are all clipped and are triploids. They are probably the best eating fish in the state. You don’t need a boat to take advantage of the great fishing in the winter on Lake Roosevelt. I want to remind anglers that if you get a trout that has an adipose fin, you need to release it immediately. These are native redband rainbow trout and are protected in Roosevelt.

Rufus Woods Reservoir continues to be terrific, kicking out limits of big triploid rainbow for those who fish the net pens by boat. It was good all summer and fall and it looks like this excellent fishing is going to extend through the winter. I am seeing lots of photos of trout weighing up to 16 pounds. It seems like whenever the fishing on Rufus Woods gets this good it brings out bad behavior. I get complaints from anglers that observe other people taking more than their limit of triploids. The limit is two per angler per day, and it’s a shame that people threaten this fishery by overfishing it.

I called Captain Mike Jewel with WDFW enforcement and he said both his staff and the Colville Tribal staff are aware of the problem. He advised that first, avoid a confrontation, but get as much information as possible. Boat and truck license numbers and physical descriptions will help them track down offenders. He also reminds people that they can go to the enforcement page on the WDFW website and use the WILDCOM phone number to contact local enforcement. He did mention that both the WDFW and Colville enforcement staffs are reduced due to COVID and budget issues.

I talked to two of my fishing buddies that made trips to the net pens on Rufus Woods last week. They both raved about the action they had. Getting two fish limits for everyone on their boats was really easy. They were also very impressed with the size of the fish, saying that they were bigger, on average, than the ones they got earlier this year.

Both the uppermost and the second net pens were productive. I will remind folks that there are cables running off the end of the pens to be aware of. Fishing between the pens and the shore or just downstream of the pens will help you avoid them. There is a lot of gear hung up on these cables from anglers who got their gear wound around them.

I hope to post some fresh reports on the fishing on the net pens and for fishing for big kokanee on Rufus Woods. My plan is to fish both of these areas and I will be sure to fill you in on my experience.

Also, I will be sending out my free E-Letter on Winter Fishing very soon. My plan is to dedicate this issue to Rufus Woods and Lake Roosevelt. These E-Letters include maps, photos, and lots of details on how to fish these very popular winter destinations. If you aren’t receiving the free E-Letter, click on the button at the top left hand side of the Home Page of my web site at www.fishingmagician.com.