We had some beautiful weather in the region this past week, and I got out in the boat to take advantage of it. Roses Lake looked much like a mirror for most of the day that we were there last week. These fall days are something special with great fishing and scenic beauty.

Once again my fishing day didn’t turn out as planned. I did get out on Roses Lake with Tom Verschueren, but what we caught wasn’t what I had anticipated. I wanted to get a bunch of the big bluegill and crappie that inhabit Roses Lake. I remembered that when we fished Roses earlier this year we got a bunch of big bluegill and some crappie. I have had days on this lake when it seemed that all I could catch was crappie. We did get some bluegill but no crappie.

However, the perch fishing saved the day. We found a spot at the north end of the lake that was producing perch up to 10 inches. When we got into fish of that size I decided to keep. I am glad I did. Of course, I thought we could find bluegill or crappie elsewhere on the lake and I wasted a bunch of time looking for them. We wound up right back where we started and really focused on getting more of the big perch. We were just using either a hook above a sinker or yellow and white jigs, baited with a piece of nightcrawler. We stopped fishing at about 2:30 and I filleted 22 fat perch. All but a few were 10-inchers. So, the perch fishing was worth the trip to Roses Lake, and since it was clear and sunny with no wind we both considered the day a success.

While we were on the water on Roses we talked to two anglers that were there to fish for catfish. Roses is known to produce some dandies. When Tom and I were on the lake earlier this year we encountered a boat that had a nice stringer of them. We also found an angler fishing for bass. He was methodically working his way around the lake, casting to the reeds, and he said he was doing great and getting some largemouth up to 3 pounds. Roses is also known to produce some nice rainbow in the fall.

By the way, we were surprised to see what had been done to the Roses Lake access road and parking area. The road was in serious disrepair, with some deep ruts and potholes when we were there this summer. Now the road and parking area are newly paved. There are new restrooms here, too. I also saw a new shore fishing platform that is also paved next to the parking area at Roses Lake.

I am going to try to get up to Rufus Woods as soon as possible. The Colville Tribe recently released about 2,000 triploids weighing an average of 4.7 pounds each, and I want to get some of these. Earlier this summer I fished just above the upper most net pens and caught fish this size then. We were using crank baits, like Rapalas and Flicker Shads, and got three limits. Anglers fishing bait are doing great by anchoring between the pens and the shore and using Power Bait or other floating baits fished off the bottom. There is a ton of fish here and I don’t think there is anything better than smoked triploids. I also spoke with the tribal member that patrols the lower end of Rufus Woods. I see him every time I fish at Brandts Landing or the fishing accesses above Chief Joseph Dam. He said he is seeing some nice triploids being caught, but the action has been slow. I expect to see more anglers and more reports of success as we get into the colder months. He also said that there are some very nice kokanee being caught by anglers trolling along the can line above the dam. He mentioned that a kokanee weighing over 4 pounds was taken here last fall.

I also want to mention that many of our region’s lakes will close at the end of October. A bunch of lakes were changed to year-round fishing through the regulation simplification process that the public wanted, but there are also lakes that traditionally opened in late April and closed at the end of October and their seasons remain the same. Be sure to check on your favorite lake before you head out to fish it. The Statewide Trout Derby that is conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife also ends at the end of October the for this year’s season.

A lake that is always on my list in the fall is Sprague. This shallow lake is 134 miles from Wenatchee or just 45 miles from Spokane. It offers some of the best fishing for big rainbow trout you’ll find anywhere. Trout to 6 pounds were not out of the question on Sprague. I had an excellent day there in October a couple of years ago. I had never been on the lake before that trip, but found it was pretty easy to get these rainbow to bite large Rapalas and Flicker Shads flatlined behind the boat. It is also an excellent lake for largemouth bass and catfish.

My plan for the coming, though, is to get up to Rufus Woods for a couple of reasons. The fresh release of big triploids is one reason. The other is that if we are able to get our two-fish limit fairly quickly, we won’t be too far from the launch at Spring Canyon. We may just launch here and try for more rainbow on Lake Roosevelt. I have done this before. We got our two-fish limits of triploids from the shore at Brandts Landing in less than an hour, so we drove up to Spring Canyon and added Lake Roosevelt trout to finish our daily limit. This didn’t take us more than an hour fishing from the shoreline toward the dam from the swimming area. We used slip sinker rigs baited with marshmallows and jarred shrimp at both locations.

If my plan works out I will be sure to tell you how we do. Look for the report on the FishingMagician web site and Facebook page, plus right here next week.