It was going to be cold, but there was little wind forecast for the Keller area of Lake Roosevelt.  So, I made some calls and got a couple of my fishing buddies to join me last Friday and see if we could catch some rainbow and maybe even kokanee.

Tom Verschueren, Brian Anantatmula and I made the drive to Keller, which took a little longer than usual due to the fog that is often present this time of year.  The water was down a bit at the launch bay, but nothing like it will be later this winter.  It was chilly but with the promise of the cloud layer to burn off some time later in the morning we were excited to get out on the water.  

I ran the Kingfisher 2025 Escape down lake to the area I have fished in past seasons, often with Austin Moser.  I pointed out the landmark on the shore, known as the Camel Nose, and put out the gear.  One of the downriggers was frozen and couldn’t function, so we ran one rod on a downrigger, one rod flatlined out the back with a 4 ounce lead ball and four on side planers, since we all had the two pole endorsement.  We trolled on the Minn Kota Ultera down the lake and into the bay above the cliffs.  We weren’t marking any fish but as we turned and headed back up toward Keller and toward the channel marker a side planer rod went off, and we landed a 19-inch rainbow.  One other boat trolled past us and said they had caught one fish so far, so we continued making this circle, and actually got hit or landed a rainbow every time we made a circuit.  One of the rainbow we caught is shown in this week’s column.  

We were running a variety of different offerings.  We had a Kokabow pink spinner behind a Watermelon blade on the lead ball rig, which was a real winner when we were catching those big kokanee up here four years ago.  We had #9 orange Rapala on two rods, a silver Flicker Shad, and a J-9 orange Rapala on the other side planer rods.  Brian had a setup of his own creation on the downrigger, which was set at 40 feet.  We played around with some different color combinations on the kokanee gear and with the crank baits, and it became pretty clear that the orange Rapalas were what the rainbow wanted.  I reluctantly put a big J-11 on the lead ball rod, with just a half ounce and it got hit immediately.

We were either getting hit or landing a rainbow on each pass in this bay, and we were releasing the wild red band rainbow that hit the crank baits, too.  We were usually in at least 200 feet of water, and Brian wondered what it would be like in closer to shore.  I move the boat closer to shore, but it dropped so sharply that the only time we were in shallow water was when we approached the point at the bottom of the bay.  I also reminded him that we had watched a few boats troll down to us and keep on going, suggesting that they weren’t doing any better than we were.

Well, the batteries finally pooped out on the bow mount, so I fired up the kicker and pointed the boat toward the boat launch.  The plan was to just troll to the takeout as it was pretty much quitting time. Brian steered the boat closer to shore and we actually found a 40- to 60-foot line that was pretty consistent, and there were fish here.  We started marking fish and all the rods started going off.  In that last hour of the day we probably caught as many fish as we did in the previous five hours of fishing.  It may have been the time of day or the bite just came on, but the fishing was hot.  Or maybe, once again, I repeated a previous pattern that had proven productive.  I didn’t want to leave fish to find fish, but I may have driven the boat right through the best fishing area to get to where I was comfortable catching fish in years past.   Whatever.  Brian was right.  That shoreline from the bay to the ramp was the hot spot.  He also made sure I didn’t get my boat speed over 1.5 mph.  That was the sweet spot.  We finished the day in style.  We had eight nice rainbow to take home and lost easily the same number and released five wild red bands.  We also had a tagged fish, and I am eager to find out what I can learn about that fish from the Spokane Tribe.

There was another boat just ahead of us when we pulled the boat, so I ran over and asked how they did, and if they had any kokanee. He showed me a kokanee of at least 18 inches, and they got one the day before, too.  That is very encouraging and all the more reason to attend the free seminar at Bob Feil Boats and Motors.  It will be on winter fishing at Lake Roosevelt and Rufus Woods Reservoir.  You will learn everything you need to know about how to fish them on Wednesday, December 4th.  Austin Moser will be talking about how he catches both rainbow trout and big kokanee on Lake Roosevelt.  He will provide very detailed descriptions of the tackle and techniques using downriggers, side planers or flat lining plugs and other gear in the winter.  

I will also be appearing at the seminar and will describe fishing on Rufus Woods from Top to Bottom. I will talk about the ways I have caught big triploids on Rufus Woods, both from a boat and from the shore.  My presentation will show the most productive fishing spots from Chief Joseph Dam to the upper net pens.  The seminar starts at 6 p.m. at the Bob Feil Boats and Motors dealership in East Wenatchee.  

It may be difficult to get out this week.  We have some high winds forecast throughout the region.  I am also looking forward to our traditional family get-together for Thanksgiving.  I will gladly give up a day on the water for the opportunity to be with my mom, wife, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews and their families on this holiday. We all have a so much to be thankful for.