Northwest Fishing Reports

Planning to hit Roosevelt this year. Fishing in a smaller aluminum boat (14') with no downriggers. Wondering what would be best setup for trolling. I usually fish ultralight spin gear, but not sure if I can adapt to trolling this fishery. Suggestions ?

What I replied to your other post:

Or read some Roosevelt reports, most of them contain good info. You don't need downriggers to fish Roosevelt, I've fished it for years without using mine, matter of fact I prefer not to use them. Simplest method? Leaded line 3 colors out with a 50' leader.

What kind of fish are you targeting? Walleye? Trout?

Lambojac wrote:What kind of fish are you targeting? Walleye? Trout?

As stated in the thread's title - trout.

hewesfisher wrote:What I replied to your other post:

Or read some Roosevelt reports, most of them contain good info. You don't need downriggers to fish Roosevelt, I've fished it for years without using mine, matter of fact I prefer not to use them. Simplest method? Leaded line 3 colors out with a 50' leader.

Ditto to the lead line plan. A major go-to for Roosevelt Kokanee. Somewhere in the forums there is a piece I wrote about setting up a lead line rig. I'll try to find it later.

Oh yeah...the "Title" is probably a good place to start for finding that info out... LOL

I cannot tell you how many trout we've caught the past 10yrs or so using leaded line out roughly 3 colors, a 50' fluorocarbon leader, snap swivel, and a fly tipped with worm trolled at 2.5 - 3.0mph. You can't go wrong with a Kekeda fly in perch, pink, orange, or black/orange. It's simple, it works, and it puts fish in the cooler.

Thanks hewesfisher. Does that mean that I have to get me a fly rod & reel ?

OldFishGuy wrote:Thanks hewesfisher. Does that mean that I have to get me a fly rod & reel ?

Only if you want to be really cool and get out there and whip the water. Flys on conventional gear have been a go to for years. It's all my grand kid do now. Now if I was trolling, I would for sure use a long line and some sort action inducing device, dodge, spinner, Wiggle Disc with a fly on the end. If I was fishing points and other types of structure, I'd be using a fly rod for sure. Nothing like tangling with them one on one with a long rod and a 1 to 1 reel.

OldFishGuy wrote:Thanks hewesfisher. Does that mean that I have to get me a fly rod & reel ?

No sir, a 7 1/2' - 8 1/2' noodle rod and a level wind reel capable of holding at least 50yds leadcore line plus 50' leader and you're good to go.

I have a pair of generic "store brand" 8 1/2' noodle rods I've used for close to 10yrs plus a pair of 8 1/2' Daiwa Heartland Kokanee rods. The generic rods have Daiwa SG47 line counter reels spooled with 100yds leadcore and 50' fluorocarbon leaders. The Daiwa rods have Daiwa SG27 line counter reels spooled with 12lb mono and I normally use them for long lining plugs or working off the downriggers.

The reason I say "roughly 3 colors" is because I run the flies 150' - 155' back and don't count colors.

Edit to add: My gear recommendations are for trolling applications.

Got it ! Thanks. . .

rseas wrote:

hewesfisher wrote:What I replied to your other post:

Or read some Roosevelt reports, most of them contain good info. You don't need downriggers to fish Roosevelt, I've fished it for years without using mine, matter of fact I prefer not to use them. Simplest method? Leaded line 3 colors out with a 50' leader.

Ditto to the lead line plan. A major go-to for Roosevelt Kokanee. Somewhere in the forums there is a piece I wrote about setting up a lead line rig. I'll try to find it later.

Found it:


"I often fish lead line but my approach is a bit differnt and kind of a phased setup.

1) On an empty reel tape the end of the lead-line on the spool and load three colors + a few feet of the lead-line on the spool then cut the lead-line saving the balance of the spool.

2) Remove the lead core from a foot or so of the loose end of the lead-line now on the reel.

3) Using a Double Uni Knott tie 20# braid of your choice on to the end of the stripped lead-line. Then fill the spool with the 20# braid. Cut the braid when the spool is full.

4) The PIA part; you will need two empty spools or a second empty reel of the same type/size. The goal is to load the braid/lead-line combo on the reel braid first. With the same reel as a second reel it is easy and you just load reel to reel. Otherwise you have to transfer to one empty spool, then another and then finally onto the original reel.

5) Reel now loaded with the 3 colors of lead line on top, strip the lead core out of 1-2' of the lead-line. Then using your favorite braid to mono (or in this case, stripped lead-line to mono) knott tie a 60' top-shot of 6-12# flourocarbon.

That is basically it. I use the lead-line setup almost exclusivly for kokanee so I just attach a small snap to the end of the fluorocarbon top-shot to make changing dodgers easier. My reasoning for running only three colors of lead-line is; at 1.0-1.4 mph 3 colors is all you need. Infact using this approach I have snagged the bottom in 70' of water. It happened with just the 3 colors of lead-line in the water and none of the backing. Running just the 3 colors/braid combo allows you to load a fair amount of backing on smaller reels while reducing the overall weight."

Question...where is the best place to launch a boat? I heard water is very low. I have a 19' Lund but haven't been to Roosevelt in many years. Thanks

Ronald if you want to fish around the dam or up around Swawilla Basin the you can launch at Spring Canyon, that is just up river a couple miles from Grand Coulee. If you want to fish a little farther up river Keller Launch just opened yesterday. From what I have read in other forums I believe that all the other launches other than Porcupine on the Spokane Arm are open, but folks are reporting the Spokane river looks like chocolate milk and has debris flowing. Good Luck

Thanks, the guy I talked to was under the impression you can't launch because too low.

Ronald Warninger wrote:Thanks, the guy I talked to was under the impression you can't launch because too low.

Might be true depending which launch you're referring to. As of 8am this morning reservoir level was 1273.35'. The only launches currently unusable are Hawk Creek, Marcus Island, Evans, North George, Napolean Bridge, Snag Cove and China Bend.

Helpful quick links Reservoir level and minimum launch level.

Not sure that would work either because hawk creek and Marcus island require at least 1281. Not sure I read that right but that's what I see at this time.

Ronald Warninger wrote:Not sure that would work either because hawk creek and Marcus island require at least 1281. Not sure I read that right but that's what I see at this time.

Think you misread, last post indicated which launches were UNusable as of that date.

Reservoir level as of 5am this morning - 1267.52'. If drawdown continues at rate indicated on the NOAA hydrologic page, in addition to the launches previously mentioned, the following launches will be out of the water by 6am Friday: Jones Bay, Crescent Bay, Daisy & French Rocks.

Click on text in my previous post to get real time reservoir levels and compare against NPS minimum launch levels.

Thanks