Northwest Fishing Reports

Hello everyone! I want to plan a trip to Lake Rufus Woods December 31st - Jan 2nd. I am wondering all the basics, as to where would I stay? Is Bridgeport the best area to get a motel room, or would I stay in Brewster? I am new at this and this task seems a little daunting. Am I best to launch close to Seaton's Grove by Grand Coulee...or down by Chief Joseph Dam? Where are the "net pens" located? By what end of the lake? Where do I launch my boat? I see that Seaton's Grove is a good place to launch, but again, I have no directions and don't know how to get there. Can you stay in Electric City? Are there any good websites that map this out (the lake, and launches, etc)? I am just wondering where to lodge, where to launch, and once I am on the water, I should be good to go...by the looks of all the recent reports. Thanks very much, and happy holidays! -Rutt

Hey, Rutt I found this story on the web and the author has named places to call and places to visit. Hope it helps!

http://www.fishingmagician.com/story_tr ... inbow.html

This site has a couple of nice maos and some information about the fishing.

http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/PublicMen ... ec_fishing

I'd call one of the guides out there and ask him. They would know the area's to fish and stay..

lskiles - thanks a whole bunch for those maps. it really helps me visualize the area!

The first net pen area is 8 miles downriver from Seatons, cant miss it, the next one is probly 2 more miles down. Many motels to choose from in both electric city and grand coulee.

Give Swede a call at Swede's Fly Shop in Spokane. He fishes Rufus Woods and knows it quite well. I think that he could answer any questions that you might have.

http://www.swedesflyshop.com/

One point you should think about is that there are a lot of people going there right now.

Call ahead to find a room. I worked there this summer on paving the parking at the boat launch near the dam and I had to bring my Camper and live out of it - no rooms available.

There were not nearly so many people that time of year.

Anglinarcher wrote:One point you should think about is that there are a lot of people going there right now.

Call ahead to find a room. I worked there this summer on paving the parking at the boat launch near the dam and I had to bring my Camper and live out of it - no rooms available.

There were not nearly so many people that time of year.

You nailed it! Accomodation is tough. I think I'll wait till after New Years ;) Thanks for all the info!

Is there any other good Rufus info? I have plans to make it out there this weekend. This is my first time going out there and I am pumped. I found a bunch of hotels last night on google and so far I really like some of the hotels that are on banks lake. It says they are minutes to rufus woods is there any truth behind this? Or how about any hotels right on Rufus? How much do the permits cost? Any more info at all would be really great. Thanks

gpc wrote:Is there any other good Rufus info? I have plans to make it out there this weekend. This is my first time going out there and I am pumped. I found a bunch of hotels last night on google and so far I really like some of the hotels that are on banks lake. It says they are minutes to rufus woods is there any truth behind this? Or how about any hotels right on Rufus? How much do the permits cost? Any more info at all would be really great. Thanks

There are no motels at Rufus Woods, nor are there rooms at Bridgeport, the little town at the dam. There are RV parks near Bridgeport if you are into that kind of thing this time of year.

Sorry, the motels at Banks are, well, taking some liberties in their advertising. How may minutes do you consider "minutes away"? I would say that they are about 45 to 60 minutes away, especially if the roads are bad this time of year. I guess that those are "minutes away".

Better to look for a motel in Brewster, or Coolie City. The motels at Banks and Coolie City would be close to the up-river launches, and I believe they all require the Reservation permit. I have not fished from here, so I don't know what the permit cost.

The Brewster area is closer to the dam; the launch at the State Park (closed this time of year I believe) and on the South Side (Corps of Engineers Mitigation Area Launch about 3 miles up from the dam). From here, either fish with everyone else at the Buoy line, or move upstream and fish just about any ware you desire. No permit is required as long as you stay on the South side or on the water.

Do take a shovel, and a bag of sand, just in case, because the launches can be really icy.

Actually, look for rooms in Electric City (on the north end of Banks Lake), Grand Coulee or Coulee Dam (the towns on either side of Grand Coulee Dam) if you want to launch at Seaton's Grove; not Coulee City, which is on the south end of Banks and will easily add another 30-40 mins to your drive. There are several good motels with reasonable rates that cater to fisherman up the hill from the Safeway in Grand Coulee. You can get to Seaton's Grove launch in 20 minutes or so from Grand Coulee motels, 10 minutes from Coulee Dam motels.
As far as the Chief Joseph end, I don't know.

Cool thanks guys . I acctually started calling around after I posted the my last post and all the places were pretty well booked up. Thank god because I really wanted the place on banks lake. I was able to find some open rooms at the center lodge. The lady said that they are doind a lot of construction around that area and the wokers are sucking up most of the hotel rooms. I dont really feel like dragging my bigger boat over the pass durring this time of the year and lets just say my little 10 ft allinuminum is exactly praticle for 10 people lol. So it looks like mostly bank angling this weekend. I know I will be missing out on some good fishing, but fishing around a fire sounds a lot better than frezzing my a$$ off on the boat lol. Oh, do you know if there is a burn ban out there? I have one of the enclosed elivated fire pits but dont want to lug it over there unless I have too.

The Apple Motel has rooms available. I just called to make reservations for this weekend. Brewster is about 9 miles from the Corp. boat launch at Chief Joe Dam.

If your looking to fish the net pens, you dont want to stay in Brewster. The only net pens I know of are down from Seatons launch.

FIRST SET OF PENS IS APPROX 7-9 MILES BELOW SEATONS, THE OTHERS 2-3 MILES BELOW THEM, BUT, THEY ARE CATCHING THEM ALL OVER. READ THE REPORTS FROM THIS AREA, TO AVOID THE COMBAT FISHING, TRY AND FIND A SPOT AWAY FROM THE PENS. JUST A RECCOMENDATION FOR A PLEASANT TRIP.

gpc wrote:Cool thanks guys . I acctually started calling around after I posted the my last post and all the places were pretty well booked up. Thank god because I really wanted the place on banks lake. I was able to find some open rooms at the center lodge. The lady said that they are doind a lot of construction around that area and the wokers are sucking up most of the hotel rooms. I dont really feel like dragging my bigger boat over the pass durring this time of the year and lets just say my little 10 ft allinuminum is exactly praticle for 10 people lol. So it looks like mostly bank angling this weekend. I know I will be missing out on some good fishing, but fishing around a fire sounds a lot better than frezzing my a$$ off on the boat lol. Oh, do you know if there is a burn ban out there? I have one of the enclosed elivated fire pits but dont want to lug it over there unless I have too.

The Corps has fire pits at Brandts Landing and at the Mitigation area, both accesable from the Dam side. At this time of year, there are no burn bans.

gpc, The permits run $8 aday last year. If you plan on going over more than once a year buy the year round permit for $25, that's what my brother and I are going to do this year.
The fishing at the net pens isn't really combat fishing. It's a plunking show. The locals and regulars are very friendly and will even net your fish for you. That's what we have experienced fishing there.
Black jigs work real well for a no bait alternative. You might have to move down river from the plunkers to jig fish but theres lots of bank to fish from.
We are headed over the last weekend in Feb. Biggest fish we caught last year from shore at the net pens 9# and 13# yehaw
We had fires right down on the beach last year in Mar with no problems.
Bill

Is it really combat fishing ovr there? It's hard to believe being the time of year it is and distance. Maybe I'm just beng "Location-centric".

hi all new to the forum,thought i pass on alittle of tribal knowlegde on rufus,while i wouldnt call rufus combat fishing, but it can get very crowded.even though the low bank must be o 200-3oo ft or more its a very used place.for those that were looking for motels,trailswest is the one above safeway.and they try to go out of thier way to help the fishermen.if your going to the rufus on the resz,then there is a campground at the site.dry camping,but it does have a fire pit and table.theres 4 spots and you have to get a camping permitt from the agency.also need a fire permitt also need a indian tribeal fishing permitt as they do check.2 fish on live bait,or c/r on fake. till you get your hogs .you can get the permitts i know at jaskson texico,which is alittle past the left turn ,at the trading post to get to rufus.outhers have been saying that the trading post sells them but everytime i gone there they say, go to jacksons.bring a chair,bring a pole holder,bring a heater, go and have a blast.just beware,theres a couple of groups have weekends slatted for rufus coming up and it can get pretty crowded.camping is on a first com basis.but then again its only 50 ft to the low bank to fish.rufus is a blast.good luck to all mic,nice place you got here.love the lake info.good info to take the grand kids fishin

Welcome to WL.com Mics:cheers:

I may be out of the loop, but what do you mean by "dry camping"?