Northwest Fishing Reports

The GF and I went camping this week. From Mon-Fri. Was only suppose to be til Thurs, but the weather was very nice, so we stayed an extra day. We camped out at Bridgeport State Park. Very nice place. It's a little too open for my taste, but very clean.

Lets load up the truck and off we go.



Some random road.



Getting closer




We get to the park. Setup camp and walked around, and see this...




We decided to fish at Joseph Dam park. We did pretty well there. Didnt catch any monsters. The biggest one we got was 17" off the little tiny dock there. We used lures. Saw so many fishes jumping. It's crazy out there. Getting all the bugs off the surface.







The next day, we decided to check out the net pens we keep hearing about. Got our licenses and off we went.
We used a map, and tried to take some backroads. BIG mistake. I know this picture looks nice and pretty smooth, but what crappy roads. The beginning was fine. It was just a dirt/gravel road, but then it turned into a "primitive" road. I think I lost a filling in the 30mins of rocking and rolling there. Not to mention, the moving road blocks....







Eventually, we make it to the pens. It was rainy this day. We didnt do well at all. The GF did catch 1 on a lure. I didnt get a single bite on any lures I threw. A couple that was driving by, told use of decent spot about 10 miles back the road. After a couple of hrs at the pens, we moved on to this other location.



At the new location, we caught several nice fishes.


The GF landed this one there also.


The next morning, we made pancakes over the fire.



Over breakfast, I spot a visitor.



We headed back to the secret spot by the pens. This time, we caught a bunch of fish. Nothing big this outting, but we had fun. Mainly 14-17".

On Thurs. We just took it easy. Relaxed, did just a little bit of fishing at the Dam. Took a nap in mid day.

On Friday, I decided we should go back to the secret spot again for a couple of hrs. Good thing we did, because I landed the biggest fish this trip. Measured 21". We asked a boat that was pulling in, to borrow their scale. Nice old fellows loan us 1. Weighed in 5-6lbs on their little scale. We decided to keep this one. All the other fishes we caught, were released. This one was caught on a rooster tail.


My first time filleting. Came out ok I think. Looks like I need to keep more fish to practice filleting.





Have to make a note. The fishes at Rufus. Wow they are strong. All the fishes had the drag on my Shimano screaming. Didnt matter if they were 13". With the current and their strength, it was very fun catching them. Jumping like crazy. Peeling line. So exciting.

Great pics. Sounds like a great trip.

There you go mah man! Only picture essay from Rufus I've seen this winter without snow/frigid temps! Looks like a toasty warm day fishing for some nice trips! Great pictures, any bigguns?

Great report. I have only fished in the sun once over there.
I think I know those cows. Was on that same road I think. Hard to tell it was covered with snow when we took the SHORTCUT.
Good job on thr fillet.
Might do a road trip over in Sept and hit a bunch of lakes and of course RUFUS with the boat.

northfork wrote:Great report. I have only fished in the sun once over there.
I think I know those cows. Was on that same road I think. Hard to tell it was covered with snow when we took the SHORTCUT.
Good job on thr fillet.
Might do a road trip over in Sept and hit a bunch of lakes and of course RUFUS with the boat.

The road is absolutely crap. It's faster, to drive all the way to Okanogan/Omak and go around. Not to mention, much smoother ride.

The drive through Columbia River Rd is beautiful though. Omak Lake looks stunning. Gorgeous scenery out there.


Temps out there was pretty nice.
On mon, i think it was in the low to mid 70s. Same for tues, but with rain on and off. Weds got warmer, probably high 70s. Thurs got pretty hot. 80s I'm guessing.


Another thing I forgot to mention. The cities around the campsite, are dumps. :batman: . Brewster isnt too bad. But I thought Bridgeport would have at least something more than a gas station. All those closed down shops and old homes.


Also question about fishing the Okanogan side. If I'm reading the rules correctly, you're only allowed to catch and release 5 trouts???

There you go FishingFool, sounds like you had a nice week. And not to mention you are very lucky to spend 5 days up there, cant wait until I can go for more than a weekend.


I am not sure about the regs. I do know they made some recent rule changes for Rufus. The 5 fish CnR seems a little weird but it wouldn't surprise me if they did do that.

The other towns towards grand coulee are the same. Very small and not much to look at. I still have yet to find a town with a hotel other than by the 2 dams. In one of the towns we stopped so my girlfriend could use the restroom. She went in and asked if they had a restroom and very rudely they said they didn't have one. Well on the back side of the building, there was in fact a resroom with people going in and out and 2 bigs guys standing at the door of the restroom. They all looked like tweakers, so they must have been selling drugs out of the restrooms. She used the hotel bathroom the rest of the weekend lol


But once again good job at Rufus

nice trip,, looks like you had a blast... I like the pancake and the nice big fat football fish you were catching........

Good to see you got some fish and had a great time. What did you see in the regs that gave you the idea that there's a 5 fish catch and release limit?

Fish On! wrote:Good to see you got some fish and had a great time. What did you see in the regs that gave you the idea that there's a 5 fish catch and release limit?

It's in the "Colville Indian Reservation Non-Member Sportfishing Regulation" booklet.

This is the general rules




After further reading, I think the limit might actually be 2 now...



Unless I'm just reading it weird or differently.

I see a 2 fish limit on Rufus according to that#-o

that looks like it was a great trip!! thanks for keeping us posted on Rufus!!!

I forgot to mention. There's a ton of bees out there. Bc of all the orchards i guess.