Moving to Washington

[GJorgy]

Yo Roz...Wedding ring and a worm for trout! Can't go wrong with that rig. Power Bait (also called "trout crack" out here) works well.

[Marc Martyn]

Oh!#-o We forgot to tell him about the N. Idaho lakes that is within a 2 hour drive from Spokane.

[Rozman]

I actually saw two of them on a map I was looking at, Pend Oreille and Coeur d' Alene. Amazing looking lakes!! I was curious about the water clarity in the lakes around the Spokane area, clear or stained? Or does it just vary fom lake to lake? In southern MN where I fish the lakes for the most part are much more stained then the lakes up North. Thanks

[Marc Martyn]

My memories of the lakes in the mid west are that a lot of them are....green. Generally, the lakes up in the mountains are clearer because of the water temperature and they have fresh water from streams flowing into them. A lower lake like West Medical warms up fast and it gets a horrid algae bloom in it. Marshall Lake in Pend Orielle county stays crystal clear all year long. Pull up Marshall lake in the lake index and there is a picture of the shore line. It has the best tasting cutthroat I have ever eaten. It is also the cleanest lake I have seen in eastern Washington. In fact, when I was in college, I did a water study of Marshall Lake. I took a sample of water from Marshall right off the resort dock and tested it for e.coli. I then went home to Spokane, took a sample from my tap in my kitchen. Well...... Marshall Lake came out the winner. The city water supply had a much higher level of e.coli (within allowable standards by health dept.) than Marshall did.
Another N. Idaho lake is Priest Lake. The 3 "big ones", Priest, Pend Orielle (pon-da-ray) and Cour d'Alene
(kor-da-lane) are all good lakes for water quality, considering how many homes are around them. Pend Orielle is the deepest lake in the area. If my memory serves me right, it is in the area of 1,172 ft. deep. Needless to say, if you drop something overboard,
you ain't getting it back!
When you get out here you will have endless opportunities to explore the waters. Within 2 hours of Spokane, you can fish desert lakes for spiny rays and high mountain lakes for trout.
Oh, BTW, you will learn how to pronounce the tongue twisting indian names of the rivers and lakes in time. For pronouncing the names on the west side of the state, contact Mike. I still can't pronounce them and I have lived in this state for most of my life!
Also, Spokane is (spo-can) ;-)
Enjoy!

[Rozman]

Thanks Marc!! I have been reading quite a bit on these lakes, phenomonal!! I can't believe the depth on some of these lakes, ecspecially Pend Oreille. Can't wait to drop my aqua-vu down in those clear lakes. By the way we spell our first name the same. Thanks again.

[Marc Martyn]

We both know why we spell it that way!:-"

When in the summer are you going to be moving? The fall is a great time to hit some of the area lakes.

[Rozman]

Why yes we do:-$ My wife and I are packing up and heading out that way middle of July. Several stops on the way, ie family reunion, etc. Hope to be out there first week in August. My wife is a chiropractor so she hopes to get plenty of interviews in before I have to get back to work. We have a almost 3 year old and a 3 month old, so the drive out should be interesting to say the least.......

[Marc Martyn]

By the time you get settled in and have time to fish, fall fishing will be in full swing. Not quite as colorful out here in the fall, but it is nice. I have made the drive back to River Falls, WI from here and it isn't that bad. Stay on one of the interstates and you can make pretty good time. You will find Montana long to get across, but once you get to Billings it is a beautiful drive with good roads.
For the 3 yr old, get him/her a Leapfrog interactive book or something on that order. Also, the mini DVD players are coming down in price so kids movies are easily played. The baby will most likely just sleep. My kids are all grown and on there own. When they were little, they each had a cassette recorder and they would play taped stories on them. It kept them entertained from Spokane to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. You might think about starting early in the morning. By the time they wake up you will have 400 miles added to the odometer.

[Rozman]

We have the portable DVD player, my 3 year old is a elmo junky!! Makes trips much easier for us and her.

We have a reunion at Lake Okiboji, IA and then we will stay with my wifes Dad and stepmom a few days also. They live right outside Valley City, ND. So at least we will be breaking the trip up for the kids.

[Marc Martyn]

Everyone likes Elmo! Let us know on the post when you are in Spokane and settled in.

[gpc]

If you get a chance there is a lake called sprague not far from spokane. It is supposed to get killed off this fall. So you might try to get there before they do that. We have always done well there. Im from Seattle and dont know if Im going to be able to make it down there with the price of gas right now but Im trying. Yhe lake has rainbow, crappie, blugill ,walleye, bass, catfish and some other species like carp and tench. But it would be worth it because I know Im going to be kicking myself if I dont make it there before the killoff

[Jay S]

hi Roz

I live in spokane and fish almost every lake can find and have time to. Mostly for spiny ray but pretty much want to catch any thing with fins. I tried to say hi before but i guess i didnt post it right. Feel free to PM me when you get here and mabey if our schedules dont conflict I can show you some spots. I also have a three year old daughter so I know how family time can be important. All the lakes around here very in color some crystle clear some gin, some stained and some muddy during run off. I fish mostly natural colors in all lakes but of coarse will try everything to get a strike. What type of fish or fishing are you looking for? Anyways have a safe trip.

[Rozman]

Jay S, thanks for the reply. I will definetly get a hold of you when I get out your way, gotta get those 3 year olds together, as scary as that can be. I am a big fan of fishing for big pike, walleyes, bass, crappies and pannies, but am really looking forward to learning to fish salmon, trout, etc. MN opener (walleye and pike) is Saturday so I am getting pretty stoked, hope to nail some nice 'eyes. Thanks