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Rufus Woods Lake Report
Douglas County, WA

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Details

05/12/2012
81° - 85°
Top Fishing From Boat
Rainbow Trout
Power Bait
Silver
Sunny
Spinner
All Day
46° - 50°
05/13/2012
4
1943

My son & I fished the Tripping with the Triploids fishing derby on Rufus Woods today and had a great day as far as fishing together goes. We finally got into some fish shortly after noon but nothing of size that was able to put us on the board.
All told there were 238 entries which at $50.00 per entry put about $11,900 .00 into the purchase of more Triploids for restocking into Rufus Woods.

Our day started out 3:30 am, 42 degrees and a slightly cloudy half moon. The 30 + mile run up river to the lower pens was spooky and very cold to say the least. Rufus Woods looks totally different at night when it’s hard to see the banks or make out any land marks. When the sky, horizon and water all look the same color it’s time to slow down which we did after nearly missing some rocks in the area of well #3. (Lesson Learned)

As stated above, we got into fish shortly after noon when we started fishing the eddies and slow river sections casting single hooked barbless spinners towards the bank. We hooked three one pound scrappy natives in short order then began catch and release in hopes of landing a larger board worthy Triploid.

By the time we loaded the boat at 2:30 and weighed our fish and we were done for the day. The weather had turned to a very sunny 82 degrees making the wait for the BBQ and the hour and a half drive back to Waterville something not to look forward too. Feeling dejected, we didn’t stick around for the award ceremony. The folks that put on the derby did a great job. Prizes ranged from a $40,000.00 boat for catching one of five tagged fish to $500.00 for heaviest fish. Prizes were awarded for the top 15 places and I plan on attending the derby again next year. I did hear of one tagged fish that was caught but I’m not sure if it won Dave Graybill’s boat or not. If it didn’t win the boat it was worth $500.00

The high light of the day was when I snagged up on a cable at the lower pens. We had put all new 8 pound test Trilene on all of our reels prior to the derby in hopes of avoiding any issues of braking off while fighting a winning fish. Before I understood how much stretch there is in 150 feet of new Trilene we were given an incredible demonstration involving what can best be described as a shot from a cannon. With my rod securely in the rod holder the drag began to do its job by paying out slowly as I made the turn back towards the snag in hopes of at least saving most of the line if not recovering the trolled fly. I misjudged the rivers current and the amount of tension on the new Trilene. When I removed the rod holders locking ring the rod shot out of the holder like it was shot from a bow. My son described the sound like one of those big hobby rockets that you can purchase in most hobby stores and I think the rod actually skipped a couple of times when it hit the water.


Comments

The Quadfather
5/13/2012 12:11:00 PM
So, do I understand you to say that the rod went into the water? Bummer!
afk
5/13/2012 12:53:00 PM
Ouch! Sorry to hear of your misfortune.
Big D
5/13/2012 1:11:00 PM
Hey Quad & afk,
It's all good, all we could do was laugh. It's was truly a great day on the water with my son.
blufin loui
5/13/2012 8:56:00 PM
thanks for the report D, and as you said, "all you could do was laugh", sometimes it just happens. Sorry to hear you two didn't place, but you gave it a go and supported a good cause. It would be nice to read the results for sure. I feel your pain when you say things look different in the dark. The last and "Only" time Cindy and I "intentionally" ran the river in the dark, we had a duck get tangled in the trolling bow mount as we were motoring up river before daylight. Must have been sleeping in the open water and flew up to late to clear the front of the boat. Never going to do that again, let me tell ya.
MotoBoat
5/14/2012 10:14:00 AM
How tight was your drag set to load the line to the point it launched the rod like a projectile? Fishing Rufus must be more like salmon fishing. I have loaded a salmon rod like you describe. But can not remember loading a trout rod like you describe.

After saving the couple that ended up in the water opening day at Wapato Lake. In my haste to get to them. My lines were still in the water. After peeling away from the boat rafting with us during the rescue. I reeled in my lines to check for weeds and reset. I was 200ft from shore and something heavy was on one rod. There were 10 or so Hispanic's fishing on the shoreline. As I reel in that rod, I notice one out of 10 of them, is reeling in too!. My line steers in that direction and I figure I have his line. Reeling the 80 feet of line in on my bait cast reel. I notice a splash out of the corner of my eye, that is maybe 10 ft from shore and 30 ft to the left of the guy reeling in. I ask if my dad saw the splash. He did, but we thought a fish on a stringer or a rock rolling off the steep bank where they were caused it. I unhook the guys line from mine and drop his lead weight, leader and hook into the water for him to reel in. A guy runs 30ft over to where the splash was, raising his hands as if to say I have something of his. I raise my hands in the air as if to say your gear is still connected to your pole, real it in. Two or three more hand raising gestures to each other. We were so far from shore when this ordeal occurred, that I could not see any fishing rods on the bank, just people. We were trolling in 50ft of water. It is more likely that he cast across my line than I drug across his. But being 200 ft from shore and us snagging lines didn't make sense. Other than the fact he had a 1ounce weight and that cast's pretty far.

I am still shocked about saving a couple people from 51 degree water and now begin unraveling why the guy was raising his hands at me.
I surmise the splash was the untended rod the one dude ran too. The drag on his reel is set tight enough, that I drug his outfit into the water as I reeled in. So, when I unhooked his line and dropped his weight, hook and leader into the water. His fishing rod was who knows how far from shore. And that is the reason for the hand gesturing above the head. I have no idea who was at fault. But the rod being unattended, not properly secured, and tightening down the drag on the reel did not help. The fish we were catching, pulled plenty hard enough to take the rod off the bank, as I did. My drag was set so fish could easily take drag. My drag never slipped while reeling in the snagged line. It did not take long to put the puzzle together and yelled for the guy to take another rod, cast out and hopefully snag on to it. Stranger things have happened!!. If ya view this site, Sorry dude
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Snake Dancer Excursions

Phone: (800) 234-1941