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Combined report for Fri/Sat.

Hit the water sometime about 1 or so Friday and had two limits in the cooler before 4. We lost a couple nice ones, one due to a failed knot (blush) and the other due to a poor net attempt. So, the knot failure on my wife's rod was negated when she tried to stun the fish with the net. No matter, it was a nice day, we had a cooler full of feisty Lake Roosevelt rainbows, and I shared the afternoon with my favorite fishing partners. :-)

We hit the lake earlier Saturday, leaving for the launch at 9am after freshly baked apple cinnamon muffins and hot coffee for breakfast. Thanks dear!

Water was quite choppy Saturday, and we started our troll well above where we would normally start. Wind alone was pushing us about 1.2 - 1.5mph. Not fast enough for me though. I ran the first rig out and had just set it in the rod holder when I had a good take down making the bait clicker sing. After working it to the boat, Debbie netted a nice 2lb, 6oz native 'bow. What a way to start the day.

As has been the case the last several outings, the action was almost too fast, making it difficult to get all the gear in the water. At the end of an hour, there were 7 healthy 'bows in the cooler and we were at the end of our drift/troll so I fired up the big motor and headed back to where we started.

It didn't take long before and we had our limits in the cooler and Debbie displayed her spectacular netting skills on my last fish by lifting it into the boat outside the net. We have to work on that. ;-)

Trolling speeds for the two days in the Lincoln area were 2.8 - 3.5mph. The nice native 'bow hit at 3.5mph. Surface temps were 57.3° - 57.9° both days.

Ran our standard setup, leaded line out 155' with flies tipped with a chunk of crawler and plugs out 195' on mono. The Frisky Jenny Trick r Treat and Kekeda perch fly got equal attention. Plugs are starting to see more activity as well, and when hit, are generally taking larger fish. I ran Rip'n Minnow 65 perch pattern plugs both days.

Got to see close to 40 bighorn sheep on Friday and about 30 on Saturday. Always a nice treat to see them.

I've been using the Willis knot for years to tie leader to the braid. Over the past year I've had several cases of the leader pulling through the knot. That instance contributed to the loss of a 3lb class 'bow Friday. As a result, I no longer recommend it for attaching leader to braid, especially with 6lb fluorocarbon. I don't seem to have that problem with 6lb mono leader, but have decided to find a better, more reliable way to attach leader to the braid. Micro barrel swivels may be the ticket.

Lou Smith

11/10/2013 12:49:00 PM

I never miss one of your very informative posts. Have you tried the double uni knot? I have been using it for tying mono to braid without incident. Just remember to wrap the mono end 5 times and the braid end 8 times. Hope this helps.

Lou

hewesfisher

11/10/2013 2:42:00 PM

Lou I tried my best to tie a double uni while on the boat, just couldn't do it. About the time I got one side almost ready to pull, we'd have a fish on and I'd have to start all over. After attempting it a few times, I gave up, and resorted to re-tying a Willis knot, but instead of just one, I used two. That worked the rest of the weekend with no more gear, or nice fish, lost. Thanks for reading my posts, I enjoy sharing. :-)

downriggeral

11/10/2013 6:56:00 PM

HI Phil, We fished Friday too and had a blast with four limits in the boat by 11:00 AM. Had a terrible time getting all of the gear in; too many fish!! Moved up into the Spokane arm and the water temp dropped to 46 degrees. Caught 7 burbot and four barley keeper walleye. That was our first attempt at the burbot. Fixed some for dinner, very good. Any suggestions on cooking them?

I have been doing the double uni for a long time to join braid and fluoro. No failures to date on some big fish. I use a mini swivel to join the leaded line to the fluorocarbon leader. No problems with getting it through the reel.

Tight lines - Alan

hewesfisher

11/11/2013 6:40:00 AM

No suggestions on cooking the burbot, we haven't caught any - yet. We talked about going up the arm Saturday, but I left the spinning outfits in the "boat barn" so we just trolled for smokers. I have a mini or micro barrel swivel on one of the leaded line rigs and it goes through the guides no problem. I'm thinking of getting some more for the other rig. Someday we'll meet up at Roosevelt, seems we're there frequently enough. ;-)

downriggeral

11/11/2013 7:59:00 AM

My boat is an "old" 1967 white Starcraft Holiday with a 90 HP white E-tec and a Yamaha T8 kicker. Gray top. She's an oldie but a goodie! Stop by if you see me.

fishinChristian

11/11/2013 4:45:00 PM

Nice report. Double uni is a good one, and if you have any doubt with any knot, a quick touch of the outdoor superglue means "forever." I use it on my plastics/jigs combos, which doubles the life of the plastic (never slips down), but there it has to cure about a day so there is no scent, no scents at all.

nvan

11/11/2013 9:40:00 PM

Downrigger: Try dipping the fillets in an egg bath, next roll in crushed Ritz crackers, fry in butter and a little olive oil, sprinkle fresh chopped rosemary and lemon pepper while frying. Works well with trout (no skin) and walleye too.

two brothers fishing

11/12/2013 9:27:00 AM

You always give the best reports on your fishing outings, very informative also. Seems like everyone who is going down to Roosevelt is doing well right now. We are all lucky to be able to fish one of the best fisheries in the northwest . Good luck to all.

hewesfisher

11/13/2013 6:46:00 AM

Alan - Will have to remember to watch for your boat. If you see a white sided Hewescraft ProV with a pair of Mercs hanging off the back and two people on board, motor up and give a shout!

fishinChristian - what is "outdoor super glue"?

two brothers - Happy to share what works for us and enjoy seeing others have success too. :-)

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