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Well we set the special sea and anchor detail at Lincoln around 8:15 and slipped our lines and headed out of port about 20 minutes later. We went downstream to A Rock and started getting lines out. Had 2 rods on downriggers and 1 rod with leaded line, 3 colors in the water. There was a bit of wind when we started but it wasn't bad and it died down after an hour or so. Had all three lines in water for 15 to 20 minutes before we got the first hit on a hot orange spinner down 22 FT on a downrigger. That continued to be the hot lure for the day and landed 8 of the 12 fish we netted that day. Had just picked that Lure up at the White Elephant and had never tried it before and it turns out to be the best rig by far. Was it the color? The action? Both? What makes them hit one lure one day and ignore others that have produced well in the past? I don't have the answer so I guess there is only one solution, further testing. Seemed like the ratio of wild fish to hatchery was a bit higher than I had been experiencing up near Porcupine , we released 3 wild ones of the 12 fish netted. One made some nice strong runs and was a good representative of his species but none of the fish went over 18 inches, nice chunky fish but no big ones. The weather was pretty outstanding for the first day of winter, hope we get some more like that. Not sure why 22 to 23 feet seemed to work the best, I would have thought they would be higher than that. Couldn't really tell that water depth was much of an issue, hooked fish at 30 FT and over 200 FT. The leaded line wasn't doing anything till I added a dodger and a trolling weight to take it down but if it was the only rod in the water it would have been a very slow day. Tried several setups on the other downrigger and the only one that even came close to the orange/pink spinner(Plankton) was one of Capt. Dave's pink shrimp flies. Well I had hoped to have some solid bit of wisdom to add to the collective knowledge base but once again the data is inconclusive so I guess I will just have to go back for more data samples.
Stay after them, it's the right thing to do.
Merry Christmas
Mark

Lincolnlaunch

12/23/2018 4:08:24 PM

Looks like a great day to me, we have also seen an increase in the native fish.
Anybody know if the Parks department is closing launches because of the government shutdown? Hate to drive from Seattle to find a rope across the launch like a few years ago.
Merry Christmas.

hewesfisher

12/24/2018 7:13:04 AM

Just checked Lake Roosevelt NRA website about 15mins ago and no mention of closing launches, but statement at top of page says website may or may not be updated. NPS closed launches during shutdown a couple years ago so would expect the same again if current shutdown runs for any length of time. :-(

downriggeral

12/23/2018 8:16:43 PM

Great report Mark. Nice fish and as we know they may want something different the next time. Thats why "The Testing Must Continue"
Merry Christmas friend - Alan

fishindoc

12/23/2018 8:44:12 PM

Thanks for the report Mark and Merry Christmas. Jim

hewesfisher

12/24/2018 7:19:12 AM

Great report Mark and LOVE the moon shot - cool! When up last week the hot fly was the Kekeda perch which put a limit in the cooler and didn't hook a single extra fin trout whereas the black orange Kekeda hooked same number of trout but only 3 without that pesky extra fin.

I hope we don't get locked out again, but if we do, I'm glad my buddy I were able to fish last week. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!

hewesfisher

12/24/2018 7:26:13 AM

Duh, just realized that's the sun rising not the moon setting over the reservation. Well smack my forehead, Mark did say they launched at Lincoln. :-D

Part-Time

12/24/2018 9:35:02 AM

No, no, save you're forehead, moon rising in the east. Lincoln dock pointed towards the north side of Hawk creek. Don't think I ever got around to the Perch Kekeda. I was getting enough hits on that "Plankton" spinner that I kept trying to match that color. Viewing it from the rear view mirror I wish I would have long lined one of the braided lines with some flies. Next time. Are there any launches that wouldn't be closed? Hope someone that lives close will let us know. My son and I had a good trip the last day of the year last year, would like to start a tradition.
Have reserved 1/6/18 for a Burbot trip with Y-J Guide Service, hope to shorten up the learning curve on putting some Burbot in the pot.

hewesfisher

12/25/2018 6:26:27 AM

Too late. :-D

Debbie and I fished burbot with Craig a few years back and posted a report - http://www.northwestfishingreports.com/Reports/Details/52960

bonanzamel

12/24/2018 11:07:53 AM

You can launch at 2 rivers. That is not run by government. Doubt the launches will be closed but just in case...

Part-Time

12/24/2018 12:00:54 PM

Good point, thanks.

hewesfisher

12/25/2018 6:21:33 AM

Two Rivers IF the reservoir is 1280' or higher but was 1278.9 @ 5am this morning. Maybe the tribe will work a deal to have reservoir raised enough so Two Rivers could be used, guess we'll just have to wait and see on both sides of the issue. :-(

Honda

12/25/2018 7:47:42 AM

If the boat launches close, when will that be? What day?

Part-Time

12/25/2018 7:28:41 PM

Beyond my meager understanding. Hopefully someone will know before Friday because I am ready for another trip.

outtheresomewhere

12/25/2018 11:05:24 AM

re- Capt. Dave's lure - amazing how a simple lure can be so successful - looks a lot like what we use for Koke's, sockeye and trout as well,
with maybe just a little size difference depending on the specific fish we're going after.
Thanks for the report and pix

Part-Time

12/25/2018 7:24:34 PM

The picture is of a lure named "Plankton" from White Elephant. I got some flies from Dave that he is selling, they look like a little shrimp. Haven't used the a bunch but have caught fish every time I have tried them so far.

CaptainDavesGS

12/29/2018 10:32:32 AM

Hello out there somewhere,
I don’t have fly production ramped up enough to to advertise them as of yet at Captaindavesguideservice.com. Feel free to call me if you’d like to purchase a few.

Honda

12/26/2018 8:37:50 AM

Also you must have slowed down with the dodger?

Part-Time

12/26/2018 2:05:52 PM

Actually didn't. Usually run 1.7 with a dodger but was giving the spinner on the downrigger priority and actually got one on the leaded line/dodger setup almost immediately and at this point I couldn't really say what was on the end. Yep, mixing lines with dodgers and without dodgers is a bit of a strange business. One thing I noticed was that for whatever reason we weren't having the trouble keeping them on that I had on the previous trip. We only lost one fish after it was officially "on".

outtheresomewhere

12/26/2018 11:46:31 AM

I looked at Capt. Dave's web site for the fly's, nice video of catching Koke's, but nothing re- the lures - always up for
something new that works - am sure I've been caught more times than fish though.

Part-Time

12/26/2018 2:10:34 PM

My son and I are both beginning to like these , they have been holding there own and then some for the most part. Give Dave a call, he'll fix you up. If you book a trip you might get a couple thrown in with the deal, just don't tell Dave you heard that from me. 509 939 6727

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