Northwest Fishing Reports

G'Day All,
I am hoping that you all can help me figure out Lake Roosevelt and it's Rainbows. I have been fishing Lake Pend O'reille in North Idaho for years, and typically, when the water temp reaches 56 degrees, the bows move up and we catch alot of fish at 6-15 feet.

So, I thought, well, they are Rainbows, and started trying the same things on Roosevelt. No luck. Flys, rapalas, apex's, all nothing. The water temp is 54 right now, and I am stumped. Does anyone have any experience with Roosevelt?

TJ.

Here's a link to an article written by Mike Carey you might find useful.

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/fishing_ar ... t_110.html

Copy of article F&H News Nov 22, 2007

Mayo kicks it up to 5 mph for Roosevelt's rainbows

Head up to the lower end of Lake Roosevelt any time between now and the end of January, anywhere from Grand Coulee Dam up to Seven Bays, and you're likely to see trailers zipping along fast enough to pull waterskiers.
Well, not quite.
"In October guys were hitting 3 mph, but as it cools down more, we'll be going 3 1/2 to 5 mph," says guide Lenny Mayo (509-725-8447) at Seven Bays. "And that's the way it will be all winter. It's the best time to catch big trout up here."
Bite beginning: "It was real slow early, but by late October the trout were getting active," says Mayo. "A couple of my friends went out and in just a couple hours they landed six, two over 20 inches, the rest running 15 to 18, and they lost a couple more. That's pretty good fishing."
Those friends were using Mayo's standard method for this fishery, a fast troll with 18-pound leadcore, trailed by a 50-foot mono leader, baited with a Jim's Perch Fly with a gold body. That or that Rip-N-Minnow, primarily the orange, are his standards.
"We go out 220 feet on one rod, 250 on the other, just to avoid tangles, because we do a lot of 'S' curves out there," Mayo says. "It puts your lure over water where you haven't spooked the trout."
Get out there on a windless day, and the trout will be slightly deeper and take even more "S" curving to nail, but get a good chop on that water, and they can be right up on the surface. In fact, enough chop, and you can go to straight mono, with a light split shot to put your lure just below the waves and long line it.
Best spots vary: Where to fish is going to vary, of course, and a lot of times Mayo says he can do just fine right out in front of his Seven Bays home. At other times he might have to run all the way down to Spring Canyon, to Swawilla Basin or the mouth of the Sanpoil, the Goat Farm or Whitestone. — Leroy Ledeboer

Thanks, Firetiger. That will help alot. May even contact Lenny and book a ride.....

TJ.