Northwest Fishing Reports

Grant county is probably my favorite county to fish in WA state. One of the few lakes that I haven't fished is billy clap. Well I plan on going to the CNWR on Sunday, so I was checking out some reports and just stumbled across the billy clap reports. It says that there are sturgeon in there. Is this true? It talks about the sturgeon in the lake description. I read all the reports and found out the description was posted back in 2001. Anybody ever heard of sturgeon in billy clap?

Nope, unfortunately there are no sturgeon in billy Clapp Lake. I used to waterski and fish that lake on a regular basis, and trust me there are no sturgeon. The size of the lake is too small, and there is not a big enough stream feeding it. The species in that lake that I know of are carp, smallmouth, perch (big perch), rainbows, kokanee, sunfish and walleye... The description of Billy Clapp on this website is extremely misleading and poorly written. When I first read the lake report, I thought for a few moments I might be missing out on a great sturgeon expereince as well, until I read a little closer. The description of this lake says

"...this lake is fun too scuba dive in it's pretty big but down about 100 feet there is a real bad current where the water empties in too the canals and out and down from the fall's up and the north end of the lake those both end's are just like diving off the mouth of the U.S.Goverment Lock's in Ballard Washington where the canal system empties into the Puget sound and out too the ocean there you have too use a lot of lead wait but not in The fresh water in billy clapp lake Be careful you can tie in too one of those ugly fish down at the bottom I see once in awhile they are the ugliest fish I have ever seen in any lake they are long as logs and Ugly there what you call STURGEON. THEY are about down about 140 feet deep any way there's a lot of walleye and panfish and trout about 10 feet down too 50 feet when I have my boat out on the lake about 5:30 in the evening..."

The description begins by referencing the canal that feeds billy clapp, which exists at the far end of the lake, by where the day park used to be. Apperantly, the writer has dived in this lake. He is correct in a few areas. It is 100 feet deep (based on our depth finder. Also, at that depth, by the drainage canal, I am sure there is one heck of a current.

This is where the description gets confusing. He says that "[Billy Clapp is] just like diving off the mouth of the U.s. Government Lock's in Ballard Washington where the canal system empties into the puget sound and out to the ocean there [the canal to the puget sound] you have too use a lot of lead wait but not in the fresh water in billy clapp lake" In this series of mixed together sentences without punctuation, he switched from billy clapp and is now referencing the puget sound locks. He says that you don't have to use near the weight in Billy Clapp that you do in the puget sound locks, which makes perfect sense. There is not near the current in billy clapp that are in the puget sound locks.

Next, he says "Be careful you can tie in too one of those ugly fish down at the bottom I see once in awhile they are the ugliest fish I have ever seen in any lake they are long as logs and Ugly there what you call STURGEON. THEY are about down about 140 feet deep any way there's a lot of walleye and panfish and trout about 10 feet down too 50 feet when I have my boat out on the lake about 5:30 in the evening..." The writer is referring to the sturgeon he has seen in the puget sound locks, and realizes he is off topic when he says "any ways," thus getting back to the info about billy clapp, where he finishes by talking about walleye and panfish.

In other words, the writer has a flashback of diving in the locks, and mixes that up simultaneously with his diving experience in Billy Clapp. Billy Clapp does not hold sturgeon, I'm sorry to tell you. But, I have caught nice trout out of there, and I know there are very nice smallmouth in there as well. My favorite thing to do on Billy Clapp is to C and R carp. There are some huge carp in the lake, and they are a rush to catch. Hope this helps.

Joe

as it reads it seems your right that he was talking about another area where he saw the sturgean, but that may not dismiss the idea that there could be some in there! i was over checking out mayfield-riffe area about a month ago, ate breakfast at the viking restraunt, talking to the owner about the fishing in the area when he pointed out some newspaper (pictures) clippings of sturgean caught out of swofford pond. you just never know whats lurking in the depths!!!! <')//<

Never would've thought that sturgeon would be in Swofford Pond that's for sure, but i guess somehow they might've leaked in from Riffe Lake if that even has sturgeon in it too.

I've fished Billy Clapp a number of times. Good for walley's not so good for trout. Caught both and tasty they were. The pics in my "introduce yourself" are from Billy Clapp. I've gotta say it's one of my favorite places to be weather catching fish or not. Just a gorgeous spot. An abundance of wildlife viewing on the shores. It's just one of those feels good to be there places.

I've marked the tower spoken of in the lake reports. Marked fish around it. I have not marked any sturgeon. They show up like a trident sub on the Lowrance.

I talked to a local (lives in one of the houses by the dam). He said there are Koke's in the lake. They run deep and the schools are hard to find. If you find them at the right time of year, August, they get 2-4 pounds. Wedding ring on the ford fender tipped with a bit of worm or white corn. downriggers and 70 feet back. Keep turning back in to the school.

Beerman, the report sounded a bit fishy to me as well. First, no one in their right mind would dive at the locks. If you didn't get thrown in jail or run over by a boat one of those big bull sealions would turn you into his honey. I've done a lot of diving and you stay away from them. Sealion=Big trouble. Rather dive with sharks and I've done both. There is a channel comming in from Dry Falls but I don't think that's what he's talking about. Straight out from the boat launch is a rock tower under water. It's in about 140 feet of water. It's pretty much lined up with the outflow, irrigation canal and there is a current. Sturgeon?????? doubt it but one never knows. The water comes from Banks Lake which gets it's water from Roosevelt which is the Columbia which is the mother of all.......

Yeah I didn't think there were sturgeon in there. But after I read the lake hit 140' deep it had me wondering. Especially that I have never fished there. But another thing that got me wondering was when they killed off Sprague back in the 80s the found sturgeon in it. I talked to the owner at the four seasons campground and he said it was bucket biologists that put the fish in Sprague. I know that sprague doesnt get too deep, but with waters that hit 140', I thought maybe he was right.

But while we are on the topic of billy clap I have a few questions. Would it be worth checking out for walleye and pan fish? I heard there isn't a camp ground on the lake, where is the closet camp ground?

Beerman, How do you catch those carp? I love C&R carp fishing but have only caught a few on accident.

The carp have all been caught while I was 'lazy fishing.' That means, sitting on the bank in between waterskiing runs with a nightcrawler on the hook. At the far end of the lake, where the falls are (and where the state park is), there is a sandy beach. It is one of the only sandy beaches on the lake. That is where we used to waterski from, and we caught some nice sized carp just throwing nightcrawlers out. I know there is probably a more effecient way to fish for them though. I have heard corn works, and so does cheese????

As far as Rainbows go, my father, grandpa and I have actually done quite well for bows up to 14 inches. We were trolling the far end (once again by the falls), with willow leaf spinners, liter attached to that, and a nightcrawler. Also, to get to the far end, you will need a boat. As far as I know, the state park is still closed to launching a boat, or at least it was last time I was there (10 years ago).

Beerman

Good walley fishing all over the lake. Pick your spot and bounce a worm. Evening under the powerlines. They come up shallow. No camping but Soap Lake and the motels are cheap and the folks are friendly. Camping in Ephrata.

today in the yakima herald-republic is an article of a sturgeon of at least 4ft long caught in rotary lake. this pond size lake is one were i could almost cast to the otherside with my long pole. it also mentions the one found in sprague in 1985 that was 6ft. they could be anywhere!!!! <')//<

Just because there might be a sturgeon or two in a lake that doesn't mean there is a "fishery"..

I wouldn't surprise me to find out that there were one or two sturgeon in any lake in this state that doesn't
get roetenon'd every decade or so..... so what...


I've actually fished billy clapp a couple of times and it's a nice lake. Didn't do all that well on my trips there but
the days fished it ended up being windy and cold and and when the weather goes south on me I tend to pack up and head out.

No doubt in my mind that there are some catchable walleye, trout, kokanee, and smallmouth bass in this lake though. I spent a lot of my time on these trips working the north end of the lake where the water from the low head hydro project comes running in. Could see fish on my finder but they wouldn't take anything I dropped down to entice them. Maybe they were those sturgeon everyone is talking about.

I heard the walleye in Billy Clapp came from the outflow of Banks. This info came from Gordy at Big Wally's. I wouldn't doubt that there's sturgeon too and they probably got too close to the outflow at Banks and got washed down.

They are stocking little white sturgeon in Roosevelt.

hmmm.. do little white sturgeon grow up into big white sturgeon????

and, if so, how long does it take from them to make the transition, and when they
do will it be legal to catch them?????

I would bet my life on sturgeon in B.C. It is a pefect sturgeon fishery, and with the fill coming from Banks, you know they got washed into there. I read that guys post too, and while he does kind of ramble and wander with his narrative, I do believe he was annotating to sturgeon in B.C. ...."Be careful you can tie in too one of those ugly fish down at the bottom I see once in awhile they are the ugliest fish I have ever seen in any lake they are long as logs and Ugly there what you call STURGEON." pretty clear he's talking about the lake...I will attempt to PM him and clarify. B.C is a perfect hideout....I have read most lakes in this state hold a small sturgeon population....Even Potholes.....If one was able to find a way to stay stationary long enough near the inlets at the north end, I bet eventually you could hook into one....

wait so theres sturgeon in Banks Lake?

fishingboy wrote:wait so theres sturgeon in Banks Lake?

I'm not 100% sure but if I had to place a bet I'd be on the side of no Sturgeon in Banks or Billy Clap unless they were put in there by Bucket Biologists. Only other way would be to swim through the pumps and fill pipes from lake Roosevelt.

Photo below of Pumping Plant Discharge Tubes:


Billy Clap Lake is filled via the Bacon Siphon which it's possible that a Sturgeon could make the trip from Banks Lake but they would still have to make the trip into Banks via the pumping station.

Here's a good article explaining the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project with some photos for better understanding:
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/onli ... n/sec2.htm

In the article it refers to Long Lake which in now named Billy Clap Lake.

LAKE ROOSEVELT The Story of the Columbia Basin Project.
THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM

The Columbia Basin Project irrigation development embraces an area roughly twice the size of the State of Delaware. (See map in back.) Nearly half of this land is irrigable, with the remainder being rough and unsuitable or taken up by townsites, airports, reservoirs, and wasteways. Since the upper edge of the irrigated lands of the project is about 45 miles south and slightly west of Grand Coulee Dam, getting the water to the land, distributing it, and draining off the excess require an extensive system of waterways. Facilities have been constructed to provide irrigation water to farms comprising almost one-half of the ultimate 1-million-acre-plus irrigation system.

The supply and distribution system for the project's irrigation water starts at Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam, and stretches south and west to the city of Pasco at the southern tip of the project, 160 miles away. A network of thousands of miles of waterways traverse the project area, bringing water to the fields and removing the excess.

At present, there are more than 2,000 miles of canals on the project. Included in this 2,000 miles of waterways are 16 large canal siphons and 2 tunnels, which carry the water of the Columbia across coulees and through barriers of high ground with little loss of elevation. The largest of these irrigation structures is the Soap Lake Siphon, which carries the waters of the West Canal across the lower end of the Grand Coulee. It is actually an inverted siphon which dips from the high ground to the east of Soap Lake, crosses the coulee in a semicircle around the northern end of the lake, and comes out on high ground to the west. This concrete tube is 12,883 feet long and has an inside diameter of 22 feet 4 inches for the major portion of the distance, with the remainder 25 feet in diameter. Though it will hold 41 million gallons of water, engineers say the water in it will change every 16 minutes when the water in the canal is flowing at full capacity.

Here the water from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, lifted by the pumping plant, begins its long journey to the irrigated portion of the project.

The project's irrigation water begins its long journey to the land when it is pumped up over the lip of the canyon wall at Grand Coulee Dam and flows into Banks Lake. The pumps lift the water at a rate of 4,300,000 gallons of water a minute. When the project is completed and all 12 pumps are working, this flow of water into the project's Feeder Canal will be almost doubled. Once in the Feeder Canal, the water flows along this 1.6-mile waterway to Banks Lake.

The project's Main Canal. During irrigation season the water here is 21 feet deep. The canal can carry 4,365,000 gallons of water a minute.

Banks Lake is an equalizing reservoir formed by sealing the north and south ends of an Ice Age channel in the Upper Grand Coulee. This 27-mile reservoir makes it unnecessary to regulate the pumping of water from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake to meet daily irrigation requirements. Water can be pumped into this reservoir when both power and water are available and stored until needed for irrigation.

The dam at the north end of the reservoir is an earthfill dam, 1,450 feet long and 145 feet high. The south dam, known as Dry Falls Dam, is an earthfill dam also, 9,800 feet long, 123 feet high, and comfortably supports a two-lane transcontinental U.S. highway across its top.

The reservoir between these two dams is 27 miles long with a total storage capacity of 1,275,000 acre-feet of water. (An acre-foot is equal to 1 acre of water a foot deep, or 325,850 gallons.) Of the total volume of storage capacity of the reservoir, about 60 percent, or 761,800 acre-feet, is considered "active storage"—water which is above the lowest outlet of the dam. This is roughly 245 billion gallons of water, enough to cover the entire State of Rhode Island almost a foot deep.

The "active storage" of Banks Lake will be replaced seven to eight times a year when the project is completed, depending on such factors as the amount of rainfall the land receives, evaporation, and other conditions which govern the demand for irrigation water in the basin.

Normally, pumping into the reservoir begins in May or June and continues intermittently through August or September. The final weeks of pumping build up a reserve of water which can be used during the early fall and the following spring before pumping is resumed.

From the equalizing reservoir the water moves south through outlet gates in Dry Falls Dam near Coulee City, flows through 2 miles of main canal, crosses Bacon Coulee in the 1,038-foot-long Bacon Siphon, and enters the 10,045-foot-long Bacon Tunnel bored through a plateau of hard basalt rock. Pouring out of the tunnel, the water next flows through two ancient lake-beds, a concrete-lined canal, and the bed of a prehistoric river.

The Soap Lake Siphon carries the waters of the West Canal across the lower Grand Coulee near Soap Lake. The siphon is almost 2-1/2 miles long and over 22 feet in diameter.

Five miles below Bacon Tunnel, the water plunges 165 feet over a basalt cliff into the upper end of Long Lake Reservoir. Appropriately named "Summer Falls," the water pours over these cliffs only during the irrigation season. Normally, Long Lake Reservoir is used only as a waterway. However, if an emergency should call for a quick shutdown of the system, the reservoir can store water coming down the Main Canal until the system is in operation again or until the upstream headgates can be closed.

Continuing on its journey to the farms of the Columbia Basin, the water enters the Main Canal at the edge of the irrigable land. At this point it has traveled 15 miles from Banks Lake and is 44 miles south of the pumps at Grand Coulee Dam.

About 6-1/2 miles west and slightly south of Long Lake is the bifurcation works, where the Main Canal divides into the West Canal and the East Low Canal. The East Low Canal extends 87 miles from the bifurcation works down the eastern edge of the project and empties into the Scootenay Wasteway, which flows into Scootenay Reservoir. From the bifurcation works, the West Canal travels south and west to Soap Lake, where it jogs around the lake and crosses the Lower Grand Coulee via the Soap Lake Siphon, ending finally near Lower Goose Lake, 88 miles below the bifurcation works.

Much of the water in the Columbia Basin Project sees double duty before it returns to the Columbia River. It is used for irrigation, then drained off the land, recaptured by drains, wasteways, and natural channels, and then is used for irrigation a second time. Key structure in this economy operation is O'Sullivan Dam. This earthfill dam forms the Potholes Reservoir, directly south of Moses Lake in the center of the Columbia Basin. The dam is 3-1/2 miles long and rises 200 feet above bedrock. It has an "acti

ya, I heard the same thing years ago with Green Sturgeon swimming or sucked up through the turbines from Roosevelt to banks! But all I know has happened by that is whitefish!

I can tell you that there is a 99% chance that there is sturgeon in BC. Adanced sonar and underwater cameras dont lie. Its no telling how they got in there but all those waterways are connected to the River. There are sturgeon in Moses as well as O'sullivan Dam I have actually seen them come to the surface. There was a sturgeon that was shot with a bow and arrow last year in Moses. There was also a few caught in the canal system from Potholes to Scootney as well as one over 10 long in Scootney Res many years ago.