Fish On!
4/7/2008 6:56:00 PMFrom what I heard several net pens broke open and released thousands of triploids. 300,000 on one and another 60,000 this winter. I don't know about the numbers, but I do know there are a mess of fish in there now.
Big Mike
4/7/2008 8:47:00 PMI have the next two days off and could use a road trip, would you please give me directions to the pens? I 've been to Chief Joseph dam as well as Grand coulee but don't know where the pens are. thanks alot. by the way...... NICE FISH!!!
Fish On!
4/7/2008 9:58:00 PMHere's the GPS cordinates of the middle net pens where the camping is and most people fish. There is shore fishing up and down the river for miles. N 48 08.366 W 119 05.962 Quick road directions take 155 out of Grand Coulee about 13 miles to Nespelem. Prior to Nespelem, you'll come to the Colville Indian Agency. Take a left on BIA 10 or it might be signed as Lower Columbia River Rd. I got my camping permit and license at the Coulee Playland in Electric City or you can get it at the grocery store at the Agency junction. You'll see it on your right.
BIA 10 drops down to the river and you'll have to go about 3-4 miles to the net pens. You'll pass a boat launch area and the pens are off on a unsigned side road. You can't see the pens, but if anyone is camped in the campground you'll see them. Or if you see a bunch of seagulls you are close. I think they dump dead fish in the field. If you see a big old yellow earthmoving piece of equipment you've passed the pen road. There are 3-4 miles of shore fishing downstream of the pens, so plenty of area to fish and explore. There are net pens farther upriver and downriver, but I didn't fish that area.
Does anyone know if you can access the river from the other side? I see irrigated ranch land and a road coming down from above. Also, do you know if you can camp below Grand Coulee Dam on the USBR land just downriver from the dam?
BIA 10 drops down to the river and you'll have to go about 3-4 miles to the net pens. You'll pass a boat launch area and the pens are off on a unsigned side road. You can't see the pens, but if anyone is camped in the campground you'll see them. Or if you see a bunch of seagulls you are close. I think they dump dead fish in the field. If you see a big old yellow earthmoving piece of equipment you've passed the pen road. There are 3-4 miles of shore fishing downstream of the pens, so plenty of area to fish and explore. There are net pens farther upriver and downriver, but I didn't fish that area.
Does anyone know if you can access the river from the other side? I see irrigated ranch land and a road coming down from above. Also, do you know if you can camp below Grand Coulee Dam on the USBR land just downriver from the dam?
Deadeyemark
4/7/2008 11:23:00 PMNIce report Fish On. You sound like a very conscientious fisherman. Wish we had more like you out there. Keep up the good work as steward.
Mark
Mark
kuttkilla
4/7/2008 11:53:00 PMGreat info, great report. I was saddened by the abuse of a few anglers. I hope the WDFW reads this and takes the appropriate action. Thanks for your quality report.
bazzdude
4/8/2008 12:08:00 PMsweet info. man, thanks, always wanted to fish roofus woods, i always seem to end up in porkey pine bay, but i am going to head to the pins tomorrrow. I have a week vacation i have to take, i am going to head up there for a few days of fishing. I just got back from a weekend stay at the pot holes, stayed at the state park so that way when i returned all my gear would still be there.
Anyhow the fishing was really slow there, my wife and i hiked it into the piller and wiggen chain. nothing really to talk about. So i am anxious to catch some nice trout, a lil to early for the bass still. So i was hoping for a few tips, like your spinners did you have any weight of just right on top of water, sounds like meps, blue fox anything would do the trick huh? i guess i better get some new line on the reels that is a big ol fatty you have in that pic. must have put up a good fight? Ok man, i am heading out early in the morning, hopefull you check this and respond back that would be awsome of you.
Anyhow the fishing was really slow there, my wife and i hiked it into the piller and wiggen chain. nothing really to talk about. So i am anxious to catch some nice trout, a lil to early for the bass still. So i was hoping for a few tips, like your spinners did you have any weight of just right on top of water, sounds like meps, blue fox anything would do the trick huh? i guess i better get some new line on the reels that is a big ol fatty you have in that pic. must have put up a good fight? Ok man, i am heading out early in the morning, hopefull you check this and respond back that would be awsome of you.
fishinlegend
4/8/2008 2:26:00 PMWhere did you find out about the single barbless hook rule for catch and release after April 1st? I cannot find that rule anywhere. Any info would be nice.
Fish On!
4/8/2008 2:27:00 PMAny spinner should work well. Just remember it's barbless, single hook now if you catch and release. I'd pick up some 1/4 oz black lead head jigs. They worked well. The spinner I make up is similar to a wedding ring, but made with salmon colored beads and a silver blade. I fished it fairly close to the surface. Almost anything I tried caught fish, so I don't think you'll have any problem catching fish. If you're in a hurry put on a chunk of nightcrawler and marshmallow and I would bet you would have your limit in less than 30 mins.
Oh another thing, you are on the Colville Indian reservation, so they have different rules, so do read the fishing pamphlet. I found that they don't enforce some of the rules or they interpret them differently, so it can be very confusing. Follow what's in the pamphlet and ask the F&W if you have any questions. They were in and out of the pen area several times during the day and patrol up and down the road, so you shouldn't have any problem finding one. Buffalo Lk opens this Sat. so take a run up there and report back on the conditions. I'm going to head over there next week if I can get away.
Oh another thing, you are on the Colville Indian reservation, so they have different rules, so do read the fishing pamphlet. I found that they don't enforce some of the rules or they interpret them differently, so it can be very confusing. Follow what's in the pamphlet and ask the F&W if you have any questions. They were in and out of the pen area several times during the day and patrol up and down the road, so you shouldn't have any problem finding one. Buffalo Lk opens this Sat. so take a run up there and report back on the conditions. I'm going to head over there next week if I can get away.
Fish On!
4/8/2008 3:06:00 PMUnder the Special Regulations in the Non-Member Sportfishing Regulations, April 2008-March, 2009 Page 9 Rufus Woods Lake, it says "Any fish caught using bait or scents must be included as part of the daily limit. Only uninjured fish caught using artificial lures or flies with single barbless hooks may be released." Here's where it gets confusing for me. There was a guy fishing the net pens using a corky and those rubber power eggs. He was catching a fish about every 2 mins while I stood there talking to him. I told him that he better be careful he was going to get a ticket for using bait and releasing fish. He said that all 3 of the Reservation F&W agents had just come in and they all said it was ok to fish the power eggs they were considered an artificial. I asked one of the F&W agents several days later about that and he wasn't quite sure if it was. He kinda said yes, but then said if you weren't fishing barbless it was ilegal. I wasn't about to chance it, so your mileage may vary! :)
Here's another from the Rules. Cleaning fish: "It shall be unlawful to discard fish entrails into any water within the boundaries of the Colville Indian Reservation" Signs up on the outhouses at the pens say "Do not throw your guts in the bathroom, throw them in the water" I asked about that and it's ok to throw the guts in the water, so ???????.
Here's another from the Rules. Cleaning fish: "It shall be unlawful to discard fish entrails into any water within the boundaries of the Colville Indian Reservation" Signs up on the outhouses at the pens say "Do not throw your guts in the bathroom, throw them in the water" I asked about that and it's ok to throw the guts in the water, so ???????.
Outdrsguy
4/8/2008 4:11:00 PMAnother tribal regulation is about having camping permit.. if you are found sleeping in your car or for that matter at one of the picnic tables without a permit you will be fined!.
HammerinHonkers
4/8/2008 5:44:00 PMHey Fish On,
Thanks for the great info. I was thinking of heading over at the end of the month. is there any launches near the pens? We have a 12 ft boat that has a 6 horse on it and I wanted to take it over there. If there is no launch, is there a place that I could pull close enough to the water and carry the boat and motor down to the pens and launch? Also, do you remember how much it was to stay at the pens for just a single night and camp? Would I need a tribal permit to launch a boat by the pens, or was it just for fishing there? Sorry so many questions, I just want to be legal while I am there and it seems that there are a lot of ways I could be illegal and not know it.
Any info would be great, and I would appriciate it very much, Thanks Fish On.
HH
Thanks for the great info. I was thinking of heading over at the end of the month. is there any launches near the pens? We have a 12 ft boat that has a 6 horse on it and I wanted to take it over there. If there is no launch, is there a place that I could pull close enough to the water and carry the boat and motor down to the pens and launch? Also, do you remember how much it was to stay at the pens for just a single night and camp? Would I need a tribal permit to launch a boat by the pens, or was it just for fishing there? Sorry so many questions, I just want to be legal while I am there and it seems that there are a lot of ways I could be illegal and not know it.
Any info would be great, and I would appriciate it very much, Thanks Fish On.
HH
bazzdude
4/8/2008 6:21:00 PMFish on!
I will most deffenetly check out the conditions of buffalo lake for you since you are helpin me out a lot here. I am heading out in the morning for a few days. Your black jigs, you retreaving themrapidly of bouncin on the bottom? just cerious. Sounds like the fish and game are on top of there game over there. They still giving warnings about the single barbless? I was going to stay in the truck over night sounds like i should probably head to banks lake to sleep in the truck huh? I am getting anxious for some nice fish. Hope to hear from you later on this evening.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
I will most deffenetly check out the conditions of buffalo lake for you since you are helpin me out a lot here. I am heading out in the morning for a few days. Your black jigs, you retreaving themrapidly of bouncin on the bottom? just cerious. Sounds like the fish and game are on top of there game over there. They still giving warnings about the single barbless? I was going to stay in the truck over night sounds like i should probably head to banks lake to sleep in the truck huh? I am getting anxious for some nice fish. Hope to hear from you later on this evening.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
Outdrsguy
4/8/2008 9:45:00 PMSo far this is the only reg I could find on launching a boat..but I will keep reading on
It is unlawful to launch or recover a boat using a boat trailer in an area that is not designated a boundary water boat launch.
It is unlawful to launch or recover a boat using a boat trailer in an area that is not designated a boundary water boat launch.
Outdrsguy
4/8/2008 10:01:00 PMHey guys I hope this helps
Here is a link to the regs also has listed all the boat lauches on Rufus Woods
http://www.colvilletribes.com/pdfs/2008%20REGULATION%20BOOKLET.pdf
Here is a link to the regs also has listed all the boat lauches on Rufus Woods
http://www.colvilletribes.com/pdfs/2008%20REGULATION%20BOOKLET.pdf
Fish On!
4/9/2008 4:00:00 AMIt would be easy to launch a small boat and motor at the net pens or 3-4 other side roads that lead to the water downriver of the net pens. At the net pens you can drive within about 15 ft. of the water. There's an official boat launch about 2 miles upriver of the net pens that is fine for small trailered boats. I don't see a boat launching fee, but since I didn't have a trailered boat I never looked into that. This is called a lake, but I had a hard time calling it that when you are fishing in a river. The water is moving at a decent flow and varies at different times of the day.
Camping is $15 per night and you must stay at the designated sites at the net pens (5 camping spots with fire rings and picnic table). Since there are no signs people were camping all over the place. Several campers and motorhomes were at the same spot I was kicked out of, so others didn't seem to get bothered. I was told by the F&W guy that kicked me out that if you are fishing and parked they won't kick you out. People in the motorhome near me said they used to park down by the water and have their rods out the window and camp there without a problem, so again it's up to who checks you. I'd get the camping permit and not worry. If they do catch you after the fact the regs say they can issue a camping permit at double the cost.
I let the jigs drop down about 10 ft. before I started retreiving them. It didn't really matter though. The water is only 10-20 ft. deep along the shore and there were fish all over. Experiment with different retrieves and I'm sure you'll get into some fish eventually.
Camping is $15 per night and you must stay at the designated sites at the net pens (5 camping spots with fire rings and picnic table). Since there are no signs people were camping all over the place. Several campers and motorhomes were at the same spot I was kicked out of, so others didn't seem to get bothered. I was told by the F&W guy that kicked me out that if you are fishing and parked they won't kick you out. People in the motorhome near me said they used to park down by the water and have their rods out the window and camp there without a problem, so again it's up to who checks you. I'd get the camping permit and not worry. If they do catch you after the fact the regs say they can issue a camping permit at double the cost.
I let the jigs drop down about 10 ft. before I started retreiving them. It didn't really matter though. The water is only 10-20 ft. deep along the shore and there were fish all over. Experiment with different retrieves and I'm sure you'll get into some fish eventually.
bazzdude
4/9/2008 9:25:00 AMnice, thanks for all the info. i will let you know how i did when i get back, maybe even post a pic. or two, my wife knows how to do that stuff i believe.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
Hal
4/9/2008 9:57:00 AMThis area should be opened up to a larger limit on these Triploids. Its like fishing out of a trout farm.
Outdrsguy
4/9/2008 5:14:00 PMBack in the day the guys at the net pens would give us 4 to 5 fish around 10# each and tell us they would not count against our limit as they were too large for thier sales. Also he would take people (his friends) out onto the net pens to fish and the divers (diving to check on the nets) would tell us that that the whole area was swarming with fish.
bazzdude
4/10/2008 9:35:00 PMHey fish on Dude!
That trip. in your picc, did you put it on a scale? it looks more like a 5-6lber to me. maybe my scale is off. Anyhow, i spaced looking at buffalo lake for you sorry dude. But the fishing was hott, 90+ fish in the day or so that i was there, insane fising. Nothing over 20 inches, i think it was 20 inches and 3 lbs. yours looks bigger then that? And you never mentioned that everyone and thier dog was going to arrive in the afternoons. Wow, i can not even emagin the weekends there. But the early mornings and later evenings i had to myself. Awsome fishing trip, thanks for the tips man. Keep on posting man.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
That trip. in your picc, did you put it on a scale? it looks more like a 5-6lber to me. maybe my scale is off. Anyhow, i spaced looking at buffalo lake for you sorry dude. But the fishing was hott, 90+ fish in the day or so that i was there, insane fising. Nothing over 20 inches, i think it was 20 inches and 3 lbs. yours looks bigger then that? And you never mentioned that everyone and thier dog was going to arrive in the afternoons. Wow, i can not even emagin the weekends there. But the early mornings and later evenings i had to myself. Awsome fishing trip, thanks for the tips man. Keep on posting man.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
Fish On!
4/10/2008 9:51:00 PMGood to see you did well. Kids are out on spring break now, so I had a ton of people come in last week. Actually the previous weekend was surprisingly dead compared to mid week. All the snow and cold scared most off I'm sure. I didn't catch that fish in the pic. That's Jody and it weighed out at 12.5 lbs on a borrowed scale.
I can't get back out till next week at the earliest, so hopefully Buffalo will be thawed out. Temps are warming up for the next few days, so that should help. What did you use to catch those 90 fish? Did you only fish the pens or do some up and down exploring?
I can't get back out till next week at the earliest, so hopefully Buffalo will be thawed out. Temps are warming up for the next few days, so that should help. What did you use to catch those 90 fish? Did you only fish the pens or do some up and down exploring?
bazzdude
4/11/2008 11:20:00 AMWell i figured it weighing more then that, that is a nice fish. I only fished right there around the pins yes. The hott ticket for me was jigs i beleave they were called. Black on black any jig with black on it. Or even pink and white was hittinn. But one of my fav. was two slip shots about 2 feet above a big black fly, that was killin them all day.
I was woundering if you can hook me up with a good technique on how to bar-b-q trout. i usually catch smaller ones and put them in the over or smoke them. Never tried to put one on the barbie. My wife is 4.5 months prago. so eating some fish will be good for the baby. I am going to eat it tonight, so i will be surfing the net for some answers or maybe hopefully hear from you. That would be awsome.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
I was woundering if you can hook me up with a good technique on how to bar-b-q trout. i usually catch smaller ones and put them in the over or smoke them. Never tried to put one on the barbie. My wife is 4.5 months prago. so eating some fish will be good for the baby. I am going to eat it tonight, so i will be surfing the net for some answers or maybe hopefully hear from you. That would be awsome.
*PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE*
