richardvw
6/23/2009 5:14:00 PMI love fishing rufus. We've planning on heading over some weekend coming up. We used to go over in boats but one of my uncles is friends with the owner of some of the pens so now we head over in just our cars and fish from their docks and have tons of days of 20+ fish per person. One of my favorite places to fish
Big D
6/23/2009 6:34:00 PMHey outdoor chris, you are not bragging. My wife and I did close to the same amount of catching & releasing two weekends ago shortly after the unplanned release also using a trout pellet fly. I’ve been getting reports back from folks that have purchased my version of the trout pellet fly with similar numbers. I think that fishing RW is truly the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
fishenwphil
6/23/2009 7:34:00 PMOK lets get real you leave bridgeport at say4:30 am at least an hour boat ride to upper pens un less you have a super sled. so that puts you fishing at 5:30 bennifit of the dought. you stop at 12:30 thats 7 hours of fishing 7hour x 60 min =420 thats aprox 90 sec or 1.3 min per fish -hook -reel in- release ive fished this lake for 10 years before it got popular could be out there all day not see another boat had numerous 50 -60 fish days maybe broke a hundred with if there was 2 or 3 of us . and i guess while im on the subject latly with the popularity rising and all these 400 fish days the mortality rate of these released unharmed fish is rising as i watch them float by my boat .People this is a phenominal fishery respect it dont abuse it just for bragging rights or it too will be gone way too soon thank you for reading and letting me vent alittle
HammerinHonkers
6/23/2009 8:13:00 PMPhil
There have been people that have done the math before with Chris's fish catching, and the truth is it is probably pretty accurate. He catches a ton of fish and he has the pellet fly down to a T, capital T. He does hook all the fish in the lip, because you can see them take the fly. He does not take the fish out of the water and uses forceps or pliers to release so the death rate is very low if at all. I have used his methods and catch fish with relative ease. I am not a real big fan of it, in my experience I can't catch the real big ones, my usual catches are in the 2-4 lb range. I have a better time fishing else where, can't catch as many or even close, but the fish i catch are bigger. Chris is a pretty big fan of Rufus so he is probably one of the people that cares the most about keeping it around and in good shape. My only problem has been the numbers posted and it looks like now he has done what his goal was, a 400 fish day, so the counts will not be around anymore. Good to see a report from you Chris.
HH
There have been people that have done the math before with Chris's fish catching, and the truth is it is probably pretty accurate. He catches a ton of fish and he has the pellet fly down to a T, capital T. He does hook all the fish in the lip, because you can see them take the fly. He does not take the fish out of the water and uses forceps or pliers to release so the death rate is very low if at all. I have used his methods and catch fish with relative ease. I am not a real big fan of it, in my experience I can't catch the real big ones, my usual catches are in the 2-4 lb range. I have a better time fishing else where, can't catch as many or even close, but the fish i catch are bigger. Chris is a pretty big fan of Rufus so he is probably one of the people that cares the most about keeping it around and in good shape. My only problem has been the numbers posted and it looks like now he has done what his goal was, a 400 fish day, so the counts will not be around anymore. Good to see a report from you Chris.
HH
Toni
6/23/2009 8:33:00 PMfishenwphil I think you mis-read his post. Fri was 300 some. Sat. fished longer for the 400 some.
blufin loui
6/23/2009 8:41:00 PMHey Ya Chris and Sherie, Great to see a report. ALL fishing stories are "Bragging" of a sort, You JUST happen to be better at it than most folks. Great to hear you hit the 400 mark. Knew it would happen! As I've had the pleasure to watch you and your fishing pard operate, I feel confident in the abilities of the release technique you two utilize. Most folks don't follow the logic of how it's possible to realese with minimal harm to the fish. Take the fact most of the fish are caught "Close" to the boat, and they never leave the water (hence, no netting stress, not handled by hands, and not bounced around in the bottom of the boat), the fish swim away with vigor without slime loss or bruising. Once again, your sharing is appreciated, and keep up the great fishing.
riprap101
6/23/2009 9:39:00 PMWhat is this trout pellet fly? Is there a somewhat weighted version I could use on light spinning gear? I also once hooked and landed a trout in similar fashion while trolling a bait with treble hooks. They wrapped around a liter attached to a hook located inside the trouts throat - bizzare. Please keep in mind and consider that the handling / mishandling of fish is not the only cause of death to a released fish. Sometimes they simply do not overcome the intense stress of the event. So would you give up catching those 300 fish in a day for 1 twenty pounder?? Yeah, me too!
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 7:32:00 AMhey big D, glad to see somebody else using the trout pellet fly, its easy to tie and the results are great, we are just matching the hatch!! in Rufus, that hatch is trout feed from the pens.
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 7:51:00 AMHi Phil, remember when doing the math that there are two of us in the boat, ...Friday we had 62 doubles on. My wife loves to fly fish and is very good at it so while she is catching one, I am just about getting one to the boat. If your not a fly fisherman, you have to understand the way fish usually get hooked, is just barely in the lip. Except for the fish that we keep, we never use a net, the fish come to the side of the boat, where I can bend down, wet my hand in case I do touch the fish, and with a little flick of the finger, the hook comes out. We fish using a # 12 or # 10 barbless hook,
I too have seen dead fish floating by the boat from other anglers and I have to admit, there are times I wish I was a game warden. Sometimes, very rarely, the fish will swipe at the fly and it will get the fly caught in the eye, we keep those or any fish that is hooked in a way I am not absolutely certain it will survive. But these small flies are basically just catching a piece of the skin around the lip of the fish. Thats one of the reasons that fly rods are so long and are so flexible, so that you can fight a fish with finesse when fishing with small barbless hooks....for example, at lake Chopaka, we fish in the evening with a #20 - # 24 hook tied in a "spinner" pattern, I will say, the smaller hook you use the more the fish seems to jump out of the water.
When we fish I am fishing pretty much non stop the entire time, its just too much fun!! Loui has been there watching us before. its catch a fish, release it, throw the fly back in, catch another, release it throw the fly back in, catch another, and so on...talk to Big D, he may sell you some of the flies and they really do work!
Friday I almost lost my fly pole, I set it down across a seat in the boat with the fly barely in the water, turned around to open the cooler to get a beer and my pole starts shooting across the boat with a fish on!! I was able to grab my pole just as the reel was going across the edge of the boat!!
I too have seen dead fish floating by the boat from other anglers and I have to admit, there are times I wish I was a game warden. Sometimes, very rarely, the fish will swipe at the fly and it will get the fly caught in the eye, we keep those or any fish that is hooked in a way I am not absolutely certain it will survive. But these small flies are basically just catching a piece of the skin around the lip of the fish. Thats one of the reasons that fly rods are so long and are so flexible, so that you can fight a fish with finesse when fishing with small barbless hooks....for example, at lake Chopaka, we fish in the evening with a #20 - # 24 hook tied in a "spinner" pattern, I will say, the smaller hook you use the more the fish seems to jump out of the water.
When we fish I am fishing pretty much non stop the entire time, its just too much fun!! Loui has been there watching us before. its catch a fish, release it, throw the fly back in, catch another, release it throw the fly back in, catch another, and so on...talk to Big D, he may sell you some of the flies and they really do work!
Friday I almost lost my fly pole, I set it down across a seat in the boat with the fly barely in the water, turned around to open the cooler to get a beer and my pole starts shooting across the boat with a fish on!! I was able to grab my pole just as the reel was going across the edge of the boat!!
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 7:58:00 AMThanks for the support Hammerin! I will admit, some of the bigger ones it can be a challenge to get them in when fishing the pens because of the cables and ropes around there and we do loose some to that, but we have managed to land some very nice ones in the past, 18lbs being the biggest so far. I do like drifting below the lower pens, lots of open water there for fighting the fish, and less crowded. I tie a few flies very heavy so they sink lower and faster to get through the smaller fish, I use these when we start seeing those big lunkers coming in to feed, Big D, you should try that, if you haven't already, tie on double the lead wire before the chenille then use the line to slow down the rate of desent so the look like a trout pellet sinking, its a good way to get down to those big ones you can sometimes see floating 10 or more feet down.
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 8:17:00 AMRip rap, the whole concept around fly fishing is to use flies that match what the trout are feeding on that day, in that lake, at that time...if you "match the hatch", (use a fly that replicates what the fish are feeding on), you can have phenomenal fishing days, in any water, be it lake, steam or river because the trout will be looking for that type of insect and they will eat hundreds of them in a day or morning, If you use a fly that looks like that insect, they won't hesitate at all and will slam that pattern untill the hatch is done, giving you a great day of fishing. The trout at Rufus feed a lot off of trout pellets used to feed the fish in the pens, so, we use a fly that looks like a fish pellet.......they think they are getting a free meal except its tied to my pole!! I have had some people fishing from my boat that don't fly fish and we tie the fly onto spinning gear and they still catch them that way, but it is harder to detect a strike that way because you don't have the fly line to watch so we use what is called "indicators" on thier line to overcome that problem. An indicator is a brightly colored, small piece of foam that is folded over the line, kinda like a super light bobber so you can see when the line is being pulled out from a fish bite. You can get them from any flyfishing shop. Hope that helps!
Now that I have reached the 400 mark, I will try not to catch as many fish from now on!!! Its just too hard on my arms and back!! he he, but I can't help it if I put my fly in the water and something takes it!!
Now that I have reached the 400 mark, I will try not to catch as many fish from now on!!! Its just too hard on my arms and back!! he he, but I can't help it if I put my fly in the water and something takes it!!
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 8:37:00 AMits good to be back Loui!! have been very busy with my company, wearing more hats these days but its great to be able to get out on the water again. OK, yes, maybe I was bragging...he he he, but thats half the fun of fishing!! Hope things are well with the both of you and looking forward to seeing you on the water!! Its fun telling guys how many we caught and the sizes and them telling me I am so full of ..."you know what", then they come along for a trip to RW and when they are doing the catching, they still have a hard time believing!!! Rufus Woods is truly a very special place to spend some time as well as to fish.
oscar
6/24/2009 8:40:00 AMIsn't there enough people fishing the pens already? We fish the same as you, and since the water has warmed up about one out of every ten is a bleeder, so it's get your trout and go drift for walleye, or you have a short trip. I just don' t see why you would brag about the amount of fish, you must enjoy fishing in a crowd.
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 9:52:00 AMHi Oscar, if you are fishing the same as us with flies, and you are getting fish that bleed that often, you might be using barbed hooks or too big of a fly, again, we typically use a #12 hook, its very small and does not get deeply hooked in the fish. I would say that 99% of the fish we catch using flies are hooked on the piece of cartilage on the side of the mouth, a very safe place to hook a fish or right on the very edge of the lip of the fish. The thing about using fly line is you can instantly tell when a fish is taking the fly and thus you can set the hook before the fish has a chance to swallow the fly or take it deep in its mouth. Or they will take the fly on the run and when they pull against the fly line, which has a lot more drag in the water than mono does, it pulls the fly to the edge of the fishes mouth where it gets hooked up. As far as crowds go, Rufus Woods has plenty of room for all to fish and enjoy.
But, if you like,......... the real story is that we didn't catch any fish, didn't see any, I just made it all up and everybody should stay away from RW because the fish are tainted and taste terrible and its just a waste of time fishing there and the trout there fight like slugs or half dead catfish!! And now see what you've done....my nose is growing!! ha ha! Hope you have great days on the water!!
But, if you like,......... the real story is that we didn't catch any fish, didn't see any, I just made it all up and everybody should stay away from RW because the fish are tainted and taste terrible and its just a waste of time fishing there and the trout there fight like slugs or half dead catfish!! And now see what you've done....my nose is growing!! ha ha! Hope you have great days on the water!!
ToadWater
6/24/2009 10:17:00 AMOD Chris....I wont boost your ego or deflate it.....but I do believe your story! My turn is Saturday.....Hehehehe!
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 10:35:00 AMwill see you there then toadwater!!! should be an outstanding day, sunny, warm, lots of fish, does it really get any better than that??
fishyrich
6/24/2009 2:18:00 PMWow sounds like a fun trip, I'm heading over tomorrow with some guys from work. Hope to do a 10th as well ;)
fishyrich
6/24/2009 2:45:00 PMWow sounds like a fun trip, I'm heading over tomorrow with some guys from work. Hope to do a 10th as well ;)
chris_h
6/24/2009 5:30:00 PMI think I have looked everywhere I can...so please go easy on me when I ask this.
I have only had the pleasure of fishing Rufus Woods once. I took my son up there and we tossed in from the Corps of Eng. land. Didn't catch anything but were definitly not prepared.
Anyway...I'm posting because it's driving me crazy that I can't seem to find any map that actually marks the location of the Pen Nets. I've read some of you that have posted that you put in at Brewster then ran an hour to the pens.......unfortunately, that still doesn't tell me how far....because I don't know if you've got a 10hp or a 110hp jet sled. :) I've also read other posts where guys talk about the pens up near the other end of the resevoir...near Grand Coulee.
Would someone mind letting me know which end they're on and the quickest way to get there by 16' Duroboat w/ 40hp? :)
Also, I only need the Tribal permit if I'm fishing from the shoreline up in that area...correct?
Thanks a lot in advance!!
-Chris
I have only had the pleasure of fishing Rufus Woods once. I took my son up there and we tossed in from the Corps of Eng. land. Didn't catch anything but were definitly not prepared.
Anyway...I'm posting because it's driving me crazy that I can't seem to find any map that actually marks the location of the Pen Nets. I've read some of you that have posted that you put in at Brewster then ran an hour to the pens.......unfortunately, that still doesn't tell me how far....because I don't know if you've got a 10hp or a 110hp jet sled. :) I've also read other posts where guys talk about the pens up near the other end of the resevoir...near Grand Coulee.
Would someone mind letting me know which end they're on and the quickest way to get there by 16' Duroboat w/ 40hp? :)
Also, I only need the Tribal permit if I'm fishing from the shoreline up in that area...correct?
Thanks a lot in advance!!
-Chris
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 6:33:00 PMHi Chris,
The net pens are up towards the upper parts of Rufus Woods. A really good map to check out the Lake is Virtual Earth, its a sattelite image mapping service that is free to use. Type in Virtual Earth in your browser search engine and you can zoom in close enough to see sand bars, drop offs, points and other structure, as well as the net pens. You can launch upriver at several spots with a boat the size of yours and be just a little run to the pens, for me, coming from Chelan, I enjoy the run up the river in the boat instead of driving up to Grand Coulee dam and then back down. There is a primitive but good launch between the two upper pens that you can drive to and it would be a very short run, about a mile or less to the pens from there. The two upper pens are about 2 miles apart and the lower pens are 7 miles downstream of those, about 30 miles from Bridgeport state park. Remember, when fishing at the pens, Do Not tie your boat to the pens or nets. Good luck and have a great time.
The net pens are up towards the upper parts of Rufus Woods. A really good map to check out the Lake is Virtual Earth, its a sattelite image mapping service that is free to use. Type in Virtual Earth in your browser search engine and you can zoom in close enough to see sand bars, drop offs, points and other structure, as well as the net pens. You can launch upriver at several spots with a boat the size of yours and be just a little run to the pens, for me, coming from Chelan, I enjoy the run up the river in the boat instead of driving up to Grand Coulee dam and then back down. There is a primitive but good launch between the two upper pens that you can drive to and it would be a very short run, about a mile or less to the pens from there. The two upper pens are about 2 miles apart and the lower pens are 7 miles downstream of those, about 30 miles from Bridgeport state park. Remember, when fishing at the pens, Do Not tie your boat to the pens or nets. Good luck and have a great time.
fishenwphil
6/24/2009 7:47:00 PMChris Big D I am a big advocate of C&R if you know how to do it .the thing is most people dont they dont go barbless , and for those of you that havnt used barbless hooks because your afraid tto lose the fish it makes no differance on your catch rate if you know how to play the fish The only ones I touch are the ones hitting the dinner table or smoker. I keep hearing about this pellet fly and thinking these are being swallowed to the bung hole. Yes I do fly fish , but mostly jig thats where the kahunas are . my average catch size on rufus is around 9lbs give or take an oz or 2 didnt mean to ruffel feathers but kinda glad i did im still not convinced on 3 to 400 fish day when do you grab a smoke drink a beer look around stop to pee eat a sandwich scream at the geese cause there making to much noise maybe not all in that order, any way best of luck all respect what you have out there or it will disapere or we wont be bragging about how many or how big just bitchin about about the crappy fishin
outdoor chris
6/24/2009 11:17:00 PMHey Phil, the thing is, I do love crappy fishin, When doing that I usually keep all of those little buggers that I do catch just because they are so good tasting when fried up, Roses lake is my favorite for doing that and are they fun with a fly pole!!!
Big D
6/25/2009 2:33:00 AMHey OD Chris, Thank you for the free advertizing in regards to my trout pellet flies. I’ve been tying up twenty or so every evening just to keep up with demand. I tie them on a #10 weighted and barbed hook and sell them that way. I send a reminder along with each order that states “If you want to use these flies for catch & release make sure and pinch down the barb.” Right now I’m looking for a supplier of #10 barbless hooks and I’ll start selling them that way. I do tie up trout pellet flies with extra weight for my personal use and it does help me to get down a little faster, hopefully to the bigger ones. My…actually my daughter’s personal best to the boat on a trout pellet fly was 12.9 pounds. I figure that it cost me a $400.00 camera so I get to take partial credit for that fish. (See my RW report dated 19 March 09.) If anyone is interested in my New & Improved Trout Pellet Fly you can email me at darrendirks@msn.com for photos, the recipe or purchase information and I’ll get back to you. Thanks again OD Chris and as soon as I get my boat back from the shop I hope to see you up at the pens.
outdoor chris
6/25/2009 7:35:00 AMYou know Big D, thats what this is all about, guys comparing notes and sharing notions, tricks and secrets so that others can have a great time on the water also. As with the trout pellet fly, I would never have enough time to tie and sell them, so I am glad your making out doing that, I know I have had offers of cash for them and one guy even offered a credit card, but I just didn't happen to have my credit card machine on the boat with me that day...ha ha ha...People have wondered why I post on here, the main reason, besides a little bragging....is that I hope that guys who read things on here use that to better their fishing skills so that when they take the kids out fishing, they can have a great time catching fish. One thing to look for if your going to be getting bulk barbless hooks is to make sure that they are not brittle. Many of the hook manufactures make a hook that is very strong for smaller fish but break when used on larger and hard fighting fish such as RW's fish. I have tried several types of barbless hooks in the past and have had bad results when hooked onto larger fish, maybe I just got bad batches. I have been going with the cheaper hooks and pinching down the barb before I tie them and have had really good success. Am looking forward to seeing your post about the camera eating fish...sounds like there is a great story there!! On your flies that you tie, just for curiosity's sake, about how many fish can you catch on one of them before it gets wore out?
Big D
6/25/2009 9:13:00 AMHey OD Chris, On a good day I can use the same fly for a couple of dozen fish without issues other than a trim here and a trim there...on a bad day I can snap a fly off on the second back cast of the day.
Big D
6/25/2009 9:15:00 AMHey OD Chris, On a good day I can use the same fly for a couple of dozen fish without issues other than a trim here and a trim there...on a bad day I can snap a fly off on the second back cast of the day.
Big D
6/25/2009 9:29:00 AMHey OD Chris, On a good day I can use the same fly for a couple of dozen fish without issues other than a trim here and a trim there...on a bad day I can snap a fly off on the second back cast of the day.
outdoor chris
6/25/2009 9:55:00 AMTry getting some water based fly cement and put a few drops of it onto the finished fly near the back of the winding and then agian towards the front, this type of cement is very thin, soaks into the chenille and thread windings and still gives the fly a soft touch but really helps to hold things together better, I was getting about the same results as you but now they last for around 70 fish or so before things get messed up.
Big D
6/25/2009 10:26:00 AMThanks Chris, I'm a gluing as I'm a typing. Sorry about the duplicate posts...you can remove a couple of them if you want. Thanks again for the Trout Pellet fly promotion and all of your help.
outdoor chris
6/25/2009 10:15:00 PMAll I have to say to everybody is.......................I have a new batch of pellet flies, and...................a top secret fly that i have tied this past week, I think it will even outdo the pellet fly, but, only time will tell!!! The boat is hitched to the truck, and loaded with fishin' gear..........life is good!! Oh and by the way, I will probably only catch a few fish, but then like,........who's counting!!!! On another note, there are a some of us that have chatted through this forum for months or years,......... has anybody thought about how fun it might be to have a "get together day of fishing"??? We could compare fishing styles, techiniques, patterns, and just plain have a good time fishing the lake we love the most????????? Just throwin that out to see what you all think about it.........I know that I would love to learn off of the experience of you guys and gals that have spent so much time fishing this lake.
