Rufus Report, 11/29

[Pisco Sicko]

The Noggin Yakker and I met up Sunday morning to scout out some new (to us) territory. We ended up at some of the netpen operations, off of Columbia River Road.
The fish checker that greeted us reported that the fishing was slow, and had been for a couple of months. . Dang, that wasn't what we wanted to hear!

We putzed around just below the pens for a little while with no action, and none seen by the bankies. I went upstream to do some more exploring and ended up going maybe 3/4 mile above the pens.

There were a few more bankies, but still no action. On the way back down to the pens I noticed a couple of young guys on shore, next to the dock where they load the feed on to boats. Turns out the crews chum that area pretty actively, and there was a nice herd of fish hanging out under, and near, the dock. I hooked several and then went to find the Karl. We anchored up offshore from the dock and used flyrods with buggers, and got pretty regular action.



Overall, this was lacking in aesthetics, but made up for it with poundage. These piggies put the weight on, fast! This little piggy gave me an AOTY upgrade.

[Spot]

Nice Report!!

That place is on my short list.

[Zee]

Nice work PS, looks like a good spot you found.

That place is on my short list.

So when you wanna head out there?

Z

[steelheadr]

Where is this place?

[Zee]

NE Washington. Right in front of Bridgeport state park on the map.



View Larger Map

[polepole]

Actually I think they were uplake ... further to the east.

-Allen

[steelheadr]

Yep, that's a bit of a drive for me...but it's right close to one of the places we've looked at moving to.


Jay

[polepole]

it's right close to one of the places we've looked at moving to.

Where might that be?

-Allen

[steelheadr]

Okanogan, Omak, Twisp area. Just talk at this point though, maybe in a few years. We're too busy planning our January trip into the Cascades, Rainier next summer, winter olympics in Feb 2010 and riding across the country in summer 2010.

[Noggin Yakker]

Hey PS, glad your efforts on the WAF resulted in a day pass!
- NY

Now let's see if I can figure out how to insert a few pics here of you in your wherry...

[Pisco Sicko]

Nice Pics!

Ja, Z, we were about 30 river miles upstream from Bridgeport State Park. There's no direct way to drive between the two places. We accessed Columbia River Road from the Omak area, and it's a ~30-35 mile drive from there. There are more access areas (and netpens) even farther up.

[Zee]

Great pics NY! I'm gonna have to fish nearby you when I want some. Great work with the flyrod PS. The bendo in that sucker looks awesome.

Z

[Noggin Yakker]

Thanks for the comments about the photos I posted. Being a total kayak and Rufus newbie, those photos were about the only thing I did all day without the very patient assistance of PS.

I learned a lot that day...like "the spool of anchor line left in the pickup is useless for anchoring." I know what you're all thinking... "the learning curve for this dude is gonna be steep!"

[kallitype]

Some cat who has a guide business over the---"Darrell and Dad's" gave a talk on fishing rufus Woods at the Puyallup Sportsman's show.  Lots of info...made me hot to get over there a wet a line.  Big Water, though!

[Noggin Yakker]

Some cat who has a guide business over the---"Darrell and Dad's" gave a talk on fishing rufus Woods at the Puyallup Sportsman's show.  Lots of info...made me hot to get over there a wet a line.  Big Water, though!

kt, it's big water, but long and narrow. With the exception of the lower 2 or 3 miles, where it widens near near Chief Joseph Dam, it's more like fishing a large very slow river.

Hey PS, wind wasn't a problem the day we fished. Is wind a problem during other times of year?

- Karl