Greg: Kettle Falls - 6/11-15
I fished the northern reaches of Lake Roosevelt from Wednesday evening through Sunday morning and had a great time. When I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, the lake level was 1280 feet making all of the ramps from Kettle Falls to China Bend available for boat launching. By Sunday morning the elevation rose to 1285 feet which is pretty close to summer pool.
Afternoon temperatures Wednesday and Thursday were in the low 80s and winds were light. Thunderstorms chased me off the water Thursday evening, and there were hit and miss showers and thunderstorms Friday and Saturday which interrupted my efforts.
My coworkers Ty and Ryan joined me Friday. New members Brian and Larry fished with me Friday evening. Dave Law from KHQ filmed our trip for his "Fishing Report" on Saturday, and Stan and Tucker fished with me on Sunday morning. The total number of fish caught on my boat was probably around 60 fish. The fishing was certainly better Wednesday (13 in 5hrs) and Thursday (26 fish) and became a bit tougher each day. I'm not sure if it was the weather, rising lake levels, or the arrival of more weekend anglers that caused the bite to slow. Most fish caught over the 4+ days of fishing were in the 16 to 18 inch range. The largest fish was caught by Brian on Friday evening which was at least 23 inches. I got one about that size on Thursday evening, too. Not nearly as many dinks in the Kettle Falls area as there have been in the Spokane Arm this spring.
More Info: By far the most productive area that I fished was the big eddy at the Little Dalles. When the current was strongest Wed and Thu, I trolled spinners with the current in the big eddy between 30 and 55 feet. Fish also bit silver blade baits ripped aggressively as I trolled spinners and bouncers. A few fish were taken jigging 3/8 oz curl tail grubs tipped with a crawler at the big eddy and at the point 1 1/2 miles below the Little Dalles where the swallows enjoy crapping on boats fishing the shoreline. Twenty to thirty fish days Thu and Fri decreased to a 10 fish day on Saturday as more boats and several load revving gas trollers hit the big eddy.
I also briefly fished the Evans Campground, Snag Cove, above Marcus Island and the Kettle River. I caught a fish here and there, but fishing was poor for me (and most others in the club) at many of the typically good June spots.