Greg: Roosevelt - 5/8

I made a quick run to Roosevelt Friday evening. I didn't get on the water until 4 PM. It was breezy with temperatures in the 70s. I caught 15 fish, but kept very few. Many were small and with success during several recent trips, I didn't feel the need clean more fish. The lake level was 1250 feet. It looks like the lake level has bottomed out for the season, and should be rising the next few weeks.

http://water.weather.gov/resources/hydrographs/gcdw1_hg.png

More info for members:  On recent trips, we had been catching lots of fish in 40-60 feet of water with bottom bouncers and smile blades. I wanted to try jigging shallower, so I headed upriver to "The Steps" which is a mile or two below Buoy 5. There were 3 or 4 other boats in this relatively small area. I drifted down the deepest part of the channel in 15 to 22 feet bouncing a jig over the rocky bottom. I caught a 16 inch walleye and a trout in an hour. I didn't see the other boats catching fish, so I worked my way down river jigging various deep holes and rocky areas with no success. Once I reached the upper end of "The Narrows", I put my jigging gear away and went back to bottom bouncers and smile blades. I quickly caught a dozen small walleye trolling in 40 feet. The bite stopped quickly around 7 PM. I made one pass at Blue Creek on my way back to the ramp which yielded one fish in 55 feet.

At the ramp, I ran into one of the boats that was at "The Steps". They had several fish over 20 inches in their cooler. They claimed that the bite was slow until an hour before sunset. Seems as if the fish moved shallow at sunset.