Travis S: Roosevelt - 6/24

I had a good day on Sunday.  I took out a newbie who hasn't fished in 20 years and we both pulled plenty of fish out of the narrows of the Spokane Arm.  We spoke with a few boats and almost all of them were pulling spinners and doing only marginally well.  Every boat had a few fish, but nobody that we talked to on Sunday had over 5 of them.  Most were fishing in 20-35 foot. 

We only caught one fish on spinner rigs with a bottom bouncer.  All of the other fish were caught on crankbaits.  As you know, my "go-to" in the arm is a size 5 Rapala Shad Rap in Perch color with the orange belly.  It pulled a few fish, but most were caught, casting small Wally Divers and Rapala's Ultra-Light Crank (which looks like it replaced the old "Fat-Rap") and size 7 jointed Shad-Raps.    All of these cranks had "WHITE" bellies.  I am fully convinced that the reason for their success is because they mimicked a smaller walleye or smallmouth, of which both have white bellies.  They also dive a bit deeper than the #5 Shadrap and it was a very bright sunny day, which also made a difference.  The larger fish did come out of water that was 15-20 foot deep.  I didn't toy around with it, but I now regret not giving a blade bait a try.  However, it's awful hard to switch from something that seems to be working just fine. 

We were casting in 20 feet up into 5-ish feet of water and slow-retrieving.  The fish seemed to hit more aggressively than normal, but only a few hit with true "malice" in their heart.  Once I explained how the walleyes don't yank the rod, but rather feel "slightly heavier" on the retrieve, my fishin' partner started to do as well as I was doing. 

The rumors are true.......  The average size of the fish in the Arm seem to be an inch or two better than the average size in previous years.  Also, the "will to live" seemed stronger in these fish than in previous years.  There were a couple where I thought they were smallys before I saw them.  They are also slightly chunkier than in previous years.    In total we pulled 19 walleye and 2 bass.  We also lost 3 during the fight of which one felt like it might have gone a couple of pounds.

The reservoir is at full pool and the water is very clear now and if we had any wind, we would probably have limited.  As it is, it was still a great day with steady action throughout.  When your fishin' cranks, you can cover a lot of water and find the active ones.  Our best spot was what I call the "drive-thru" which is simply a cut in the bank where the river gets 50 yards wider and produces a current seem and shallow bar.  This spot produces all summer and will get only better as weeds grow and you start fishin' the deeper edge.  Good structure here as well......