Greg and Mike: Banks Lake - 6/17/2022

After several days of heavy rain earlier in the week, I was leary of launching on Lake Roosevelt. The Arm was probably quite muddy, and the prospect of floating debris in the main lake didn’t seem to be worth the risk of going to FDR. Mike O and I decided to try our luck at Banks Lake. The wind is the reason I love Banks Lake and the reason I hate Banks Lake. A stiff north wind gusting to 25 mph blew until 2 PM making it impossible to fish the majority of the lake. While we waited for the 3 to 4 foot rollers to abate, we fished in sheltered parts of the lake. Through late afternoon, we had only caught 2 small walleye, a perch, and a smallmouth bass. Once the wind settled, we found a shoreline with a combination of stained water, boulders, and emerging weeds. Within 2 hours, we put an additional 9 walleyes, several perch, and a bass in the boat.

More info for club members: We launched at Northrup Canyon at 830 AM and spent our first couple of hours fishing in the Devil’s Punchbowl. Trolling number 7 Flicker Shads in 15 feet yielded 1 walleye and a bass. Pulling bouncers and spinners in the punchbowl resulted in a few perch. We took a pounding motoring to Barker Cove. This spot has been good to me when the wind blows from the south. With a north wind, it was sheltered from the wind but was unproductive. We spent 2 hours there, marked quite a few fish, but only caught one walleye (throw back). We took another pounding on our way to Poplar Point. We found one keeper walleye there and missed several bites. The wind finally subsided about 3 PM and we headed to Rosebush. The water there was stained and churned up from the north wind, and the bite was on!!! Most walleyes were 14 to 15 inches, but Mike caught a trio of fat ones that went 16, 17, and 19 inches. Gold Smile Blades with orange or red beads accounted for most of our fish. Down and Side Imagery was key to finding spots with the right combination of big boulders and nearby weeds.