Looking for Lake Roosevelt advice...

[SeaRun1]

Hey All,

Pretty stoked to be taking a four or five day trip over to Lake Roosevelt to take on Smallmouth Bass this year.  I have been to Banks Lake many times but want to try something new.

This is also my second year of really taking bass seriously so I am getting better at the bass game every time out.  Been catching Largemouth Bass here in Kitsap but have always loved Smallmouth.

So...  we are planning on fishing the area just up from the dam and staying at River Rue.  We will be there in late June.

I could use some advice on how to get after them and places to check out.  We are planning on drop shotting and jig fishing as well as hopefully some early/late topwater action.

Any advice you could send my way regarding fishing the area would be helpful.  Kinda interested in the trout and walleye fishing too.

Thanks in advice for your help.

SR1

[6haase6]

Tag

[10Key]

You are on the right track. I have never fished Roosevelt this early in the year, but that being said, look for spawning flats in bays. They should be in those or very near them right now. Bait wise, you are on the right track. Don't be afraid to throw swim baits (3-5")...those fish eat small trout quite a bit in that section of the Columbia.

[hunthard]

Go over to where the ferry docks on the other side of the lake, when the ferry isn't there pitch tube jigs with a piece of night crawler right there, when that slows down head down lake like you are going to the dam, the first corner on the right hand side will have a lot big rocks and that is really good fishing for smallies, I have caught small mouth bass in water as deep as 100 feet and as shallow as two feet, most of the coves will have small mouth bass in them, Have fun, that is by far my favorite place to go.

[hunthard]

If you are going to fish for trout I would highly recommend down riggers, 55 feet has been my best depth with either a red or green wedding ring with a whole night crawler, fish the cove on the left as you leave the boat ramp, start at the tractor tire and work your way to the back of the cove, your fish finder will come in handy here.

[baldopepper]

Might keep in mind that sturgeon fishing opens on the 24th of June.  Might be something to fool around with if the smallies are being stubborn.  Also, they are really bringing the water up at that time, maxing it the first week of July.  It can really come up fast overnight sometimes so watch how you tie off your boat and any thing you leave near the edge of the water for the night. (We've seen it flood out boat/tent campers who camped to near the water that time of year). Good idea to check the lake level forecast when you head over.  Extremely low right now with most of the ramps unusable.

[10Key]

I misread your timing, spawn will be done. Top water in the morning and evening. As soon as the sun hits the water, that bite tends to die. You will find fish pretty deep in the day, bigger fish live 15 - 30 feet during summer, drop shot is your friend. I typically throw the kitchen sink at them, as I get bored drop shorting all day...dont forget swim baits, did I mention That?

[SeaRun1]

Thanks everyone.  I appreciate the advice.

SR1

[Jolten]

Bottom bouncing rubber worms have worked well for me.

Also various buzz baits have caught bass and the occasional walleye as well.

[plugger]

All you need in that lake is a bag of 5" 176 yamamoto curly tail grubs and some 1/4 to 3/8oz jig heads, blackheads or unpainted work fine. Most of the flats have fish. Start shallow and work deeper as the day goes on. Its hard not to catch them. There is a good flat across from spring canyon, plum point, and up in the swailla basin. Swallia (probably spelled that wrong) is a huge flat. you could spend all day there alone.

[SeaRun1]

OK so thanks for all the information and advice I received prior to this trip.  We had a great time and spent four fun days on a new stretch of the Columbia to me.

We did catch a ton of smallies and quite a few incidental Walleye.  I think we were hoping for some bigger Smallies overall.  We caught maybe a dozen 2-3 pound fish and countless smaller ones.  It was fun as they fight so well.

I believe we were either ahead of the spawn or just missed it.  Not sure.  We found the flats everyone told us to seek but didn’t catch much on them.  We mostly covered ground and caught fish as we went.

Double tailed grubs on a jig were the best rigs followed pretty closely by Ned Rigs.  Kalins grubs worked as well as Texas rigged worms and crayfish plastics.

River Rue was a nice place to stay and that launch at Keller’s Ferry is very nice.  Wishing as usual that I lived in Easyern Washington.

Again thanks for the advice HuntWa Fisherman.

SR1