My kid lives in Spokane and I've always wanted to try Sprague lake since we've driven past it a bunch of times. The plan was for him to meet me at 9:30 Saturday morning at Sprague public launch and we would give it a try.
Knowing the wind is always a factor at Sprague, I had backup plans that included Fishtrap, Amber and even making him drive further from Spokane like Coffeepot.
I decided to truck camp Friday night on some BLM land and it was close to Fishtrap so I got the boat out for a couple scouting hours before finding my camp spot.
Only fish was a pretty, yet ugly hatchery fish of just over 16". Got him stripping a type 3 on my go-to prospector fly, a black & green bugger with white bead-head along the cliff.
For not having a full prop he fought very well.
I found a "spot" at Hog Lake BLM and slept pretty well considering the trains went by every few hours and it rained ALL night. I was nice and dry in my camper shell.
The forecast was showing rain at Sprague until 11 so I told my son to take his time and 10 was plenty early. By the time he got to the launch at 10, the forecast was now showing rain until 1pm. The wind was manageable, but coupled with the constant spray it was not looking like an enjoyable time. The Odessa and Harrington forecast was showing rain until 11 so we made the easy audible and headed for Coffeepot.
We got to Coffeepot by 11 and setup the boat to bobber fish in the lower shallow end, but there was so much crude in the water and only panfish messing with my balanced leech that we decided to cut through the gap and troll a bit. The scablands are more green than I've ever seen. It looked more like Scotland than Lincoln county. I got a fish on a dry line troll just past the gap to get the skunk off.
Had a little drama with my kid letting my type 3 6wt line into the prop of the 25HP Merc when netting my fish. Somehow, someway, I pulled the kill switch just in time. The line was wrapped about 8 times, but did not break it. Barely scratched it. It's probably my least favorite line to cast, but one of the fishiest I've ever had. I was relieved it is still fishable.
We went ashore and had a nice Frech bread, meat and cheese lunch. The Charolais cows that came down to water made lunch even more French.
After lunch we trolled up the lake to try more bobber fishing at a couple tables, but just never got it dialed. I saw a few gigantic olive mids come off and get hit on top. Only thing I had even close were some #12 Green Drakes in the river box. No go.
We had fun checking out the geology and the life that can spring seemingly out of pure rock.
We trolled, drifted dries, drift & stripped sunken flies and casted both dries and sunken flies to the shore. No go.
We finally found fish in 2 spots trolling the type 3 and type 6 so just trolled in a circle to eventually pick up a few fish each. It was a nice way to cap a great day with my kid. We felt like we made the right call on a tough day. Here's his last fish of the day.
A lot of driving (not cheap with gas $$ right now), but a great day.
Knowing the wind is always a factor at Sprague, I had backup plans that included Fishtrap, Amber and even making him drive further from Spokane like Coffeepot.
I decided to truck camp Friday night on some BLM land and it was close to Fishtrap so I got the boat out for a couple scouting hours before finding my camp spot.
Only fish was a pretty, yet ugly hatchery fish of just over 16". Got him stripping a type 3 on my go-to prospector fly, a black & green bugger with white bead-head along the cliff.
For not having a full prop he fought very well.
I found a "spot" at Hog Lake BLM and slept pretty well considering the trains went by every few hours and it rained ALL night. I was nice and dry in my camper shell.
The forecast was showing rain at Sprague until 11 so I told my son to take his time and 10 was plenty early. By the time he got to the launch at 10, the forecast was now showing rain until 1pm. The wind was manageable, but coupled with the constant spray it was not looking like an enjoyable time. The Odessa and Harrington forecast was showing rain until 11 so we made the easy audible and headed for Coffeepot.
We got to Coffeepot by 11 and setup the boat to bobber fish in the lower shallow end, but there was so much crude in the water and only panfish messing with my balanced leech that we decided to cut through the gap and troll a bit. The scablands are more green than I've ever seen. It looked more like Scotland than Lincoln county. I got a fish on a dry line troll just past the gap to get the skunk off.
Had a little drama with my kid letting my type 3 6wt line into the prop of the 25HP Merc when netting my fish. Somehow, someway, I pulled the kill switch just in time. The line was wrapped about 8 times, but did not break it. Barely scratched it. It's probably my least favorite line to cast, but one of the fishiest I've ever had. I was relieved it is still fishable.
We went ashore and had a nice Frech bread, meat and cheese lunch. The Charolais cows that came down to water made lunch even more French.
After lunch we trolled up the lake to try more bobber fishing at a couple tables, but just never got it dialed. I saw a few gigantic olive mids come off and get hit on top. Only thing I had even close were some #12 Green Drakes in the river box. No go.
We had fun checking out the geology and the life that can spring seemingly out of pure rock.
We trolled, drifted dries, drift & stripped sunken flies and casted both dries and sunken flies to the shore. No go.
We finally found fish in 2 spots trolling the type 3 and type 6 so just trolled in a circle to eventually pick up a few fish each. It was a nice way to cap a great day with my kid. We felt like we made the right call on a tough day. Here's his last fish of the day.
A lot of driving (not cheap with gas $$ right now), but a great day.
