Ok, a small trip report here. Last week, the forecast for this week at Grand Coulee looked favorable so I headed over Tuesday morning. The next morning I launched at first light and headed out. Armed with the knowledge of 40-50 Youtube videos I felt like I knew what to do depending on conditions. Surface temp was 40.2, which according to my research was a little cool. I added some weight to get down and eventually caught a nice Kokanee that measured 20".
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That was the only fish to net on day one. I did miss a couple of other bites. That night I talked to a neighbor at the camp ground. Said to fish right on top without the weight. He also showed me a fly he used for trolling for trout. Red over white hair wings that he used there and at Pend Oreille. I happened to have some that I tied for this trip in pink over silver crystal flash. On day two I put a flie on one rod and a hootchie on the other and fished 150'+ behind the boat. Lost a nice fish in fairly short order on the hootchie which I think was a Kokanee. As I trolled over a section that had some deep gullies with high spots in between the trout started biting the fly. In all I caught 5 of which two were wild and released. The largest of the three I kept was 22" and the other two were around 19". During the day I also lost a couple of other bites on the hootchie. In total probably 10 grabs.
I had no side planers to use so to compensate I tried a zig-zag method. My neighbor at the camp ground was kind enough to let me measure and diagram his boards so that I can make some to have with me next time. The reason for these is to get your gear away from the boat. In the ultra clear water, 20'+ vis, the boat spooks the fish and they scatter a bit. Hopefully into your offering fifty feet out to the side.
Camping: Some of you may remember the work van I turned into a camper van. This was the first real test. The diesel heater was awesome! On a low setting it kept the interior in the mid seventies where I could lounge in a T-shirt and watch recorded shows on my laptop while the outside temp was down to 33. It's a bit noisy but I wear headphones while watching. At bedtime I would turn the heater off and slept fine in my 20 degree bag. In the morning I would reach over and hit the remote for the heater and let things warm up before rising. There was solid cloud cover for the whole time so on the third evening I fired up a genny to recharge the house battery. I ran the laptop off of my Anker portable which also worked great. The powered cooler kept food and drinks, and fish at a perfect 34 degrees. I see a lot of future trips with the van. It's perfect for hauling the sled and camping.
