Updates on the lakes around Spokane (within an hour's drive of the city):
Throughout this past week, weather conditions were consistent and water temps have been cold (lows 40s on the surface, upper 30s/low 40s 10ft and further down). All of the lakes south/southwest of Spokane are ice-free, just remember that several are closed to fishing as of today. To the north, the lakes are still about 90% covered in ice, but it's thinning quick and there should be enough open water later in the week.
Attractor and leech patterns on a sinking line or hung beneath an indicator brought some hefty trout to net, slow retrieves with long pauses mixed in seemed to work best around drop-offs. Throat pump samples revealed little beyond zooplankton which tracks with the cold water temps and limited insect activity. When tying zooplankton flies, I found that imitating copepods (tied on size 36 hooks) worked better than imitating Daphnia (kidding, pink/orange/olive size 10 blob flies were working).
This weekend will be cold and windy which could dampen the fishing, but hopefully by Sunday they will have re-adjusted. If you are going out, try fishing drop-offs and points that are near shallow areas. Hang flies on long indicator rigs and vary the depth. With the wind today, using at least an intermediate line or sinking line will help to cut through the surface chop and get your flies down. If using a full sinking line, you can also try a washing line set-up with a blob or booby on the point and a weighted leech for the dropper, this helps to keep the flies from hanging up while retrieving them slowly back to you.
For additional info, check out the full report here. Thanks!
Throughout this past week, weather conditions were consistent and water temps have been cold (lows 40s on the surface, upper 30s/low 40s 10ft and further down). All of the lakes south/southwest of Spokane are ice-free, just remember that several are closed to fishing as of today. To the north, the lakes are still about 90% covered in ice, but it's thinning quick and there should be enough open water later in the week.
Attractor and leech patterns on a sinking line or hung beneath an indicator brought some hefty trout to net, slow retrieves with long pauses mixed in seemed to work best around drop-offs. Throat pump samples revealed little beyond zooplankton which tracks with the cold water temps and limited insect activity. When tying zooplankton flies, I found that imitating copepods (tied on size 36 hooks) worked better than imitating Daphnia (kidding, pink/orange/olive size 10 blob flies were working).
This weekend will be cold and windy which could dampen the fishing, but hopefully by Sunday they will have re-adjusted. If you are going out, try fishing drop-offs and points that are near shallow areas. Hang flies on long indicator rigs and vary the depth. With the wind today, using at least an intermediate line or sinking line will help to cut through the surface chop and get your flies down. If using a full sinking line, you can also try a washing line set-up with a blob or booby on the point and a weighted leech for the dropper, this helps to keep the flies from hanging up while retrieving them slowly back to you.
For additional info, check out the full report here. Thanks!
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