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Rufus Woods Lake Report
Douglas County, WA

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11/18/2009
Rainbow Trout
Morning
11/18/2009
5
2249

We fished Rufus for our 3rd time ever in search of a big triploid. I must say, the third time IS a charm. We arrived today with a game plan, fish on top and COVER water. We launched at Seatons Grove and ran to the 2nd set of pens. Not ten minutes into trolling my River2Sea minnow - BANG! I landed the 7 - 14 in the 1st picture. We trolled that area for another hour or so with no stikes. We cruised below the 1st set of pens and trolled for another hour or so with nothing. At this point I said lets go back to where we started, and I'm glad we did. No sooner than we started along Pops hooked up with a leaping 21 inch rainbow. Not ten minutes later we marked a fat solo fish sitiing on top of a hump in about 12 feet of water. I pointed at it and said catch that one. A few seconds later Pops pole bent in half. He had to show me up and landed the 10 - 2 in the second picture. I motored back to that hump and the fish was gone - crazy! 20 minutes later I landed a 20 inch acrobatic rainbow and we had our limits. Five hours on the water total. Both big triploids took some serious line when 1st hooked, but then they just kind of came to the boat with no additional runs. Maybe they were just to fat to jump out of the water. I'm curious how they will smoke up in the smoker. All of the fish had a ton of snails in them. Surface temp was hanging around 55 degrees all day. I'm not certain of the exact area we caught all our fish in, but it was on the opposite side of the 2nd set of pens. As we were leaving Pops stated, great, now were gonna spend about a million dollars in gas coming out here for these big fish!
Blufin Loui - How big are the triploids when they are released from the net pens, and how long does it take for one to reach ten pounds?


Comments

kenbarb
11/19/2009 8:25:00 AM
riprap101 - Was a great report, makes me want to pack up and head for Rufus Woods. I was having the same problem you are having, about getting the pictures in the report, this is what fixed it for me: Write the report prior to up loading the pictures, make the picture upload your last step, and submit the report immediately after you upload the pictures. I would love to see the pictures of those big fish. Ken
goodtimesfishing
11/19/2009 10:18:00 AM
I read a deal on the pics issue, it has to do with the amount of time taken to write report (they said that the program will time out and loose pics) to be sure and have your pics turn up it said to write the report in another program(word or notebook or even say your email program) and then copy and paste it in the report and immediately upload your pics. They will show up as long as you don't take any time writing the report. sure would like to see the pics sounds like a great day fishing!!!
gpc
11/19/2009 12:42:00 PM
Great report riprap. My buddies are heading over tommarow. I know they will find this report helpful.

They will smoke up great, if you havnt had RW smoked trips, they might become your all time favorite smoked fish. They are my favorite. It takes a LOOOONG time to smoke these fish because they are really oily, totally worth the smoking time
blufin loui
11/19/2009 2:41:00 PM
WAY TO GO riprap101, awsome report and good catching. We will be heading farther upriver next trip. That is so cool when you can mark fish, and then BAM, fish on. There are others on the forum more qualified to answer the your growth questions, but as for release weight, some last year were in the 3-4 # range, and some escapees are as small as 8". not sure on the growth rate, but it is phenominal. Maybe someone will chime in. I can sympathize with your pops, as gas expenses to go fishing can really add up. May need to take a second job to afford it, but as cindy says, if ya did that you wouldn't have the time to go fishing.
Thanks for the report, and hope your future tripps are this good also
riprap101
11/19/2009 7:12:00 PM
gpc - We took them out of the smoker after 19 hours and they are still very oily. How long do you smoke them for? Two days?? Try the area directly across from the 2nd set of pens. Lots of points and humps with quick access to deeper water. Plus a bunch of gravel and chunk rock where I think those fish were picking at snails. I posted the pics on an additonal report. I forgot to click the upload icon - my bad.
blufin loui - Thanks for the info and please keep the reports coming. Catch a twenty pounder for all of us.
afk
11/19/2009 9:32:00 PM
Hey riprap101, once you've got a few batches of smoke in 'em, you can finish them off in the oven. Or that's worked well for me. Great to hear of your success. Andy
Mike Carey
11/21/2009 11:26:00 PM
pictures posted, NICE! :-)
steelhead64389
11/25/2009 11:59:00 AM
Hey RipRap.... the second picture posted must not have been of your dad's 10.2lber. That fish looks more like 3lbs to me. Don't get me wrong... that's a nice fish but 10lbs??? Good luck on your future trips up to RW. It is paradise even when the fishing is slow.
riprap101
11/25/2009 1:48:00 PM
The pic of my fish was in a lot tighter, making the fish appear larger than 8 pounds. The pic on the old mans fish was out a bit. Yes, that fish DID weigh 10-2. Pops stands 6'4 and has hands the size of oven mitts. I don't know what kind of three pounders you have been hooking up with, but please let me know. Perhaps you need a new scale??
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709