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Rock Lake Report
Whitman County, WA

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11/26/2011
Trolling
Rainbow Trout
Worms
Blue
Crankbait
All Day
11/30/2011
4
2443

A little late on this one. Buddy and I went to Rock last Saturday. Got on the water at 7am, air temp was 30ish, water temp was 48. Very light wind to start the day. It got a little rougher, but not too bad. Still, it kept me from wanting to run to the north end.

We started out marking fish at 30ft, and close to shore and sitting close to the bottom. So we went to a light (1/2 oz) bottom bouncer with wedding ring w/ worms (a combo that had worked very well before)... no hits. So we casted the shore with blue/while floating and diving rapalas and that did the trick. We picked up 5 browns between us both casting and trolling the rapalas.

On a side note, sonar picked up 30 plus fish grouped off one point suspended in 15-30 feet of water. We couldn't get any of these to hit anything despite throwing the kitchen sink at them. Bass? Carp? Anyone else see this? Ideas?

After fishing this lake for nearly 8 years, and very often the last 2, I'm starting to get things figured out :) The wind is always an issue though. I've gotten stuck once at Johnson's Beach and now get gun-shy with even a slight breeze! Maybe its time for a bigger boat!!!

See ya out there!


Comments

MotoBoat
11/30/2011 9:49:00 AM
Hey nice fish!. However the fish is getting a size complex due to your less than pleased looking expression. Gotta be 20" plus....isn't it?
MotoBoat
11/30/2011 9:58:00 AM
Hey nice fish!. However the fish is getting a size complex due to your less than pleased looking expression. Gotta be 20" plus....isn't it?
rwl
11/30/2011 5:44:00 PM
Thanks for the report, I trolled around the south end for a few hours yesterday and picked up 4 (1 rainbow; 3 browns). 3 colors of leadcore with a wooly bugger caught three, with a few other strikes that didn't hook up. I was also marking fish close to the bottom, was thinking maybe to try to target them either vertical jigging or drop shot, but haven't done anything like that a rock before. I haven't had a great day at Rock yet the last couple of months, hoping it will pick up.
julbright
12/1/2011 8:30:00 AM
Moto - yes, it was 20" plus and my buddy's expression might be due to the fact that we froze! :)
Anglinarcher
12/1/2011 2:03:00 PM
"On a side note, sonar picked up 30 plus fish grouped off one point suspended in 15-30 feet of water. We couldn't get any of these to hit anything despite throwing the kitchen sink at them. Bass? Carp? Anyone else see this? Ideas?"

Yes, I have seen it a lot. It could be Bass, even Crappie, and yes, Carp for sure, but to be honest, I bought an underwater camera for that lake just to answer that question. So far, when I take the camera and the time to check it out, it turns out to be huge schools of suckers. I do know that the browns feed on the smaller ones and the population does not seem to be increasing.
FullofCarp
12/1/2011 7:26:00 PM
Anybody caught a kokanee from Rock?
Anglinarcher
12/2/2011 10:42:00 AM
No, not myself and I have fished it hard. I think that Kokanee would be excellent in Rock. I have lobbied some for it. At one time, Rock produced plankton that was not healty to Rainbow, so only Browns were planted. Now the lake is perfect for Bows as well. I hope that means it is perfect for plankton that supports Kokanee.

The nearest Kokanee would be in upstream two lakes. It might be possible for Kokes to travel from Bonnie to Rock, but I don't think they can travel from Chapman to Bonnie, other then perhaps in the highest water.

Chapman had a public access at a marina. The gentleman that owned that marina died last year and the new owners have closed it off to all "non-community" people. That means that while the WDF&W owns most of the lake, we have no direct access to it. That also means that the 10s of 1000s of Kokanee they have planted in their are off limits to us outsiders.

I have heard that the WDF&W plan on building an access, but with the state budget, I can't see that happening any time soon.
ericksg
12/2/2011 11:43:00 AM
i caught a kokanee there at rock once a few years back, didnt believe it was one, so i took a picture of it and showed a buddy that fishes dwarshak alot for them to I.D. it. it was smallish. maybe 9". cant find the picture anymore so, grain of salt.
FullofCarp
12/2/2011 1:53:00 PM
If somebody can tell me how to post a picture I would love to start sharing my experiences from Rock. I also have spent many hours fishing it......... Last month a caught a Kokanee off johnsons beach. It was a spawning hook jawed male about 16 inches. It hit a large 6 inch plug. I figured it came down from Chapman....but i am confused why it would be in full spawn and hit a large plug unless it was guarding its reds.
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Available Guide

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

Phone: (509) 687-0709