strikezone
11/1/2015 4:50:00 PMThose are some sweet looking rainbows. Way to go. Hope to make it over that way just after Thanksgiving if the weather cooperates.
Denny
Denny
widebear
11/1/2015 5:21:00 PMThanks for the report Hewesfisher. It's getting that time of the year to get out again. Back in the old Lincoln sawmill days we wouldn't start going out until the water was 52 deg. But no net pen fish back then.
Kekedatackleco
11/1/2015 6:20:00 PMBeautiful fish Phil! What a fun couple days. I've been amazed at how warm the water is still. It's nice to fish in but I'm looking forward to that cold water and Winter fishing. Thanks for the report, great job out there with the flies. We got to get out there soon! -Dave
downriggeral
11/1/2015 7:32:00 PMNice fish Phil - Pretty amazing the surface temps are still that high. You made the right call on the weather. Not much fun out there if it got that bad anyway. Thanks for sharing - Alan
PS Gotta get some Kekeda's wet soon!!
PS Gotta get some Kekeda's wet soon!!
hewesfisher
11/2/2015 6:52:00 AMYou can see Dave's flies (he makes the Kekedas) at https://www.etsy.com/shop/Kekedatackle. He's also a site sponsor. Great flies, and I highly recommend them!
I love cold weather fishing at Roosevelt, once surface temps get to 55° or lower it's game on. Good fishing to all. :-)
I love cold weather fishing at Roosevelt, once surface temps get to 55° or lower it's game on. Good fishing to all. :-)
MotoBoat
11/2/2015 8:18:00 AMWith the surface temps what they are, what would you guess your productive fishing depth to be? There is mention of flies tied to 50ft of leader, attached to leaded line. Leaded line, leader, and fly deployed 155" back. Is each color of leaded line 30ft? So, 3 1/2 colors leaded line, trolled at 1.8 - 3mph. Each color is estimated to fish at 5ft of depth? But, at 3mph the depth wouldn't be 17+ ft, more like 8-10ft?
nvan
11/2/2015 8:32:00 AMThe 3 colors, w/ 50' of leader has kind of been a standard for as long as I have fished Roosevelt. One of the guides years ago (Lenny) use to mention that in his seminars. It just seems to work. If I were to use downriggers w/out a depth finder, experiment between 10 and 25 feet down. As the water temps pick up, I wouldn't bother with a downrigger, just lead core or straight mono. For what it's worth, that's my two cents worth. Heading to Roosevelt Friday and fishing the weekend to try out my new Kekeda flies and anything else that has worked in the past. :) Tight lines.
Two Brothers #1
11/2/2015 8:44:00 AMHewesfisher -- Good to see your out after them again and read your reports. The water temps should start to really drop and we will all benefit from that, Good fishing and catching and hope to see you guys out there one of these days, take care.
hewesfisher
11/3/2015 8:57:00 AMI do as nvan does and learned the technique from Lenny Mayo. As stated, it works, and I've been using this method for close to at least 8yrs at Roosevelt. I don't pay attention to "how many colors" since I use line counter reels. My reels are still spooled with the same lead core they were spooled with more than 9 years ago and the last color has been trimmed many times as leaders have been replaced.
With line counter reels and known length leaders I can consistently hit the same target depth every time regardless of the “last color length”. The question of depth really only matters when trolling in a straight line at a set speed, neither of which I do. I constantly change direction affecting speed and depth of presentation. My target speed range is usually between 2.3 – 2.8mph, but will vary as conditions dictate. I rarely ever troll below 1.8mph when chasing ‘bows.
Downriggers are off the boat for the rest of the season. Lead core and long lining mono are my tactics now 'til spring. :-)
With line counter reels and known length leaders I can consistently hit the same target depth every time regardless of the “last color length”. The question of depth really only matters when trolling in a straight line at a set speed, neither of which I do. I constantly change direction affecting speed and depth of presentation. My target speed range is usually between 2.3 – 2.8mph, but will vary as conditions dictate. I rarely ever troll below 1.8mph when chasing ‘bows.
Downriggers are off the boat for the rest of the season. Lead core and long lining mono are my tactics now 'til spring. :-)
strikezone
11/3/2015 12:46:00 PMhewesfisher--I have a question for you. Do you ever have any success just putting a kekeda fly on the end of your long line instead of a plug when you're trolling? And if that's the case do you put any weight in the line to get under the surface a little bit? I'm brand new to Lake Roosevelt so any advise is really appreciated. Thank you. Denny
hewesfisher
11/4/2015 6:38:00 AMHave never tried that Denny and think the fly would just skim the surface of the water at speeds I troll. If I were to use a mono rig in that manner I'd probably run it off a downrigger between 10' - 15'. ;-)
strikezone
11/4/2015 7:38:00 AMhewesfisher: Morning. Thanks for the reply back. Ya,I was just wondering if you'd ever tried that. I think I will give it a go and try the downrigger from 7-15 feet depth range when we get over that way around Thanks Giving or whenever the surface water temp. drops down to lower 50"s. or colder. That way when the fish hits and pulls the rig out of the release it wiil be just the fish and the fly I'd be fighting. I may try putting a 1 to1.5 ounce bananna weight in line in front of the fly some distance so it's movement won't be affected also and let it out to 195 feet and see what happens. Who Knows. I have always said it's not weird if it works. Thanks again and good fishing to you all. Denny
nvan
11/4/2015 7:41:00 AMA fly on the surface can be pretty productive and fun. Try it sometime especially if there is a chop on the water. I will putting a fly on mono this weekend. My biggest concern will be the warm water keeping the fish too deep to be effective.
hewesfisher
11/5/2015 7:58:00 AMNever hurts to try anything. :-)
The Rip'n Minnow 65 plugs I pull will be somewhere around 5' at my normal trolling speeds and they haven't produced a single 'bow yet, IMHO, primarily due to warm surface temps. I have also found more of the smaller 'bows nearer the surface than the bigger ones, so have been trying to keep gear in the 10' - 20' zone.
The Rip'n Minnow 65 plugs I pull will be somewhere around 5' at my normal trolling speeds and they haven't produced a single 'bow yet, IMHO, primarily due to warm surface temps. I have also found more of the smaller 'bows nearer the surface than the bigger ones, so have been trying to keep gear in the 10' - 20' zone.
strikezone
11/5/2015 8:15:00 AMInteresting about your fish size observation. I hope towards the last part of the month the water temp.will have dropped enough to get some of the large ones up more towards the surface. At least that's my plan. But no plans are perfect. I could be all wrong. Another factor is the weather. We want it to cool down over there, but not to the point that we can't get over the pass from here in southern Wash. Denny
Two Brothers Fishing
11/5/2015 1:53:00 PMHewesfisher, my brother Ron and I use flies all the time. We put a slip sinker (about 1/4--to 3/8 oz. behind the dodger or sling blade then go out about 160--180 ft.. Depending on our speed we should be about 10 ft. deep. We seem to do alright this way. Just a thought for Strikezone to think about.TIGHT LINES TERRY
strikezone
11/5/2015 8:44:00 PMtwo brothers: Thanks for the tip Terry. Is there a standard distance to use between the weight and the dodger and from the dodger to the fly? I know I usually only use 7 inches between the dodger and a hoochie when I'm fishing kokanees over here at lake Merwin. I don't usually use any weight because I normally have my doger/hoochie connected directly to my downrigger release clip and I just drop it down to the depth I want to fish at.
hewesfisher
11/6/2015 8:00:00 AMUnless I misunderstood, and I most certainly could have, I thought Denny was asking about long lining a fly with no weight, something I've never tried. Dodger and fly, maybe, if the temps are low enough, adding weight with dodger and fly = fish on! Good fishing everyone! :-)
strikezone
11/6/2015 11:05:00 AMhewesfisher: Morning. Sorry for the confusion. I agree, I wouldn't just drag a fly at the end of a mono line without connecting it to my downrigger and dropping it down 7-15 feet to get it below the surface. But I was wondering also about trying the method of attaching a 1/4-3/8 ounce slip sinker ahead of a dodger and putting your fly behind that. I'm not sure if you would allow the sliding sinker to slide right up next to the dodger. To me it should have a separation there to allow the dodger to be able to work. I'm just not sure of what that distance should be and how far behind the flasher you should run the fly. Hope this makes sense. I want to try both methods and see if one works better than the other.
Denny
Denny
hewesfisher
11/7/2015 7:24:00 AMCan't help you with the slip sinker set up Denny, I use lead core religiously. What you say makes perfect sense to me though. Maybe Terry will post back with a bit more info on their setup. Hope you get over this way after Turkey Day. :-)