Tough day for me at Rufus. My first outing of the year there and it is still a bit early for the walleye bite. The full moon probably didn't help either. I launched at Seaton's Grove and went down to the island; I worked the area at the upriver end; the current swirls around pretty good but I marked a lot of fish in 35 FOW. Seeing and catching are two different things though. I also worked the downriver side of the island and never had a hit. I threw jigs and blades in multiple colored jig heads and soft plastics. I ended up catching three trout and one walleye for my efforts. A black jig head with a green pumpkin chartreuse tail senko produced all 4 fish. I was on the water at 0600 and off by 1200. The water temp is still 39 deg. and will need to warm up a bit before the walleye bite starts to pick up.

MS

hewesbob

4/3/2018 9:13:11 AM

Thanks for the report

fishbitmylure

4/3/2018 10:11:51 AM

Very informative report! Thank you for the details. We are thinking of heading over there next month once it gets a tidbit warmer for the eyes. Do you know if they have released any trout from the pens recently?

clawman

4/3/2018 4:29:40 PM

Wouldn't the walleye run upstream to spawn? Do they spawn rather shallow like bass?

CCTMark

4/4/2018 10:16:47 AM

Fish - My guess is they haven't released any trout yet; I only say that because you normally have a hard time getting a jig or blade bait through the trout to the bottom so the eyes can get it. I did not have that problem and a couple of places I fished you normally catch trout like crazy whether you want to or not.

Clawman - Walleye do spawn in rocky areas that are fairly shallow; they need the sunlight to warm the eggs. There are quite a few stretches in Lake Roosevelt and Rufus where the walleyes spawn on main river flats not in tributaries like the Spokane Arm. The big females tend to be quite shallow as the spawn nears; they also are trying to warm up. I caught a 10 lb. female a couple of weeks ago in 3 FOW; she was on a flat with current but it was not in the main river channel current.

Part-Time

4/6/2018 4:16:11 PM

Thanks for the report. If you keep posting all the good info maybe I will figure out how to catch Walleye eventually.

Part-Time

4/6/2018 4:24:38 PM

On the water at 6 AM at Seaton Grove, that's brutal.

Mauk Fishing Stuff

4/7/2018 6:57:06 AM

thanks for the report!! always good to hear one way or the other, thanks for taking the time to let us know.

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