04-15-2012, 10:50 PM
Made it out for a couple of hours today between micro-burst storm events. This weekend has been sunny and calm one minute, and windy and sleet the next. I was surprised to see the water temps in the range of 46-48 F even with this recent winter blast. The birds think it's spring though and I could hardly hear the kicker motor over the cries of ospreys, ducks, canyon wrens, etc.
As most would expect, this is the time of the rainbows on the Gorge. Early spring rainbow fishing can be phenomenal and even with my short trip that was evident. I played some with casting/jigging and also with trolling, both of which were productive in the lower canyon.
Trolling- I used dodger/squid combos hoping I could attract a kokanee for dinner. No kokes, but the rainbows loved it. I was using a Rocky Mountain Tackle (RMT) dodger in hyperplaid and double glow pink squid. I ran this set-up under a planer board in combination with a 1 oz snapweight to get the presentation in the 10-20 ft depth range. I also ran a RMT Serpent spoon in Tequila Sunrise at about 35 ft on the downrigger. Both of these set-ups worked well and kept me busy running back and forth. Most of the open water trout were last year's planters running about 14-inches. Boat speed was 1.6-1.8 mph.
Jigging- This produced the bigger rainbows. I was casting jigs and tubes in crayfish colors, with a hardly a cast without a hit. Most of the bigger bows were near creek inflows and also on main lake points. Many of the hits came on the fall, so watch your line. I didn't get any whoppers which are more common in the spring, but I landed a few around 16-17 inches.
Sorry no pics, I was solo on this trip. Hope it helps, Ryno
[signature]
As most would expect, this is the time of the rainbows on the Gorge. Early spring rainbow fishing can be phenomenal and even with my short trip that was evident. I played some with casting/jigging and also with trolling, both of which were productive in the lower canyon.
Trolling- I used dodger/squid combos hoping I could attract a kokanee for dinner. No kokes, but the rainbows loved it. I was using a Rocky Mountain Tackle (RMT) dodger in hyperplaid and double glow pink squid. I ran this set-up under a planer board in combination with a 1 oz snapweight to get the presentation in the 10-20 ft depth range. I also ran a RMT Serpent spoon in Tequila Sunrise at about 35 ft on the downrigger. Both of these set-ups worked well and kept me busy running back and forth. Most of the open water trout were last year's planters running about 14-inches. Boat speed was 1.6-1.8 mph.
Jigging- This produced the bigger rainbows. I was casting jigs and tubes in crayfish colors, with a hardly a cast without a hit. Most of the bigger bows were near creek inflows and also on main lake points. Many of the hits came on the fall, so watch your line. I didn't get any whoppers which are more common in the spring, but I landed a few around 16-17 inches.
Sorry no pics, I was solo on this trip. Hope it helps, Ryno
[signature]