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Today my wife and I left our Apartment in Spokane on an hour and a half journey to Chapman lake just outside of Cheney Washington.
We reached Chapman at roughly 5am and sat in the car and waited for the sun to come up a bit to warm up the air since both of us thought it would be a good idea to wear shorts.
I went to some of my old spots at the lake and nothing was biting, we moved locations after about an hour to another old hot spot and still nothing was biting. So we drifted all over the lake. Still nothing.
I have been fishing at this lake since I was 13. I remember you could always catch your limit on Kokanee and Rainbow Trout within a couple hours if you went while it was still dark for the Kokanee and waited till sunrise for the Rainbow.
After 10 hours we had a grand total of three bites and one hellacious sunburn. Even with the sunscreen we decided we had to come home early.
For those who do enjoy this lake. They raised some of thier prices on boat rentals,cabins, etc.
$10.00 to rent a row boat all day , it would be wise to bring your own motor>.
$20.00 to rent a cabin overnight.
$5.00 boat launch fee.
There are no jetski's/waterskiing allowed and to prevent wakes the maximum lake speed is 5 mph.
Next week Bear Lake to see if the rumors of 5lb bass are true.
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Good report, to bad the fish didn't bite, but at least the sunburn will be around for a few days.[shocked]
My wife and I lived on Central and Division for a brief 6 months back in 95', we bought a small 12' boat in Spokane and that's when I got her hooked on fishing. We would go to Eloika, Loon, Newman to name a few. When we left Spokane that's when we moved to Grand Coulee and the fishing really picked up.
Good luck at Bear and hope you get the 5lbr.
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We would drive over to Lake Roosevelt and fish anywhere we could from the bank. There was some pretty good bank access up by Hunter/Daisy right off the road. I rigged up a nightcrawler and weight and would chuck it out there for walleye, then sit and relax. We always did very well.
Porcipine Bay On the Spokane Arm has some good access, but I have never actually fished it though.
If you want to catch some smallmouth bass, anywhere on Roosevelt will work, encluding the spots where you are plunking for walleye. I would recommend using a leadheaded jig with a 3" brown curly tail grub. This is deadly, just cast, let hit bottom, slowly jig back. This is my wifes favorite lure, she'll either jig it off the bottom or cast and real it like a crankbait.
If you ever plan on going over to Banks Lake, let me know. I should be able to send you in the right direction from land or boat. I kept 6 years worth of fishing logs that I made for myself from fishing that lake and I keep them with me in my locker here at work. I'm not shy on sharing information, because fishing is just plain fun for everyone.
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I may head out to Sprague Lake this weekend instead of Bear Lake so I will give it a try. I'll go pick up a leadheaded jig this week and try it out this weekend locally.[size 1] [/size]
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I will be attending a all day concert at the Gorge on July 15th so if i can convince my wife and if we're not insanely burned out I may head out there and see what I can do. I am not sure if we are driving yet or if someone else is.
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Ezop i forgot to ask, what pound test are you recommending?
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Looks like our plans have changed and we will be trying Chapman again this week, I hate being defeated by a lake so i want a rematch.
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Well in about a half an hour we are heading back out to fish for Bass/Kokanee/and Rainbow trout. I have a feeling this lake wont be winning against me today. Have a good feeling.
*UPDATE* Was another bad day of fishing, will be trying williams lake and bear lake next weekend if time permits.
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If you head out to Sprague I would recommend fishing from a boat. Shore access is very limited there. I fished it quite often in 98-99 when I was stationed at Fairchild. If you go try on the east end near the railroad tracks with small jigs tipped with worms for perch. For walleye try trolling bottom bouncers with double wammys and night crawlers. You can catch bluegill and crappie tipping small tube jigs with maggots under bobbers along the weeds and reeds on the east end near the railroad tracks. Good luck.
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I'll be heading to Williams lake possibly this weekend not sure when I will make it to Sprague. Hopefully sometime next month. Thanks for the info.
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Ironically there was ana rticle about Chapman lake ranking it the #3 small bass lake in Washignton. Small being under a certain acreage. So I am going back out there today to catch some of this bass they are talking about. Suppose to be 60 degrees with a small chance of rain.
*Rained out* will try again tomorrow...
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dest part is I hoenstly prefer using a hook and worm and sometimes a bobber over anything. I dont have alot of experience with lures or other specialty fishing equipment.