Just got back from my first trip to Rufus and all I can say is WOW. The fishing is unbelievable.

We stayed in Grand Coulee at the center lodge (great place and the people that run the office are really nice). The first day we just fished right down the street from Grand coulee. We caught 1 nice 19" native on rainbow gulp powerbait.

The 2nd day we went to the same spot and caught another native bow that went for 17" and were pretty disappointed with the trip so far. Went to the hotel, watched the Hawks (no good) left after half time and made our way to the net pens. Started off with a nice little 3lb trip. Then hooked up with 5.5 lb trip followed by another 3lb trip. We fished in the dark the entire time.

The 3rd day we checked out of the hotel and were at the net pens at 9am. It was non stop action until we had to leave at 2pm. We all caught fish and so did everyone else that was fishing there.

Worms and regular mallows, rainbow power bait, sherbet powerbait, white powerbait, white power eggs, salmon egg powerbait, chartreuse/white powerbait, chartreuse powerbait, any power eggs, anything in general at least got bites, it didn't matter. Lures didn't even get a bite and every time we used any scent we didn't get any bites. 7' leaders was where it was at.

There was 7 of us that went and when it was all said and done we ended up catching 20 fish. 8 of them were 5lbs each. We did the math and we caught more than 70 lbs of fish. 4 were native the rest were trips, both tasted excellent, but the natives were better. The average fish was 3lbs, 1 fish was 9" but the next smallest was 16". We only got to fish at the net pens for 8 hours total. The net pens are the place to go.

From Grand coulee go past the dam, over the bridge, take the first left and stay on highway 155. Go 14 miles and take the left at the rodeo. (If you end up at the town of Nespelms you went too far) The next part gets kind of tricky, go exactly 6 miles and take your left. The road doesn't have a name and isn't marked. There seems to be unlimited bank access, but you may have to walk from your parking spot.

I didn't do to well. I caught 3 fish, the smallest was 2.5lbs and the biggest was 3lbs. Still an all right weekend but that's not what I went to Rufus for. But of of the 7 people that went, 5 caught the biggest rainbow of there life. 3 of the people caught the biggest fish of their life. I saw my 2 cousins and my best friends have the time of their lives. That's all that matters to me. Cant wait for the next Rufus trip.

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