The regs are clear about this stretch of the Spokane being Selective Gear, and I feel bad about not catching that on the PDF file I downloaded, so I pulled my head out and headed back to Harvard Road on the south side, armed with unscented soft bodies and barbless leadheads.

Not so hot weather-wise today. Decided to try green/blue, purple, and black curly-tailed jig bodies with 1/8 ounce leadheads. Walked downstream about half a mile to begin with

Caught the first smallie on the third cast into the break; a one-pounder (13"). Switched to purple and immediately caught another one just like the first. That fish was sitting right in the riffle.

That's how the afternoon went. Color wasn't important. Hitting the slots just right was. I managed to land a nice two-pounder (15") under the roadway. I cast upstream so that the jig would fall between a cluster of boulders, raised my rod tip, and wham-o! Nailed 'im. Polaroids are critical to spotting the boulders.

All in all, caught fish every so many casts, and only a couple of them were what I call aquarium fish. Next time I think I'll try the north side of this stretch.

Jay K

8/10/2010 10:02:00 PM

Nice report - glad someone's having a good time off the Spokane River.

Anglinarcher

8/11/2010 9:30:00 AM

Well done. It is a shame the SMB are taking over what use to be a great trout stretch, but at least there are great fish to go after now.

MaxExp82

8/11/2010 12:50:00 PM

The SMB are not "taking over" there is a good population of nice size trout in there. The population of nothern pike minnow is disturbing though , last year I caught some that went to the 8+ pound range..... Spent many trips targeting SMB , and caught mainly NPM when doing so.....


li2us , Dont feel to bad about your other day fishing with a scented plastic , The rules in that stretch of river are geared twards trout , rarely if ever have I seen a trout hit a plastic bass lure , though it can happen ... I dont see anything wrong with you using a scented lure for targeting SMB , although the yuppies around here will jump down my throat for that comment .

I love the Spokane river, its beautiful , and needs to be protected , but I dont have a problem with people fishing it with lures , spinners , plastics , etc , The problem is the people that fish with Live bait , I.E worms, cause the trout inhale them, and the result is usually a dead trout ..

Ive caught and released many trout and SMB on this river, Im glad others can enjoy the fishing there aswell !

li2us

8/11/2010 1:26:00 PM

I realize that the region wants to protect its trout fisheries, though there is no shortage of them in the area. I find it interesting that ALL species are subject to special gear regulations on the upper Spokane, when the State of Washington has made it clear they consider SMB an introduced trash fish. That being said, I don't have a problem complying with the regs.

Thanks to all for the kind comments. Fish on!

fishin-goat

8/15/2010 11:37:00 PM

don't get me wrong ,I was just trying to keep a guy from getting a fine or losing his fishing rights, I understand the rule is more for trout but it is for all species,I have no problem with gear fishermen,I fished for trout for years with spinners with single barbless hooks and still do on occasion,I've also bass fished for fifteen years and seen numerous trout caught on tubes,grubs,crankbaits,and even senko's.I'm nowhere near a yuppie,just a fisherman and a hunter that understands regs are there so my kids and their kids to come can enjoy the outdoors.fishing and hunting is not as good as it was when my parents and grandparents used to enjoy it and its only going to get worse if people dont follow the regs.

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