PAGE A24, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 30, 2021
The Curve
By JIM TAYLOR
For the Keizertimes
In the middle of April, my friends—
Stinky, Crab Bait—and myself took a road
trip to Rufus Woods Lake, below Grand
Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in cen-
tral Washington. Rufus Woods is a 51-mile
long reservoir behind Chief Joseph Dam.
The lake is home to fi ve net pens, each
about an acre, owned by Pacifi c Seafood,
to raise triploid rainbow trout for stores.
When you see farmed steelhead in a store
they are rainbow from Rufus Woods Lake.
They are sterile and can’t reproduce; they
The Great
OUTDOORS
grow very fast and big. Many are released
into the lake for the Coville Tribe and fi sh-
ermen. There is a two fi sh limit over 14
inches.
After driving most of the night—seven
hours—we backed Crab Bait’s jet sled into
the water. Seven miles down the river was
where we were going to fi sh. A acquain-
tance had fi shed there the previous week
and gave us the information on where to
go and what to use. The air temperature
brainfood
Jim Taylor
was just above freezing and it was a cold
25-minute trip down the river.
When fi shing in a new area there is a
learning curve no matter how good a fi sh-
ermen you are. We started with a black and
purple jig under a bobber and it worked
well. Most of the fi sh were under 20 inches
but we fi nally caught three that were four
to six pounds. A good day.
Day two started with another cold ride.
I wrapped a space blanket around myself
to break the wind. It worked well but may
have messed up some Air Force radar. We
decided to use soft beads, used in steel-
head fi shing, under our bobbers. It worked
well even when we trolled slowly. We kept
six 6 to 7 pound fi sh and released about
60 smaller fi sh. The learning curve was
fl attening .
Our third day resulted in an epiph-
any. After catching some of the usual
15-20 inch ‘tweeters,’ a large muddy creek
entered the river. The Columbia was 39
degrees and we could see down at least
15 feet. Back in the cove where the creek
entered it was 50 degrees with two feet of
visibility. The depth ranged from two to 10
feet; the fi sh liked it there.
I had the only fl y and so I tied an #8
black woolly bugger fl y and cast it out and
let it sink a few seconds then began to
strip it in slowly. After about three strips,
I hooked a big fi sh and brought it to the
net. A beautiful nine-pound rainbow. On
the next cast I caught a tweeter but that
was enough to get my buddies to tie on
woolly buggers. With their spinning rods
and a split shot weight it worked great. We
kept six fi sh and released at least 75 others
On our last day we set a 10 a.m. dead-
line to quit fi shing because we had a long
drive home. At 9:30 we caught our sixth
keeper. We’d released about 50. The six
were 8 to 11 pounds. To make it even bet-
ter, we were by ourselves with nobody in
our area.
This was the greatest trout fi shing we’d
each ever experienced. Also the best eat-
ing fi sh. Deep orange meat and a lot of fat.
Do you think we’re going to return? We’re
planning a mid-May trip. We are fl atten-
ing the curve. At least ’til next time.
Cat of the Week
Name: CHAZ
Age: 6
HISTORY: Chaz is a special needs cat on a
particular diet and medication for chronic asthma.
Frequent vet trips are necessary to keep him healthy.
crossword
PREFERRED HOME: A quiet home with no dogs
and children over the age of 13. He’s shy and
cautious at fi rst, but a new owner would soon
discover his aff ectionate and loving personality.
answers pg A10
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