Tribal fisheries beckon anglers to the Rez

A group of excellent fishing waters will open April 11 for non-tribal members on the Colville Indian Reservation, but anglers don’t have to wait that long to wet a line.

The tribe released 10,000 triploid rainbow trout weighing about 2 pounds each in the year-round fishing waters of Lake Rufus Woods on Thursday, making the reservoir between Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams a likely hot spot for anglers this weekend.

The tribe and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife co-manage the Rufus Woods fishery while non-tribal members fishing at open waters elsewhere on the reservation must purchase a tribal fishing license.

“There hasn’t been a lot of escapement from the aquaculture net pens in recent years, so we’ve been stocking Rufus Woods for fishermen,” said Bret Nine, Resident Fish Program manager. Big escapements from the commercial pens years ago made the lake famous for record-size fish.

Thursday’s trout release follows the stocking of about 5,500 rainbows in the 1.5- to 2-pound range into the Columbia River reservoir on Feb. 24, he said.

Omak Lake, with its outsized Lahontan rainbows, is another one of the standout year-round trout waters on the reservation.

“Omak continues to be fabulous fishery, where anglers can average about two fish per hour for trout running 16-22 inches,” Nine said, adding that fishing has been good in recent weeks.

Tribal lakes that reopen on April 11 – they also have a winter season – offer variety to anglers.

Buffalo Lake is known for naturally produced kokanee. Nine says the fish should range 12-14 inches this season and some rainbows up to 3 pounds also will be released.

“Buffalo has fairly decent largemouth (bass), with some over 20 inches and a chance of an 8 pounder,” he said. “During our survey last summer, the lake had quite a few crappie and a good forage base.”

McGinnis Lake has a rare and popular brook trout fishery with trout mostly in the 14- to 17-inch range.

“It’s stocked with fish from the tribal hatchery in Bridgeport and the catch rates are about two fish per hour,” Nine said.

Twin Lakes are stocked with rainbows that average 1.5-2.5 pounds and also attract bass anglers.

“The bass do very well,” Nine said. “You have a chance to catch a 7, 8 or 9-pound bass in there. Lots of bass are over 17 inches.”

Rumors of the tribe using gillnets to remove the bass from Twin Lakes are not true, he said.

“We do monitoring in every lake for trout and we use nets to sample,” he said. “But largemouth don’t recruit to the gillnets like the salmonids. We recognize that bass provide a great recreational fishery and the tribe wants to keep it.”

The bass fishing is especially good – and popular – during spring.