More to do than just fish

Lake Roosevelt extends 150 miles north from Grand Coulee Dam to Canada. Thirty species of fish live in the lake’s deep waters. More than 500,000 rainbow trout and an equal number of kokanee are stocked each year.

Surely one of these would jump on my hook, I thought.

Husband John wasn’t as optimistic, but he was eager to get a hook wet.

It’s been a long time since either of us had gone fishing. All of my fishing experience was with worms and crickets, catching crappie and catfish on South Carolina’s Lake Secession.

This time, we tried to tempt the fish with artificial lures: bright, plastic minnows and feathers on a hook.

I pictured my catch, a nice fillet sitting on my plate beside a lemon wedge, tartar sauce and a pile of hushpuppies and slaw.

My fish fantasy didn’t play out the way I imagined, but Lake Roosevelt is more than a colossal fishing hole. Along the lake’s banks we explored trails around St. Paul’s Mission and visited an organic winery that was worth the bumpy ride to get there.

We spent the night in a motel and stocked up on supplies in Kettle Falls, Wash., before beginning our two-day camping trip on upper Lake Roosevelt.

After dinner, we followed the brown signs to St. Paul’s Mission, passing the Kettle Falls Historical Center, which was closed at that hour. The mission emerged from trees as we drove to the road’s end.

The structure was originally built in 1847 by Jesuits who had been ministering to the Native tribes on the upper Columbia for several years. The building was restored in the late 1930s. We opened the large wooden door and walked inside the dark interior.

Beside the mission we followed trails through the forest. Groups of skyrocket wildflowers waved their long stalks of little red trumpets.

A large boulder once used as a whetstone sits at an overlook along the path. Kettle Falls was a traditional fishing and hunting site for Native Americans. John ran his hand across the rock, examining knife cuts made long ago.

The next morning, we crossed the lake from Kettle Falls and followed U.S. Highway 395 north, then right onto Northport-Flat Creek Road to Snag Cove Campground.

John assembled the tent, while our dog Kah-less and I investigated the immediate surroundings of our temporary home.

Yellow moths engulfed Kah-less as he stood beside the lake. Black Hawthorn bushes with dark red berries and long thorns lined the water’s edge; some were submerged beneath the high lake water. The fruit of the Black Hawthorn, also known as “thorn apple,” was used by the Nez Perce for berry cakes.

Kah-less swam over the trees to reach sticks I threw into the water.

Okay, camp is set. Time to fish, right?

No. I thought it would be a good idea to visit the China Bend Winery before I got messy taking fish off the hook.

We continued north on North-Flat Creek Road, passing cows and horses standing in golden pastures and squares of hay bales lying in open fields. The winery’s green sign indicated which road to take. Two other signs which read something like “Yes, you’re still on the road to the winery” reassured us we had not taken a wrong turn or missed the winery on the long, bumpy driveway.

The China Bend Winery is located near a river bend known as China Bend. A boat launch by this same name is across the lake on the east shore. (The winery is accessible via boat or plane; call for more details.)

The winery’s proprietors, Bart and Victory Alexander, have created a small operation tucked into a hillside above Lake Roosevelt.

As we approached the winery, we saw raspberries ripening in the sun. Colorful flower beds flanked the driveway. Rows of grapevines stretched into the distance.

Wearing a straw hat, Victory met us with a smile in the shade of her yard. She was on her way to work in the garden before the heat got up.

There’s a lot of work to be done, with all they have growing. In addition to producing grapes for some of their wines, vegetables, herbs and garlic also are grown on the estate and used in organic food products.

Victory told us about their upcoming Garlic Faire with other local garlic growers, featuring garlic foods, artists, craftspeople and, of course, organic wines.

The event happens Aug. 20 and 21 from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $5. Food will be available for purchase or you can bring a picnic. For more information, call (800) 700-6123.

With Victory’s permission, we tied Kah-less to a pole in the shade and entered the tasting room, where Bart waited behind the counter.

Many traditional grapes are hard to grow in this area because of the cold nights, Bart explained. Because of this, the China Bend Winery grows some exotic varieties to create interesting wines, such as their most popular one, Marechal Foch Reserve.

It also makes more familiar-sounding wines: chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon. Some grapes are brought in from the Yakima Valley area.

China Bend’s wines are handcrafted in the Old World natural tradition – meaning no added sulfites (said to cause wine headaches), no filtering or fining, and no additives. John and I commented on how clean the taste was and how the alcohol never got in the way of tasting the grape.

John kept peering through the window to check on Kah-less outside, who had resigned himself to taking a nap as he waited.

After selecting a few favorites from the wine list, we headed back to Snag Cove.

The days were windy, but the nights were calm, still and cool on the lake. We enjoyed sitting around the fire and cooking primitive-style.

When camping, there’s always something we wish we had packed. This forces us to improvise. I used a small rock as a meat mallet to tenderize a rib eye and a larger rock became a bug/fly swatter. John nicknamed me “cave girl” for my handy use of rocks.

The food and wine were good, but we were there to fish.

We cast from our boat into the shadows at the lake’s edge. The motion was a relaxing, meditative exercise, and I couldn’t stop. I kept thinking, “OK, this is going to be the cast that gets a fish.”

At the Snag Cove Campground, two older gentlemen beached their green canoe and set up camp two sites down from us. They were on a trip from Northport to Kettle Falls, fishing as they went.

It was their second day, and they hadn’t caught anything. Not that I was happy about their bad luck, but it did make me feel a little better about my fishing skills, or lack thereof.

We left Lake Roosevelt smelly, dirty and fishless. You know, I really wasn’t in the mood for tartar sauce anyway.