Eastern Washington Fishing Report 08.30.18

Buzzard Lake (WA)

We are finally getting a break in the temperatures around here. With nighttime temperatures in the low 50’s and daytime temperatures in the mid 80’s, our area lakes are starting to cool down. It still wouldn’t hurt to take a water temperature reading periodically while you are there. Buzzard is starting to turn on with some really nice rainbows being caught. First light until about 1:00 p.m. will be your best time. Using small leech patterns or scuds in the morning are good choices to start with.

You’ll want to use them in the shallower waters out to about the 10-foot depth. After the sun gets a little higher, you might want to give some of the attractor leech patterns a try. Going deeper with a bomber chironomid this time of the year can be very productive.  I have had good results at the lake with the following flies; a #14 gray Dunnigan’s scud, a #16 gray Stalcups scud, a #10 olive, black/olive, red Rob’s gb slight leech, a #16 red, black or olive Rowley’s BB micro leech, and a #12 maroon, black, or olive Chan’s BMW.

Blue Lake (Sinlahekin) (WA)

It is that time of year when the brown trout in the lake start moving close into shore and become a little more aggressive as fall approaches. This time of the year is when I have had my best success at catching some of the 20 to 24-inch browns that are in the lake.  In addition to the bigger browns, there are a few nice hold-over rainbows in the 18-inch range. The tiger trout that were planted last year are not very big yet, but they are growing.

I usually fish the bigger part of the lake in the north end this time of the year. It is that time of the year when the trout are looking to start putting on some weight. Rainbows are looking for anything that they can eat. For the browns, it is getting close to pre-spawn time. They’ll start grabbing a lot of different things at times it doesn’t seem to matter including; leeches, booby flies, minnows, and other streamer patterns.

Davis Lake (WA)

I’m still seeing some damsel fly activity on the lake -both adults and nymphs. I had a chance to talk to one of our local fly guys when I was at the lake. He told me he was getting his best results first thing in the morning with small leech patterns and Carey specials. Then about late morning, he switched over to larger chironomids in different colors. He showed me pictures of nice fat rainbows in the 14 to 18-inch range.

As the weather cools and the lake temperature continues to lower, the fishing should pick up a lot more. For the small leech patterns, I would go with the #12 black, marron, or olive-red bead powder leech, or a #12 blood, black or olive BH simi seal leech. A #10 olive Carey special is a good choice too. And, for chironomids, I would try a #10 black or red snow cone. Fall is coming and hopefully just a little quicker than it is.

See past reports from the Omak region, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.