Head to North Central Washington for winter trout fishing
Story originally published in the Northwest Sportsman Magazine January issue
If you’re looking for wintertime fishing fun, leave the ice auger at home and head to the open waters of Rufus Woods Reservoir on the Upper Columbia River, where rainbow trout are known to grow to record-sizes.
This area of North Central Washington generates a decent winter opportunity for boat and shore anglers. These aren’t puny-sized rainbow trout and instead will average 1½ to six pounds, with many pushing the scale into the upper teens and on occasion into the 20-pound range.
The Colville Confederated Tribes play a major role in the production of rainbow trout for their hatchery stocking program. The trout contribute to the Rufus Woods sport fishery — which encompasses a 51-mile stretch of water between the towns of Bridgeport and Coulee Dam — in winter and early spring.
The hatchery-raised rainbow trout are known as triploids because they’re sterile, with three sets of chromosomes instead of the normal two of a diploid fish. In the right setting, triploids grow rapidly since they don’t reproduce and are solely focused on eating, thus the main reason why they grow to such large proportions. The rich ecosystem of Rufus Woods produces triploids that are known to grow three to eight pounds within an eight- to 10-month timeframe.
The body shape of a triploid is rather peculiar and resembles a football or the Goodyear Blimp, plus they’re stronger fighters when hooked. In 2024, more than 45,000 of the fish were released from March through May, and each averaged 1½ to two pounds. You can find stocking information on the CCT webpage.
The tribe is contracted with Pacific Seafoods, a wholesale seafood distributor in the Northwest, to feed and rear the rainbow trout, which are then sold to restaurants. The reservoir’s three net pens produce a minimum of 50,000 pounds of trout annually.
The reservoir takes until late November or December for water temperatures to drop below 60 degrees. That triggers a metabolism switch, making the trout active and easier to catch. By spring, snowmelt from the Upper Columbia in Canada drops the temperature to below 40 degrees, and the fish become listless.
The reputation of Rufus Woods is well known, since the long-standing Washington state sportfishing record for a “resident” rainbow trout, including triploids, was set in the area more than two decades ago. In fact, the state record has been broken four times at Rufus Woods, primarily in the winter months. The current state record is a 29.60-pounder caught here on Nov. 11, 2002, by Norm Butler. That beat out the two previous records of 25.45 pounds and 25.75 pounds, both set in the late 1990s.
Where to go fishing
On the lower reservoir, two bank fishing locations are located just outside of Bridgeport around Willow Flats and Bridgeport State Park above Chief Joseph Dam. Both are easily accessible via Highway 97 north from Wenatchee through Brewster and then taking the turnoff for Bridgeport.
Both park locations have boat launches, parking and fishing access, plus there are fire pits, picnic tables, restrooms and mobility accessible sites.
Brandt’s Landing, located on national wildlife land, is a top bank fishing area and is 7.9 miles on Pearl Hill Road from the turnoff at the bridge below Chief Joseph Dam. Here you’ll find about eight bank fishing access areas, along with fire pit boxes (bring your own firewood), pads for RVs and restrooms.
You can find more bank fishing spots by taking Highway 2 to Banks Lake and going north past Coulee Dam to the town of Nespelem on the CCT Reservation. Just beyond the Trading Post is a fairground where you take a left turn. The road winds down to the reservoir and follows it to the Timm Bros. Ranch site before heading north.
To bank fish off any part of the north shore of Rufus requires a tribal fishing permit (the exception is the designated fishing area at the net pen campground near Coyote Creek, where a WDFW or tribal license is valid).
A tribal recreation pass is also required to access the campground and all other areas on the reservation. There are boat launches at the campground and Timm Bros. Ranch, which are the closest to the net pens. To buy an annual permit or use reservation facilities, visit the Colville Confederated Tribes website. Click here to find a map of Rufus Woods.
At the top end of the reservoir is a boat ramp at Seaton’s Grove, located near Elmer City below Grand Coulee Dam, and it is about eight miles from there to the upper net pen at Nespelem Bar. Anglers will space themselves between the shore and net pens. If the spots are filled, you can also anchor just below the net pen at depths of 50 to 60 feet.
Never secure a boat to the net pens and watch out for anchor cables where you can get fishing gear hung up. Fish are attracted to the readily available food source — hatchery pellets — leaking out of the net pens.
Trolling across the edge of the net pen’s bottom corner is another way to catch fish. Start upstream, then work your way downstream. Be sure you’re outside of the buoy, which marks the snaggy anchor cables.
Talking tactics
The lower net pen is about 33 miles above Chief Joseph Dam. The middle net pen is about two miles below the mouth of Nespelem Creek and Nespelem Bar, which is where a flat is located and is a spot where fly and bank anglers like to fish.
Most boat and bank anglers will use a medium- to light-action, six- to seven-foot steelhead-type spinning or casting rod and a spinning reel loaded with 10- to 12-pound braided mainline.
Moldable dough baits are popular choices; use red, orange, pink, chartreuse or bright green. A colored marshmallow is also effective and a shrimp or nightcrawler combo is another of the preferred baits. Use a heavier slip sinker to stick it on the bottom depending on currents, along with a heavy monofilament leader.
To cover more water, cast a small, baited jig with a slip bobber. Tip the jig with a shrimp cured in fish attractant juice or add a kernel of white corn. You can drift fish with the current or troll hoochies or a flatfish lure and a small crankbait in green or chartreuse. Be sure to add scent to your presentation.
From a boat, toss a black spinner with a shiny silver blade toward the shore while slowly reeling it in. Trollers like to use a variety of lures and plugs in bright orange or fire tiger. Flat lining a plug catches a decent share, and some opt for a wedding ring type spinner laced with a nightcrawler.
Trolling a large Woolly Bugger fly on the surface at one to two miles per hour and run the fly about 100 yards behind the boat just off the shoreline, which is another fun way to hook them.
Fishing action isn’t determined by time of day, although morning hours tend to be best.
Don’t overlook walleye
Rufus Woods is also a well-known hotbed for walleye in the winter and you can use the same gear as you would for trout. If you want to target walleye only, then switch to bottom bouncers and spinners and troll downstream and upstream just below the net pens. There are snaggy spots, so plan on losing some gear, but keep in mind the reward is catching a nice mix of walleye and triploids.
Walleye prefer more water flow and trout prefer less water flow. Try deeper-water areas during the colder times of the year when the trout will hunker down in the warmer water near the bottom.
The bite is sometimes a function of flow, which is controlled by the dams, and when the flow is really low and slow, the fishing tends to take a nosedive. This makes it difficult since you can’t plan in advance whether the dams will be releasing water or holding back to generate power during the winter.
Jigs are another choice to catch walleye. Try a 3/8-ounce jig with a number three curl tail and tip it off with a small piece of worm. Coldwater walleye aren’t very active, so watch your fish-finder to stay on top of them.
Look for walleye in the protected seams just off the fast current or calmer water areas where they hunker down and wait for a meal to pass by. If you launch at Seaton’s Grove, stop at the little backwater behind the big island and leeward side of Split Rock.
(Editor’s note: Mark Yuasa is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife communications manager and longtime local fishing and outdoor writer.)
