Lake Spokane(Long Lake) Boat Launches

[Aaron]

Are there any good launches on Lake Spokane? I hate the launch at the mouth of the Spokane/Little Spokane, and I am not aware of any other launches. Are there any? Do they have a dock? I know it's a bit late to post this, but I would like to get out there tomorrow morning about 8 am if possible...

[Aaron]

If there are any, could you post specific directions to them so I can find them in the morning? Thanks.

[Aaron]

I've been looking around and I have found these and don't know which ones are open, and which ones are a GOOD launch:

Spokane House
Nine Mile Resort
Willow Bay
Long Lake Campground

[Mossy]

9 mile should be open, take a left on the bridge at the falls right after the feed store/gas station, about a mile later take the posted right. Has a dock, don't go straight from the launch as there is a huge sand bar, I usually stay left. The launch at the other end of the lake is the DNR and I beleive they have a dock but I haven't launched there in years so I'm not sure if it's open, probably though. The spokane house has a dock as well but the ride up is tricky if you don't pay attention to the depth(don't wanna scratch up that new prop). I vote for 9 mile

[Gisteppo]

Aaron, there are private launches as well.

Spokane House is your best bet right now, as it is essentially the only public launch that is open. The Nine Mile Resort opens Memorial day, Long Lake Campground is actually the BLM launch and can be arbitrarily open or closed based on the BLM's mood that week.

Spokane house is a good launch, you just need to be aware of how to get in and out.

Launch to the dock, park the car. Normal drill.

Since you are doing the same startup procedure that Phil had, get the kicker up and running AT the dock, sputter free. TURN THE BOAT AROUND BY HAND AT THE DOCK SO IT IS FACING OUT. This isn't normally necessary, but since we have both high flow and you are on a kicker, turn her bow out. Take a course directly in line with the dock, straight toward the other shore. There is a black buoy to go around, run until you are 2/3 of the way across the river, or within 100' of the opposite bank. This is the year-round river channel.

Hang a right, staying in that same general area to river LEFT. You will run less than a mile downriver until you see a grouping of markers on the LEFT side of the river. This is a rock bar that is clearly marked. Follow it around to the RIGHT (very easy to see). This is the confluence with the little spokane. A rock outcropping will be visible ahead on the RIGHT side of the lake. There is a small rock finger there, so just don't hug the shore.

Now head down through the first neighborhood. Middle of the river is gravy.

The last tricky part is straight out from our place, just around the big river bend. You will see a HUGE house on river RIGHT. Just past there, stay on the right side of the lake, It opens up into what appears to be a HUGE bay, but it is a SHALLOW area. See the picture below:



Just stay river RIGHT until you are past this area, where the river breaks right. From there on, its all good.

Watch for snags and junk in the water, flows have been going up and down which tends to release debris often.

Please give me a buzz if you have any questions. You should have both my numbers on you.

Also, I will be home in the morning around 9, at which point I can take you down to our neighborhood private launch like Phil did. It avoids the upriver section, but it is 24 hrs later.

If you have any questions, ANCHOR AND CALL ME.

E

[Aaron]

All is well! Willow Bay, $15, good to go.

The launch and dock at Willow was nice enough. It's a deep launch and the boat was floating before my rig got anywhere near the water.

I hit up a friend of mine late last night to see if he was free this morning and he was. He's had experience with boats so I felt comfortable taking the boat out today. We started it up, headed downstream, and spent a wonderful morning on the lake! Put about 1.25 hours on the Optimax, and 2.1 hours on the kicker.

I took a quick little video to show my kids how fast the boat would go:

Lake Spokane - Maiden Launch - Full Throttle Burst

For most of the day we were the only boat on the water. There was hardly any wind and the sun was out most of the time. It was perfect. Except for a few bends in the lake the surface was as calm as it gets.

Eric, I'll PROBABLY want to take you up on your offer for tomorrow morning. I'll call you later today to confirm and get directions... The rest of my day today is very busy.. I'll try not to call later than 8-9ish. Drop a PM if that's too late to call.

My friend Greg securing the boat while I park the trailer:

[Gisteppo]

Aaron, Im at the station so anytime before 10p is fine, and typically if you send a text Im up various times of the late evening until about 2am saturdays.

Try the cell as Im obviously not gonna get the house phone. Or 911 if you really need me.

I should be able to put the trim aside for a while in the morning. I can go take you up to the narrower areas and we can talk about a Lake Spokane guide for launching for the website.

Glad you got out today!

E

[hewesfisher]

Alright!

Glad to hear you got out and had a nice day on top of it. Do I need to ask if you were sporting a big grin? I really wanted to come out today, but I had things I just needed to get done today, one of which was installing my Raymarine plotter. That's finished so now I want to get out and play with it. :compress:

We'll have to go out together and take turns doing photo shoots of each other's boats. I'm waiting for your video to download so I can check out your run, but I already know what it's like. :-)

[Gisteppo]

Hell we could all go out and I could shoot both boats running together with Flight of the Valkyries playing....

E

[Aaron]

Sounds like a great idea Phil. Perhaps next weekend? Forecasts show it as being clear skies and sunny all weekend...

[hewesfisher]

Sounds like a great idea Phil. Perhaps next weekend?

Aarghh, I'm supposed to paint that truck cab next weekend. I've got to get it done and already have the booth scheduled for the weekend, so I don't dare put it off. Maybe Sunday afternoon depending on how things go on Friday & Saturday.

Hell we could all go out and I could shoot both boats running together with Flight of the Valkyries playing....

Great idea!:cheers:

[Aaron]

No worries Phil. We'll get out.

After I canceled the trip to LS last night on account of the forecast, I awoke to a perfect day for fishing and had to sit at home all day and stare at the boat. :/ Called just about every friend I know that would be interested in going out and couldn't find a single person that could.

Instead of going out, I got my tackle organized and got rigged for some Mackinaw fishing. I think I'm going to head on up to Deer Lake sometime this week. As well, I got my sonar/GPS/chartplotter all configured and ready for map recording. I plan on making some of my own bathymetric maps this season and I figure Deer lake is a good place to start.