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Rufus Woods Lake Report
Douglas County, WA

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01/10/2009
Rainbow Trout
All Day
01/10/2009
4
2289

A Snowy day on Rufus Woods.
Hit the water around 1000, and headed up river, Once again saw Waterfowl galore, Deer on the hillsides, and Eagles.
Fished the lower most pens today, caught "several" fish and Cindy and I kept a limit before coming home. The squid was the lure of choice for us, but saw fish caught on Marabou jigs, and spoke with some who had caught fish on spoons.
A snowy, but beautiful day.
A pic of the fish in the raw, and cleaned and made ready for the Brine on the way to the smoker. I take the time to "shave all the dark fatty tissue of the skin side, this improves the flavor for smoking and for fresh cooked.
We got to meet a couple of WL fishing parties while on Rufus Woods today, It's great to put faces with names.
It's still winter out there, so everyone stay safe.


Comments

Mike Carey
1/10/2009 10:10:00 PM
blufin makes excellent smoked fish, I can confirm! Thanks loui!
wolverine
1/10/2009 10:23:00 PM
Loui, are you running the B-2's behind a dodger off a down rigger, or are you flat lining them behind a mooching sinker? I use B'2's below a buzz bomb when beach casting for silvers and pinks on Whidby Island. When the pinks are running there are hundreds of buzz bombs in the air. The B-2 gives them something different to chase.
blufin loui
1/11/2009 7:38:00 AM
Thanks Mike, it's a family recipe. Glad you enjoyed.
blufin loui
1/11/2009 7:49:00 AM
Hey ya wolverine, We just rig them up on a jig, and I'm going to try using just one of the weedless hooks by eagle claw #449W. And pull it through the weeds in the shallows. Will post result when "the results are in":o)
I'll post a pic of the rigging under Rufus Woods, so you can see how I rig them.
You know how we develop different techniques for fishing, well we have used the jig (various styles/shapes) enough that we almost use it exclusively on RW, Just our preference, not that it is the "cats' meeoow" or anything. When we find something that works, we tend to stick with it until it starts to fade. Plus we get 99+ % lip hook ups this way, makes for nice C&R potential.
Stay safe and tight lines.
havnfun
1/11/2009 11:45:00 AM
blufin hope to be there this week around wensday, guys be there by chance?
have had good luck draging a pink steelhead worm for them myself.
ndn
1/11/2009 11:55:00 AM
449W,what size hook would you recommend? How would You fish this lure?
Thanks
blufin loui
1/11/2009 12:19:00 PM
Hey havnfun, My schedule will have the ole nose to the grindstone on wed, but hope to make a couple trips thurs - sun. Me and the wife (my fishing and financial partner) have 4 days off together. We're sure to hit the water a few times. It's interesting the various presentations that will take the RW tripps. Makes fishing for them an interesting endevour. How do you fish the "pink stealhead worm" in RW if it's not a family secret of course. ;o)
blufin loui
1/11/2009 12:28:00 PM
Hi ya ndn,
The size #2 looks pretty good when a squid is threaded on. The reason I want to try the weedless #449W is to fish the weeds slowly. We have taken Tripp's right out of the thick stuff, and it's hard to fish with a conventional jig set up. The #449W has a wire guard that is small diameter and hooks under the point of the hook, streamlined. We use light tackle and I would use the squid without any added weight, and work it slowly through the weeds. It's a blast to see the water moving when a fish is after the bait. we have caught them in just a couple feet of water using this method. In the colder water temps they will feed quite shallow (seems more so than in heat of summer). The trout in RW have a great food source in the aquatic snail, and we have caught them with their stomach packed with the snails.
I've just posted a pic of how we rig the squid on a jig, as soon as it gets through monitoring, you can see it there.
Good luck with all your fishing quests
Fishin Musician
1/12/2009 10:28:00 AM
The picture on the right is making my mouth water! You skin and trim the fillets before going in the brine? I've always smoked mine skin on.
blufin loui
1/12/2009 10:53:00 AM
Howdy Fishin Musician
When we started "smokin" a couple years back, we also smoked with the skin intact. I would find the skin side of the fillet wouldn't be the same consistence as the flesh side when finished. By smokin the whole fillet I would have to shift it around in the smoker to "try" to get an even cook on the fillet, so I thought to start trimming the fillets to make more uniform pieces to smoke. to do so I would remove the skin. I was able to get a more even smoke on them by placing the thicker pieces on the bottom racks and work up the racks as the pieces got thinner. In this way all the pieces smoke out the same without having to shift the racks, and the pieces are uniform throughout. All I do is just turn the fish after they firm up, and continue to smoke. I started removing the dark fat layer before the brine, and noticed a remarkable improvement in taste, and remove it on all my fillets now. All this takes more effort, but has been well worth it to me.
I will however smoke Kokanee with skin on, but here in Lake Chelan the size runs smaller than some waters, and it works fine. The kokannee always taste fine anyway they are fixed.
Good luk with all your fishing ventures
Salmonking
1/12/2009 12:12:00 PM
Blufin Loui,
My friends are heading up that way this weekend for a Sat-Mon fishing trip before my friend heads off to Iraq again. Last trip a year ago was not as successful. One fish about 3lbs. We are looking for some assistance if you can help us. What to use, gear, where...? We will be bringing my bass boat and a lot of gear from flies to trolling set-ups. Any help will be greatly appreceiated. Here is my e-mail: [email protected]
I'll give you my cell # once I get an email. Again thanks for the help.
Fishin Musician
1/12/2009 1:05:00 PM
Blufin loui,
I always enjoy your posts, and good on ya for sharing so much info! Trial and error that's posted can save the rest of us some headaches. I always take the fat off after the trout is smoked, but I'll try skin and trim before the brine next time. It's a pain to move the fish around in the smoker because you lose so much heat while you are doing it. Kinda messes up the timing. My Little Chief doesn't heat consistently from top to bottom so I've been putting the thick fillets on the bottom for a while now. Good tip to share with people new to smoking fish. Hope the passes stay clear for a week or 2 so I can get over to RW and back.
jackbauer
1/12/2009 4:27:00 PM
SalmonKing,

If I can recommend a place, you should really stay at CabinByTheRiver. It was great this weekend. We had 7 in out group that stayed Friday and Saturday night and it was great. Right in the middle of the lake, you can hit anywhere in 20-30mins. And it is only 120/night. blufin is full of great info about where to go. When I have another minute tomorrow, I will email you some info about how we did and what we used.
blufin loui
1/12/2009 5:56:00 PM
Jackbauer
If a few buds got together for a few days stay, the CBTR would be very reasonable and great this time of year.
Salmonking
1/13/2009 9:08:00 AM
Blufin Loui,
Why don't you try a Texas Rig instead of a weedless hook. You can hide the hook in the body of the squid, like they do on the lizzards and worms.
blufin loui
1/13/2009 11:52:00 AM
Good thought Salmonking
I've rigged some of the smaller plastic imitations i use Texas style with great success, but was hesitant with the squid because of the hook size needed to be most effective, and the larger hook adds a bulkier silhouette. may give it a try for giggles anyway. might be the ticket. With the weedless, it appears more streamlined in the water and very little is added to perceived size of the squid.
For the weedless applications, the Texas is great though, I like to use gear light enough to be able to cast without having to add weight (if weight of bait is adequate) and snake, twitch, finesse the bait along.
I will let y'all know how it goes
JERM
1/13/2009 3:23:00 PM
Nice fish's bro. Those fish are huge. looks like a bunch of Steelhead fillets. I wish there was a lake that on the west side. I bet that was really fun day on the water.

Stay Fresh..............JERM
graffagnino2001
1/13/2009 5:06:00 PM
Hey blufin loui,

Great report!....I just want to say we need more guys on this site like you...I like how you are willing to help out other anglers and give advise...very cool...Thanks again...
blufin loui
1/13/2009 10:10:00 PM
Hey Guys
THANKS for the kudos, ya makin me blush
Salmonking
1/14/2009 7:55:00 PM
jackbauer,
We got the place we are staying at. We are on a limited budget, due to being in the military. Thank you though for the advice. Maybe one year we can stay there on another trip to RW. So how did you fair on your trip?
jackbauer
1/17/2009 8:54:00 AM
King,

We did pretty good. My brother, Jdawg, made a post (novel) about it :)

In regards to the cabin, with 7 of us, and it was a little cramped with 7, it came out to only 37/person total. I dont think you could beat that if staying near the lake unless you have a house or something.
jackbauer
1/17/2009 8:55:00 AM
BTW, blufin, if you dont mind, I am going to send you and email about smokin' these Rufus pigs...
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709