Roosevelt Sept?

[beerbohm]

I went camping last year at Roosevelt in August and the fishing was poor at best. The wife and I are going to be boat camping again this year but we will be there the first week in September any ideas of how the fishing might be. We typicaly go for the LMB and SMB but if we can hook up with the waleye and trout that would be good too. What is the best kind of bait/lure to use for the walys?

[hewesfisher]

Where at Roosevelt? My wife and I have had good luck fishing for smallies in the Seven Bays area and in deep recesses of Hawk Creek. We use #5 Shad Rap in perch, firetiger, or shad colors as well as 4" brown tube baits and jigs. Always seem to do well. Fish the big rock directly across the lake from Seven Bays Launch and work the area in Hawk Creek near the bend after you pass the no wake buoy. We hammered them there May '07 and we really laid into them at the big rock the end of April this year. Haven't had a chance to go back yet again this year, but really want to get up there for some walleye action. It's the one species I haven't been able to catch in Roosevelt yet.

[lowvw]

Will be there this weekend as well at Banks. Last few trips in Aug./Sept have found fish from 20-40'. We mainly focus around kellers ferry towards the dam. Bottom bouncing yellow/black/white curly tails on jigheads...picked up a lot of smaller walleye(under 20") and a few smallies mixed in. Will post up how it was after we get back on sunday.

[beerbohm]

We will be out there the 1st week of september. We are boat in camping probley into crystal cove. If any of you are out there we are in a red Starcraft. Stop by so that I can tell you lies of how big the fish are that I caught.

[hewesfisher]

I'd love to have an excuse to come listen to your "exaggerations" but I just finished burning a week's vacation that did not include a single trip to Roosevelt. Just couldn't talk my brother into making the run up there.

Maybe I could swing a day on 6 or 7 Sept but don't know for sure. Will you still be out then?

[Anglinarcher]

If you are not catching SMB or Walleye in Roosevelt, you probably are not fishing deep enough during the summer. I won't promise any lunkers, especially SMB, but the numbers are very very high right now.

I saw the 20' to 40' range mentioned. That is a good start, and on a normal morning or late afternoon, you will find them at that range. If you are fishing where there is a mud line in the water from wind or waves, you might even get them at 10' or so deep even during the day. During the day, especially a blue bird cloudless day, the walleye can be caught as deep as 80 feet, assuming you are in a place in the lake were the theromocline is not shallower (wait, that 80 was the thermoclie that time).

Bait is pretty much limited to night crawlers either tipping a jig or on a spinner rig trolled on a bottom bouncer. I have used leaches in the past, but due to issues with possible non-native diseases and lack of access right now, I have tried to use Glup fakes. Some claim the fakes work better, but I'd say perhaps almost as well.

If you are planing on just dunking bait and waiting for a strike, you probably will not do well with anything. But if you jig or troll, you should do pretty well, with the fishing picking up in September.

The only difference between SMB and walleye right now, as least as far as technique is concerned, is depth. If you are catching SMB, go deeper for the super light sensitive Walleye.