Up until this year we hadn’t had much luck at Dworshak Reservoir., which is a shame, because here is this huge reservoir that mostly has an undeveloped shoreline, nice boating amenities, but the fish we were catching were tiny. Like fall through the net tiny. That all changed this year. We started catching kokanee with a decent size to them, and figured out the technique to start catching decent numbers (hint: they are really shallow). By early June we were having 30 fish days going out for day trips. The water level topped off at full pool about then as well, which made the boat in mini camps (70 in total) easily accessible for some boat in camping. We packed up the boat and headed out for three days of boat in camping to chase some kokanee.
With 70 boat in camps available we had plenty to pick from, all of them have a pit toilet, picnic table and fire ring. With a steep and rocky shoreline, the ability to land the boat and keep it there is a big criteria for a camp. After looking over a few near where we planned to fish we found one with good shade and we were all set.
We didn’t do quite as well fishing as our previous two trips, but we came home with a total of 45. It’s nice to get the freezer restocked with kokanee (there’s a daily limit of 25 per person).
Checking today, the water level has already dropped 10 feet from full pool. I’m glad we went when we did, and remember if you don’t do it this year, you’ll be one year older when you do.
