01-06-23 REELLIFE print - Flipbook - Page 19
Fishing season is officially in full swing! With
so many lakes, rivers, and marine areas to
choose from, it can be hard to pick your next
adventure. If you’ve never fished Riffe Lake
before, or if it’s been a while, you should put
it at the top of your list. It’s one of my favorite
fishing destinations, and I make it a point to
fish it as much as I can every year. Not only
is the fishing top notch, but the scenery is
beautiful and the surrounding towns are
well worth visiting. I can’t think of many
other lakes that offer such a wide variety of
fish, let alone with such a good opportunity.
You can catch brown trout, cutthroat trout,
smallmouth bass, chinook salmon, coho
salmon, crappie, and brown bullhead. The
lake is simply packed with fish, and they’re
willing biters. You can take the boat out or
shore fish, and finish out the day with a Dam
Burger from Pioneer Bar & Grill in Mossyrock
before heading home to grill your catch. It’s
a bit of a drive, but it’s a great way to spend a
day!
Located in Lewis County, Tacoma Power
created RIffe Lake by constructing Mossyrock
Dam on the Cowlitz River in 1968, flooding
the communities of Riffe, Nesika, and
Kosmos. It has a maximum depth of 360 feet
and is about 23.5 miles long. Not only does
the lake boast good populations of landlocked coho salmon, but you can also catch
triploid trout! Back in 2020, Tacoma Power
bought about 400,000 Rufus Woods strain
triploid trout and released them into the lake
for anglers to catch. The fish have had plenty
of time to grow and they are a ton of fun to
catch. If you’re lucky, you may even hook
into a steelhead or a chinook salmon on the
same day! Tacoma Power releases these fish
into the lake as well, once they’ve met their
stocking quotas. With such a plethora of
fish to catch, you can see why Riffe Lake is a
favorite of many northwesterners.
Trolling Techniques
Riffe Lake has plenty of room for boats of
all shapes and sizes. It is almost 24 miles
long and up to 360 feet deep, which can
sound intimidating. Not to worry, there are
thousands of fish in the lake, and most days
they are willing biters. There have been many
days when we can’t even put the planer
boards out because the two downrigger
poles or lead lines are constantly going off!
Early in the season, lead lines, divers, and
dropper weights work just fine. The fish are
still feeding on the surface and haven’t been
driven down to the depths by the hot sun.
As the season progresses, however, a good
fish finder is a must, particularly for the landlocked coho. Troll until you find a school,
mark where you get bites, and don’t be
afraid to put a little scent on your lure. I find
that the land-locked coho are particularly
attracted to pink lures and dodgers. You
can use corn or maggots to bait your hooks.
Spinners, plugs, spoons- they all catch fish at
this lake.
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