Colville Washington Fishing
Colville Fishing Regulations
Colville Fishing Permits Canada
Colville Tribal Hunting Permits
Colville Fishing Report

All non-members fishing by boat on the boundary waters of the Colville Indian Reservation or from the shore of Lake Rufus Woods at a Designated Fishing Area must have either a valid Colville Indian Reservation Fishing Permit, or a valid fishing license issued by the state of Washington, a tribal press release states. All non-members fishing by boat on the boundary waters of the Colville Indian Reservation or from the shore of Lake Rufus Woods at a Designated Fishing Area must have either a valid Colville Indian Reservation Fishing Permit, or a valid fishing license issued by the state of Washington, a tribal press release states. Access to the shoreline near the net pens is allowed through the cooperation of the Tims Ranch, Columbia River Fish Farms and the Colville Indian Reservation. It is important to note that fishing in this location, in fact the entire west shore of Rufus Woods requires a Colville Tribal permit.

Rufus Woods Impoundment , Triploid Rainbow Fishing

If you would like the chance to catch LARGE rainbow trout, the Rufus Woods impoundment on the Columbia River between Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams are the place to go.

So, just what is a triploid trout? These genetically altered rainbow trout can get large and are football shaped fat. It is a Rainbow trout that has had its chromosomes altered by taking eyed eggs and treating them in either a warm water bath or a pressure bath. This causes one of the chromosomes to split thereby creating a fish with three (triploid) rather than the normal two (diploid) chromosomes. The end result is a sterile fish. This means that triploids do not go through a spawn cycle. Instead, the just continue to eat and grow. Think steer, not mule. In other words a triploid is a sterile rainbow not a sterile hybrid. Since they do not go through a spawn cycle and all the food that goes into them is turned into growth and waste with nothing diverted to reproduction their size potential is much greater than a regular diploid rainbow. The world record rainbow of 43.6 pounds was a triploid that came out of Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan Canada.

State Record Fish : This reservoir is mostly known for its world class trophy triploid rainbow trout. It’s home to the current state record and there is a good chance that the next state record triploid will be caught out of Rufus Woods. There's something about winter at Rufus Woods Reservoir. On February 23rd of 1998 Robert Halverson landed a 25-pound, .45-ounce triploid rainbow. This beat the old state record that had stood for decades by nearly 3 pounds. It was broken shortly after again, then again . Tim Hill of Twisp landed a 25-pound, 11 ½-ounce fish on January 8th. The current record holder is Norm Butler with a 29.6 pound brute taken November 11, 2002. OK, there's something about winter fishing at Rufus Woods.

Average rainbows caught there range from 2 to 6 pounds. Since these are raised in net pens before being released into the system, their fins (particularly the dorsal and tail fins) shows wear. Because they are triploids and well fed, they have a much less streamlined shape than a diploid rainbow. This shape, resembling a football, adds to their fight as the girth of the fish in heavy currents makes them fun to catch on light gear.

History of These Fish : In 1993 the 'pens', where rainbow were being raised for sale to restaurants on the west side of the mountains. Sport fishing there at the time would bring in rainbow weighing from 6 to 12 pounds. They were attracted to the feed that leeched from the pens, and the fishermen were picking off these whoppers by fishing bobber-and-jig rigs, much like fishing for steelhead on the Columbia.

In 1995 things changed here dramatically. The story is that an angler that was trying to tie up to the pens got a little too close, and tore a hole in one of the nets. An estimated 10,000 triploid rainbow escaped, and the fishing party was on! Boats and bank anglers flocked to the site and caught bunches of the 18' to 20-inch fish that were shaped more like a crappie, and weighed about 4 pounds each.
After this incident, more and more of these fish were taken from the reservoir. Anglers fishing Power Bait and worms from the bank forty miles below the pens were soon taking fair numbers of these rainbow weighing in the teens. Due to the popularity of this new fishery, both the Colville Indians and the Washington State Department of Fisheries purchased fish from Columbia River Fish Farms and added them to the reservoir. The frequency of catch and size of the fish was sustained.

Rufus Woods produces good numbers of big, triploid rainbow all year long. A common fish here will weigh-in at 6 to 9 pounds. Scores of fish weighing into the teens are taken every year, too, but the winter months are when the highest number of anglers will land the highest number of really big fish.

The Impoundment :This reservoir is actually part of the Columbia River impounded above Chief Joseph Dam and is the second largest hydropower producing dam in the United States. It is the largest hydropower producing dam operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Alone it produces enough power to supply the whole Seattle metropolitan area.
Power produced here is marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Fifty-one mile long Rufus Woods Lake offers a bounty of recreation opportunities. Recreation at Chief Joseph Dam is centered around the Columbia River. Behind the dam is fifty-one-mile long Rufus Woods Lake. Fishing, boating, camping and hiking are the most popular recreation activities. Chief Joseph Dam is located in north central Washington state, just upstream from the town of Bridgeport. You will find it where Washington Highway 17 crosses the Columbia River. Visitors are invited to begin their visit to the dam at the Orientation Area. There you will find interpretive displays and brochures which will guide you on your exciting journey. As you approach the dam, tune your AM radio to 1610. The radio broadcast will familiarize you with the history of the dam as well as recreation opportunities in the area.

Net Pens : The Triploid Rainbow Trout fishery is completely dependent on a net pen operation located near the middle of the reservoir. The Colville tribe has an agreement with the operator to release approximately 2,500 fish per month into the system. These releases are unpredictably augmented at times due to accidents. The most recent excess release occurred during the heavy runoff in the spring of 2011 when heavy nitrogen build up near the pens would have caused fish to die if confined causing the owners to release a lot of fish. The high run off also caused net pens to break apart and an estimated 100,000 triploids escaped into Rufus Woods.

Colville Washington Fishing

There are actually three sets of pens on Rufus Woods. The (Lower) set is about 33 miles upriver from Chief Jo dam. The (Middle) set is the set that is closest to Nespelem and they are about 38 miles upriver from Chief Jo and the (Upper) set is about 45 miles upriver from Chief Jo. The upper set of pens for a while was getting the most traffic (Combat Fishing) because of the accidental release of 32,000 triploids. You will find the fishing around the lower set of pens to be much more relaxed because there are not as many people there. Bear in mind that there is over 100 miles of shoreline on Rufus Woods (much of it non-fishable however), so if you want to fish away from people it’s easy…just move.

Here a fisherman is fishing below the upper net pens on a COLD October day.

Colville Fishing Permits