I knew I wanted to get out on the water while I was back in Montana for vacation, but wasn’t exactly sure where I wanted to go. I heard mumbles of people mentioning the Walleye and Northerns were starting to bite on Noxon, so naturally I took the only leads I could find.
Justin the Tile Guy, Scott Anderson and I took a trip to Noxon yesterday which happened to be the first time any of us fished the reservoir in about 10 years (I had never fished Noxon)
Hookem Harry
Justin The Tile Guy
Scott Anderson
Morning Agenda
6:30am – Justin the Tile Guy walks in the house and i’m sound asleep because my phone died in the middle of the night. (note to self always keep phone on a charger during the night)
- 7:00am- We left the Captains House with the boat hitched on and coffees in hand
- 7:20am – Quick Starbucks stop for another energy boost (Starbucks Coffee has the highest amount of caffeine out of any coffee)
- 7:45am – Justin the Tile Guy got a major Caffeine buzz from the Coffee and was singing country music (he doesn’t drink coffee very often)
- 8:00am – We finally hit the highway en route to Thompson Falls where we would meet Scott Anderson for a day on Noxon
- 10:00am – We put the boat in the water and start fishing
Intended Target
We all agreed we would go after Walleye first as we all hadn’t fished Noxon for Walleyes before and we all love catching them.
Set Up
- Bottom Bouncers
- Smile Blades with Floaters, Beads and Worm Harness
- Alabama Jumper Worms
What are Alabama Jumpers?
Alabama Jumpers have a tougher skin allowing them to stay on the hook better than many other types of worms. The name itself, Alabama Jumpers should give it away to the type of action they perform when dipped into your local fishing hole.
Trip Summary
The boat ramp we used is approx. 1/3 of a mile from Rivers Bend Golf Course in Thompson Falls. We decided to go Left off the boat ramp and head down river to troll the right side of the river.
- We trolled in 15-20 ft of water going about 1mph
- We caught 1 Trout (Justin The Tile Guy) and 3 Squaw Fish (Hookem Harry)
Halfway through the day the rain started to pour and we decided we would head back upstream and try our luck. Right before we took off Justin called a buddy of his that mentioned the Walleye had been bitting up by “The Golf Course”. So we pulled up our lines and headed upstream at a whopping 15 mph (if that) and quickly realized how far we had actually gone during our trolling adventure.
25 minutes and a wet frozen face later we arrived at the boat ramp to talk to a few guys that had been fishing by the Golf Course – they had caught a few Walleyes and were pretty happy about the odds of catching a few more.
We fished it hard for about 20 hours and didn’t catch another fish.
What We Learned
We noticed the guys we talked to at the boat ramp were getting off the water at about 1:30pm which tells us the bite is in the morning. Your best bet is to fish for Walleye in front of the Golf Course in 20-25ft of water between 8a and Noon.
Outside of Fishing
If you need Tile Services Justin The Tile Guy is the man – Visit his Website
Scott Anderson is a great Fly Fishing Guide with Great Spring Specials Right Now – Visit his Website
Cool Pictures