Labor Day at Gifford

Threw caution to the wind this Labor Day weekend, and went up to Gifford Campground with the Anderson clan to do some Walleye fishing and eat a lot of food. Boy, did we do both!

Linda and I met Mike, Rayelle, and Julia at the store in Post Falls and we picked up some final items and were off. Our little caravan drove through west Spokane and headed up through Loon Lake to the Addy/Gifford cut-off road where we climbed up and then dropped into Gifford Campground. The rest of the group was there waiting and we grabbed our spot and got set up.

The weather was calling for rain off and on the entire weekend, but we lucked out and had beautiful days of partly cloudy skies. Most of the time it was warm and even hot!

Mike and Earl ready the boat for Walleye fishing.

We met everyone in the group: Earl and Lorane Anderson, Skip Allert, Mike and Julie Boyle, Mary and James, Kyle and Tessa, as well as Mike, Rayelle, and Julia

The group with dogs.

This was my second time fishing for Walleye and both times were with Mike and/or the Andersons. We fished Saturday morning with Earl and Mike and then in the afternoon with Mike, Rayelle, Julia and their dog, Annie.

Lindy Rig, but Earl used worms and a hook.

On Sunday, all the Anderson clan left. Visitors were coming into town, school was starting, and things needed to be done at home before Tuesday. We stayed and I fished with Mike and Skip. During these trips, we caught some fish, but everyone said it was a bit slow. They all usually fish at a different part of Lake Roosevelt. They kept saying "At North Gorge..." and then went on to tell me about how they fish up there. "At North Gorge, the bottom is rocky, so you don't know if you are hooked on a rock or a fish!" "At North Gorge, we know where all the holds for fish are; here we are just guessing." I guess I will have to go up to North Gorge and see for myself.

We fished with jigs and bottom walkers while we were up there. Bottom walkers were new to me so I enjoyed learning a new technique.  Earl used a system he called "the Lindy rig". From what I gathered, he is so faithful to it that he fishes it come hell or high water. It was fun fishing with these guys because they were so knowledgeable in their usual ways of fishing. I got a lot of great tips and heard some great stories. Remember, "If you are fishing as slow as you can go, then you are going too fast!" according to Earl.