There is good news and bad news for folks who are fans of fishing at Rufus Woods Reservoir. I’ll give you the bad news first. According to Joe Heinlen at Lake Chelan Adventures, and a real pro at fishing Rufus Woods, the bite has slowed down considerably. The water temperature has dropped below 40 degrees and the fish have become lethargic. People shouldn’t expect to catch 30 or 40 fish at Rufus now. The good news is that the ones that Heinlen is catching are very nice fish. He sent me a photo of one weighing 18 pounds, four ounces recently, and he said that when you do hook a fish it will likely be a dandy. He is having best success now trolling very slowly and further off shore than earlier in the season. He is putting his lures at about 20 feet down and is using a combination of different colors of Rapalas and flies. It is still definitely worth the trip to Rufus Woods; it’s just that the experience there is more about fishing than catching right now. Shore anglers are also finding the bite slow, but those that are patient and stick it out and pulling some fat triploids from Rufus. Don’t forget that Joe Heinlen will be sharing his secrets to fishing Rufus Woods on Wednesday, January 20th at Town Ford in Wenatchee, starting at 6 p.m.