|
|
There were a surprising number of anglers fishing on the ice at Fish Lake when I stopped by last Thursday. There is at least eight inches of ice and no snow on top of it. Perfect conditions to fish for the perch and rainbow here.
|
|
|
|
A thin skim of ice has formed on Moses Lake near the I-90 Brige. It will be a while before anglers will be able to get out on thick ice to fish for the jumbo perch and walleye at this spot on Moses Lake.
|
|
|
|
I stopped by the Winchester Wastewy at the Bridge on Road 8 to see if people were fishing for perch. I looked above and below the bridge and found no evidence of fishing. Looks like another bleak year at this former hot spot.
|
|
|
|
I found the launch parking lot at the bottom end of Rufus Woods full when I checked here recently. All the boats must have been up at the net pens, though. I couldn't see any boats fishing the cans or as far as I could see up river.
|
|
|
|
In this photo you can see that there is ice forming on Rat Lake, near Brewster. This should be an excellent winter ice fishery, and anglers with four wheel drive can drive right up to the launch.
|
|
|
|
Pictured here is Jeff Stroup, who is checking steelhead anglers at Wells Dam this winter. Stroup is happy to talk to anglers about regulations and rules, where he is finding fish being caught and how.
|
|
|
|
If you take a left on Murphy Road past Chief Joseph Dam and go straight ahead you will find a parking area and this rod holder on the edge of Rufus Woods. This was the best fishing spot when I visited with anglers at Rufus Woods recently.
|
|
|
|
Pat Phillips (right) and I are in his office at the new Colville Tribral Hatchery in Bridgeport. Phillips is the hatchery manager and gave Eric Granstrom and I a walking tour of the facility that will bring thousands of salmon to the upper Columbia River.
|
|
|
|
I am dragging a nice triploid on to the shore on Rufus Woods Reservoir. Eric Granstrom and I were fishing from one of the camp sites at Brandts Landing and caught two before the snow drove us off the water.
|
|
|
|
Rollie Schmitten holds a hatchery steelhead he hooked fishing in the Chelan Falls area. He did a masterful job of running Barb’s Boar and managing his rod at the same time. We also got a big wild fish on this trip, fishing Maxi-Jigs under our bobbers.
|
|