Weather in our region is taking a turn for the better and will get fair weather anglers motivated to get out and take advantage of a range of good fishing opportunities. Even ice fishing is more fun when the outdoor temperatures are in the 40s rather than the low teens. There will be more activity on area rivers, as conditions are more conducive to running around in boats after steelhead on the upper Columbia and even trout on Rufus Woods Reservoir. With each passing day the popular opening of the lakes in the Quincy Wildlife Refuge gets closer. On March 1st there will be several lakes opening and if they are ice-free will offer excellent early-season trout fishing. The two big draws for this early season opener are Burke and Quincy lakes, which offer stringer loads of catchable rainbow, with the occasional holdover. Fly fishers will be hiking the steep trail down to Dusty Lake, in search of large rainbow, brown trout and even tiger trout. I am hoping that in the mean time the ice will clear off Moses Lake and a good perch bite will develop near the I-90 Bridge. It has been a couple of years since this fishery has occurred, and myself and hundreds of other anglers miss it.