Five days of snow in a row.  What happened to spring?  It sure didn’t look much like spring here in Leavenworth last week.  I hope that conditions improve as we approach the lowland trout season opener this weekend.  Thousands of folks will be traveling to their favorite lakes for the weekend.  I hope  Mother Nature smiles on them.

Since being outdoors hasn’t been all that attractive with all the snow that has fallen on us recently, I thought I would remind you of some indoor opportunities.  This coming Thursday, April 21st, Bob Feil Boats and Motors is offering another free seminar at their dealership.  They have arranged to get Austin Moser off the water to come down for a presentation on walleye fishing.  His presentations are always very thorough and describe the tackle and techniques he uses to be one of the best walleye guides in the region.  Gary Feil will also provide a presentation on fishing electronics.  Gary is the go-to guy in Central Washington on electronics and he helps hundreds of anglers select the right units for their type of fishing and troubleshoots for them on both Lowrance and Garmin fish finders.  

Gary Feil contacted me to say that there will be some items at sale prices for those who attend the seminar.  He made a special purchase of fishing tackle, priced as low as $1 to $3.  Kokabow walleye bugs will be on sale for 30% off, and there will be many other accessories marked down for the folks that attend the seminar—including discount coupons good for the purchase of selected items through the end of April.  Just another good reason not to miss this seminar on Thursday. The seminar will be at Bob Feil Boats and Motors in East Wenatchee, starting at 6pm.  

Also, the Icicle Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be meeting at the Leavenworth Fire Hall on Friday, April 22nd.  They have a full agenda of items that will be of interest to local anglers, including an update on the spring salmon fishery.  The meeting starts at 6pm.

The trout season in Washington really gets started this coming Saturday, April 23rd.  The annual opening day offers an opportunity for anglers to fish for thousands of trout planted over the winter and spring.  Over 16 million trout and kokanee have been planted in lakes across the state, and you can actually find out about which lakes received plants by visiting the WDFW websites.  On the Fish and Shellfish pages you can look at the lakes by county, and see how many trout and kokanee have been planted.

Remember to get your new fishing license.  You will need it to legally fish Washington lakes, and to participate in the annual Trout Derby.  Tagged trout have been placed in lakes across the state and there are more than 800 prizes available to anglers that catch these fish and turn in these tags.  The total value of the tags in the derby this year is more than $37,000.00!  You can learn which lakes have tagged trout for the derby by visiting the WDFW website and clicking on the Fish and Shellfish page.  Just follow this link to see the list: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/contests/trout-derby/lakes.

If you are among the thousands of folks that will be fishing from shore this season, you may want to get a free copy of my Spring E-Letter.  It is dedicated to those who fish from shore and there are many tips and tricks detailed in the E-Letter.  To get a copy, just go to my website at www.fishingmagician.com and click on the E-Letter button.

I had a busy time on the water last year.  I fished all over North Central Washington and had a lot of very successful trips.  The one thing that I didn’t do enough of was fishing for bass.  This is a ton of fun and I have vowed to do more of it this year.  It’s not too early to get started either.  There have been a lot of big bass turned in at the tournaments already this season and looking back on some of my old photos I found that I had caught some really nice smallmouth this time of year.  Moses Lake is a great place to start bass fishing.  There are literally miles of shoreline and lots of docks to cast to on Moses Lake.  Right now, fish should be in pre-spawn mode and not yet on their beds. They will be staging soon, though, and fishing will be off the charts.  Potholes is another early-season bet for both largemouth and smallmouth bass and Banks can be very productive, too.  Casting Senkos, tube jigs and even crankbaits will work this time of year.  When I get the snow cleared off my boat I am going to plan a bass fishing adventure on Moses Lake.  This week’s photo is of a bass I got at about this time a couple of years ago.

You may recall seeing a recent report from Eric Granstrom showing his boat covered with snow.  He was at Mar Don Resort and woke up to this surprise.  Not that I am trying to compete, but when you live in Leavenworth spring can often come very late.  I am trying to get Nic Alexander, one of the organizers of the Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge, out on Rufus Woods for walleye.  We have been trying to get our schedules together for over a year.  Seems like something always comes up.  This time Mother Nature stepped in to cause the delay.  As I stand in my driveway, scratching my head about how to deal with the late snow, it occurred to me that the fish must be wondering what’s going on, too.  It seemed like we were well on our way to spring fishing.  There were lots of walleye, smallmouth bass and some big rainbow turned in at the Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge, and I thought, oh boy, I need to get out on Banks, Moses Lake, or Potholes.  Looks like I may want to wait a few days for the weather to settle out.  Oh well.

If I don’t see you at the seminar or at the Trout Unlimited meeting, I hope to see you on opening day at one of the lakes in our region.  Good luck!