There is a lot going on now. Fishing events for kids, walleye fishing, kokanee fishing, and the opening of trout season. I hope you are getting out and enjoying all the great opportunities for fishing around the region.

One of the first places to look for walleye on Potholes Reservoir in the spring is in Lind Coulee. Some walleye move up into this channel for spawning in the spring and then move out into the reservoir. Plus, many fish remain in Lind Coulee and can be caught later in the season. Brian Nielson and Mike Wren invited me to come along on their first walleye trip of the season, and we fished Lind Coulee last Thursday. We launched at the refurbished Sampsons Pit site, which is on the O’Sullivan Dam Road, just before you reach the dam from the east. Brian drove his boat up past the bridge on Road M, where there is another launch. We made our way up the coulee that wound through brushy islands and narrow rock bluffs. There are places where two boats wouldn’t be able to pass through side by side. You can run all the way up to the outflow of Warden Lake in the scenic coulee. We were trolling 2 ounce bottom bouncers and Smile Blade spinners, and Mike landed four fish of 15 to 18 inches. I lost one near the boat, and then on our way back down, landed a 25 inch male walleye. Fishing in Lind Coulee is a great experience, very different from fishing the big reservoirs in the region. I just posted the video I did on our trip last week. You can view the new video on the Dave Graybill channel by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/2k4nD0fGgEE. This week’s photo is of me with that Lind Coulee walleye.

The Annual Rock Island Free Kids Fishing Day took place last Saturday, and once again was very well attended. The shore line of the Pit Pond, which is a juvenile only lake, was lined with families casting for trout that had been recently planted by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The event has been going on for over twenty years and is supported by the City of Rock Island. Every year a group of volunteers sets up a cook shack and hands out free donuts and coffee in the morning and then free hot dogs, chips, and soft drinks in the afternoon. I judge the attendance by the number of hot dogs that are served, and this year it was 500! Also on hand were members of the Wenatchee Sportsman’s Association. They have loaner rods and reels and tackle and bait to help the youngsters catch fish. If you missed this free event mark your calendar for the third Saturday in April for next year’s Free Kids Day. Another popular juvenile only fishing lake is Franks Pond at the Beebe Springs Wildlife Unit, near Lake Chelan. It is also stocked every year with trout for kids to catch.

When I was at the Rock Island Free Kids Fishing Day, I visited with Travis Maitland, area biologist for the WDFW. I mentioned that I got a photo from Joe Zelinski of a nice catch of kokanee that they had made on Lake Chelan. Travis said that they had made a couple of trips. The first time they tried the area across from 25 Mile Creek State Park. Here they had good success on fish that were mostly 11 to close to 14 inches. On the next trip they found very good numbers of kokanee in the lower basin. They fished off Chelan Shores and here the fish were bigger. They caught some 15- and even 16 inch kokanee. He said this is very exciting and that makes him wonder just how big the fish will be later this spring. The kokanee were all very fat and obviously heavily feeding. He and Joe tried a variety of gear and colors and on the last trip found that pink hoochies worked the best. They also were using the small artificial grubs instead of corn, that were scented with Graybills Guide Formula in the Kokanee flavor.

The fourth Saturday in April is probably the biggest fishing day of the year in Washington State. Hundreds of thousands of anglers take part in the annual opening of the lowland lake trout fishing season. Millions of trout have been planted in the lakes across the state to assure these anglers have a good time catching fish. Many local communities have informal derbies on opening day. I know that there is one on Wapato Lake and another at Conconully to name just a couple of them. Also, the WDFW has a statewide Trout Derby from April 27th through October 31st. If you catch a trout with a yellow tag it is worth a prize. You need to keep the tag as you will need to provide the number, name of the lake you caught the trout in, the date it was caught and your contact information. When it is confirmed you can go to a local business to claim your prize. It’s just that easy. You can go to the WDFW website to get more details, including a list of lakes that have tagged trout in them. Thousands of prizes are given out every year.

When I am out and about, people often approach me to confirm that I am actually that guy in all the videos. They often thank me for the information they provide. Sometimes they are new to the area or new to fishing. They tell me that the videos really helped them with their fishing success. There are over 200 videos on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel, and most are focused on our region’s lakes and what to use when fishing them. I have been fortunate to have great relationships with some of the guides in the region, or people that have a lot of experience on the lake or river we are talking about. These people have really helped me provide the details that help people to fish successfully. Last year I added several videos on the lakes in the Quincy Wildlife Area, the Recreation Areas developed by Grant County PUD, and the Boating Accesses on Moses Lake. I plan to do many more in Grant County. Be sure to visit the Dave Graybill Channel to see the new videos.