The warmer weather we are experiencing throughout the region has made it easier for most folks to get back outdoors. Ice fishermen are disappointed, though. There are only a couple of lakes, that are at high elevation, that still have safe ice. I am sure it will be cold again, and the ice will form. Until then, I hope to get out to some of my favorite spots and take advantage of the warmth and even some sunshine.

My plan for last Thursday was to run down to Rocky Ford Creek to fish for big trout with my fly rod. The weather was going to be warm enough that my line wouldn’t freeze to my guides, and I hadn’t done any fishing for way too long. Then disaster struck. My wife went into our garage, which is actually a storage area, and found water on the floor. I went out and started mopping up, and we soon figured out that we had a major problem. The radiant heating system had frozen, broke the pipe and cracked the concrete surface. No amount of mopping was going to keep up with the water coming up through the floor. So, we spent much of the night moving things that could be damaged, which are still stacked in our living room. Plumbers came to our rescue and did the needed repairs, and I was able to go fishing on Friday.

When I arrived, I was the only rig in the upper parking lot, but two other anglers arrived shortly after. Usually, the best part of my day on Rocky Ford Creek is landing the first big rainbow. Last Friday was different. The two anglers I met in the parking lot was the best part of my day. First to arrive was Kelly Rupp, from Snohomish. He was a real fan of fishing Rocky Ford, and he was waiting for his friend Ron Romig, from Kettle Falls. These two meet to fish the Ford regularly, but it had been two years since the pair had been able to make the trip. When Ron rolled into the parking lot, it was a quite a scene as the two friends greeted each other. I could tell that they shared a lot of history and some great times together. Ron walked over and said that he was a long-time follower of my reports and E-Letters, and we had communicated several times over the years, and he was glad that we would finally meet face to face. Before I left I caught up with the pair and got to learn more about the kinds of fishing the two of them love to do. One of the places that they raved about was Twin Lakes on the Colville Indian Reservation. I haven’t fished this lake for years. I may even join them for a day there next spring. This week’s photo is of the two anglers I met at the Ford last Thursday.

These two anglers like to fish the very top end of Rocky Ford and cast dry flies to the big trout that are milling around above the bridge. I like to fish well below here. I find places to cast at the edge of the reeds. This makes casting very difficult, and I have to track my flies down in the reeds when I hesitate too long and let my back cast fall. I think I have better luck in these areas, though, as I don’t think many anglers will put up with the hassle.

Well, my theory didn’t pan out so much. I didn’t get a bite and didn’t see a fish rise all day where I was fishing. This was very unusual. Typically, I at least see some fish when I step up to the bank. Nobody was home on this particular day. Since I need to find something to blame on my poor success, I will blame the full moon this time.

If you keep your eyes peeled you can see some interesting things in the winter. I sometimes take a detour on the way to the post office in Leavenworth and spot a small flock of turkeys on the road to the ski hill. I saw them earlier this week in the same place, and later in the week in a completely different location. This particular flock has been around for years, and I have seen them numerous times. There seems to be about a dozen in this group. A couple of days later, as I was approaching my driveway I saw another flock of turkeys. There were about 20 of them. I have never seen this bunch before. They hung around in our side yard, and as I walked along the house to get a closer look at them I found tracks clear around the house into the front yard. Also, we have a doe and two yearling mule deer that are in our yard year-round. They are quite used to us, and one even licked a chunk of ice in my hand last summer. I am now seeing other deer bedded down in the orchards as the snow has become very deep here in Leavenworth.

The spike in ice fishing activity at Fish Lake and the Columbia Basin was short-lived. The severely cold weather was followed closely by warm weather and thinned the ice to the point where it just isn’t safe. I am getting reports that the same is true at the lakes that are at lower elevations in Okanogan County. I visited Fish Lake on January 20th, and there was enough safe ice to provide good fishing for over sixty people that I saw there at that time. However, on the following Monday I talked to someone that had actually fallen through the ice on Fish Lake. The ice is shrinking back from the shore and there is slush and water on the surface of most of the lakes now. Both Curlew Lake and Bonaparte Lake in the northern part of the state had very thick layers of ice on them and it would take a lot of warm weather to thin the ice to unsafe conditions, and I will be monitoring these as best I can.

I am really looking forward to a planned trip to Rufus Woods Reservoir. My friends have invited me along to try for big triploids and walleye at the upper end. Wish us luck!