There is snow in the forecast again where I live, but it shouldn’t be too much. This has been quite a winter, but it hasn’t kept me house bound. I have been getting out and catching some nice triploids on Rufus Woods, and I hope to stock up on more of them this winter. They are the best eating trout you can catch.

I hope to get up to Rufus Woods this week and try my luck from the shore at the middle net pens. Rufus is the hottest thing going this time of year and I have had some great days in February. A few years ago, I fished with Austin Moser on the Nespelem Bar, across from the upper net pens, to see if we could catch some walleye. We did get a few, but now Austin really has it dialed in and catches lots of walleye on this bar. One of the fun aspects of fishing here is that you often get your limit of triploids while fishing for walleye. He is filling his fish box with a mix of walleye and triploids right now. I do the same thing, but I troll downstream with bottom bouncers below the upper pens. I have bank fished at Brandts Landing a couple of times this winter and some days I have had great luck and others not so much.

I checked in with Jill Phillips at the Colville Hatchery about what they have planned for releases this year. She said that they will release about 10,000 fish weighing between 1.5 and 2 pounds in February. There will be other releases prior to the runoff, and I will keep you posted about those. If the releases are similar this year to those of years past, I expect that the Colville Tribe will put over 40,000 triploids in Rufus Woods this spring.

Fishing can be boom or bust just about anywhere you go. I have had a couple of slow days at Brandts Landing and one really good one. We always catch fish, but some days they aren’t as big. One of my other favorite places to fish from the shore in the winter is at Keller. There is a Federal Park that is just down the lake from the boat ramp. The access road will lead you to a few spots close to the water. I like the last one at the end of the road. It is closest to the water, and I think it has the best drop off to deeper water where the trout are cruising. I do see anglers fishing from the shore right in the boat launch bay, and this shore drops off pretty steeply. I have had some slow days here, too, but it is usually productive for rainbow from 16 to 21 inches. I hope to get up there soon. There are vault toilets nearby and some have picnic tables and garbage cans. Of course, Spring Canyon and Crescent Beach are good options close to town. Nothing complicated about fishing in these areas. Slip sinkers and Power Bait will do the job. This week’s photo was taken at Keller with a nice 19 inch rainbow.

Last Tuesday was a reminder that fishing isn’t always about catching. My good friend Rollie Schmitten couldn’t remember the last time he had been fishing since the sockeye season on Lake Wenatchee. This is very unusual for him. He enjoys fishing in all its forms and we typically fish for all kinds of species year-round. We started fishing together around 2006, after meeting each other at a WDFW presentation on the Upper Columbia River Management Plan. Our mutual interests in fishing, even at the management level, has sustained a wonderful friendship ever since.

Rollie had fished Rufus Woods with me, but never at Brandts Landing. When I told him about the great day we had last Friday, he was eager to get up there. Our day started off promising. He had a 20-inch rainbow on the bank before I even had the second rod cast and set. We had several other bites, but our day was mostly spent in conversation about past fishing trips and future plans. We only took home two fish, but it was one of the best days of fishing we’ve had together for a long time.

Something I forgot to mention about my trip to Brandts Landing with Keith Hiatt is that the big fish I landed had a hook in its jaw that wasn’t mine. The same thing happened on my last trip. When I was reeling this fish in it got hung up. What I did was drop my rod tip and strip off a couple of feet of line. It worked. The fish pulled my weight out of the rocks, and I landed it!

The Washington Sportsman’s Show opens this week and runs through Sunday the 5th. This is the biggest outdoor show in the state and many people plan to be there for two days to take it all in. On Friday February 3rd the largest boat show on the west coast starts in Seattle. I have been busy preparing my Power Point presentation for the show, which will be the first one of many seminars at this year’s Seattle Boat Show. They suggested the topic of “Where to Catch the Biggest Trout in the State”. I have about 40 minutes and it is difficult to keep my presentation within that timeframe. I have five destinations on my list, and I want to give people some tips on how to catch fish at these locations. I could spend 40 minutes talking about each of these locations, so I have to do a couple of Power Points and then edit them down. I have been doing seminars at the Boat Show for several years, so I know I can do it. The Seattle Boat Show runs from Friday February 3rd through Saturday February 11th.

The next outdoor show is the 32nd annual Central Washington Sportsmen’s Show at the Sundome in Yakima, February 24th to the 26th. These shows offer everything that the big ones do, just in a smaller venue. I have attended this show for many years and will be at this one with the folks from Bob Feil Boats and Motors.

If you can’t get out on the water you can at least have fun at these shows!