It is hard to plan to spend a day on the water with the unsettled weather we have been getting across the region. There have been some beautiful sunny days and then it turns ugly again. It seems to always take a turn for the worse about the time when the weekend is coming up. There are some really great opportunities for anglers out there, as long as you are prepared to go in spite of the weather.

Speaking for people who are willing to get out in ugly weather, I have to point to the folks ice fishing on Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee. I checked the web cam on the lake last Saturday and I could see quite a crowd of folks out on the snow and ice. It was a day that we were getting “a wintery mix” of snow and rain in Leavenworth and I imagined they were getting the same on Fish Lake. I was sure that people were trudging through a heavy layer of snow with a lot of slush beneath it.

We have had some heavy, wet snow and pretty warm temperatures here in Leavenworth and I wasn’t sure what conditions were like. I thought there would be a couple of inches of slush on top of the ice. I was surprised when I visited the lake on Sunday morning. There was over 50 anglers out and the conditions were great. No slush at all. The ice was at least six inches thick and the anglers I visited with were getting a bunch of nice perch. Some were getting limits of perch and even a few nice rainbow.

One angler gave me some really great details. He said he looked for about 30 feet of water and would start with some kind of bait to get the first fish. Then he immediately switched to using perch eyes. This is very common. This angler shared something unusual. He had a depth sounder and would mark fish as shallow as ten feet. He would bring his bait up to that depth and get the fish! “Chasing marks” is something I often do when fishing for kokanee and kings on Lake Chelan but doing this through the ice was new to me. Two different groups of anglers that I spoke with were using depth sounders. This makes a lot of sense. You can immediately see if you are over fish or fishing empty water. It’s one of the reasons we use depth sounders on boats the rest of the year, so why not when ice fishing. The photo with this week’s column was taken at Fish Lake last Sunday.

It made me think about how I prepare for a day on the ice on Fish Lake. Footwear is very important when heading to Fish Lake. Heavy wet snow with slush beneath it is very common. You really need boots that are both warm and waterproof. I also want to have a small shovel along to scrape the ice and snow way from where I am going to drill a hole in the ice. Clearing a good space is important as I don’t want to be sitting with my feet and my fishing gear in slush. I have found that having a carpet sample purchased from a local flooring store is very handy. Laying this down so your boots aren’t in contact with the snow, ice or slush makes a big difference in keeping my feet warm. It really helps to have toe warmers stuck to your socks inside your boots. Some take a step further by getting a pair of heated socks. There are some really good ones out there now with rechargeable batteries that will last all day.

You should have a few layers of warm outerwear when ice fishing and it should include a jacket and pants that will keep you dry if the snow turns to rain. I am a lucky guy when it comes to having good warm gear. My wife got me a heated jacket last year and I would highly recommend it if you shop for one. It is made by Ororo and has a rechargeable battery and three heat settings. Depending on the weather I will put on my Columbia Sportswear Grand Wall jacket or my Columbia Summit Sleeker shell that is the driest light rain jacket I have ever worn. No matter what the conditions are I am prepared to be outdoors and stay warm and dry.

When I head out on the ice I will bring two or three short rods, chairs, carpet samples, a 6-inch auger, a slotted spoon to keep the hole clear of ice and slush, a tackle box and bait. Sometimes I even bring a portable heater along. I can easily fit all of this on a cheap plastic sled. I punched holes along both sides of the sled and threaded some heavy stretchy cord through the holes, and this keeps everything on my sled while I find a likely place to set up. That sled sure makes getting on and off the ice easy.

When I look out and see another day of snow falling in Leavenworth, I start daydreaming about what I am going to do this spring. Something that has been on my list the past couple of year is to fish for pike on Lake Roosevelt. Not only would this be fun, but the fish are also great eating, and the Colville Tribe will pay me to do it! When you participate in the Northern Pike Reward Program offered by the Colville Tribes’ Fish and Wildlife (CTFW) Department, you can get paid $10 for every pike head turned in. You must be 17 years of age or older to participate in the program. The fish heads must be in good condition and there is no daily harvest limit. All pike count for a payout whether big or small. In 2020, anglers turned in 1,122 northern pike with a payout of $11,220. This brings the total number of pike anglers have removed to 3,193 since 2017. Anglers can drop off their pike heads at these locations: Noisy Waters Gas Station, Kettle Falls boat launch, Hunters boat launch, Fort Spokane boat launch, and the Inchelium Fish and Wildlife office.

Where would I like to fish next week? How about Potholes for walleye and Rocky Ford for big rainbow with my fly rod.