I took advantage of the gap between meetings and sport and boat shows to get out on the water. I even got to go crabbing on Puget Sound, which was a real adventure and provided my wife and I a fresh crab dinner—always a treat. I also tried the winter fishery on Billy Clapp for the first time.

My long-time fishing buddy, James Lebow, knows all the great fisheries near his home in Moses Lake. He got me into some terrific fishing for big rainbow and kokanee on this reservoir near Soap Lake last spring. He has told me about the winter fishing for big rainbow for years, and we gave it a try last Friday. Since the reservoir is drawn down in the winter and you have to back your boat to the waters edge across the sandy shore, he got his fishing friend Milton Colby Miller to take us out in his 12-foot boat. Bigger boats are likely to get mired in the soft sand and get stuck. Four-wheel drive trucks are advised even when launching smaller craft.

Once we were loaded up, we headed up the lake in a dense fog. We wanted to start above the large basalt island and troll off the next point. We put out two rods on side planers and flat lined three more off the sides and out the back of the boat. All the lines had some kind of shallow running plugs on them, mostly jointed Rapalas. Favored colors were orange, perch pattern, or rainbow. I even put a J-10 jointed floating Rapala on one rod. It seemed big for what we were doing, but it worked great. Actually, we caught fish on every rod, no matter what lure was on it.

We caught a lot too. We figured we released at least 25 rainbow, mostly a solid 14 inches, and got one that measured 19 inches and probably weighed 3 pounds or better. Both my fishing partners, who have fished Billy Clapp in the winter for many years were disappointed in the size of the trout. They were used to getting fish of the size of the big one we got, and some that were 4 to 5 pounds. They agreed that this was probably the earliest winter trip they had made. They usually start a little later, say mid-February for the best action on the larger fish. The photo in this week’s column is of Milt Miller with the big fish he landed.

There was one other boat on the water while we were there and we got a chance to visit with them when we came off the water, just after noon. They were rigged to fish for kokanee but hadn’t found any. They caught and released a bunch of rainbow like we did. All were the 14 inchers that are abundant in Billy Clapp right now.

I want to get back out on Billy Clapp again this winter with hopes of getting into those bigger fish. Also, I am very excited about what the spring fishing could be like this season. All those 14-inchers will have grown, and by April there should be huge numbers of rainbow in the 16- to 18-inch class available. James said they had several days of limit fishing with lots of 20- to 22-inchers on the stringer. Man, that’s going to be fun!

Once I finished my seminars at the Seattle Boat Show on Saturday, I had a chance to get out on the water on Puget Sound. My good friend Fred Lillian, who has been on all but one of our fishing adventures to Belize and Mexico, offered to take me crabbing. Last Sunday morning I met him at his home near the Tulalip Indian Reservation and we ran across to Camano Head to retrieve the pots he had placed there the day before. He had got his limit on that day, rebaited and was excited about sending me home with a bunch of fresh Dungeness crab.

The crossing wasn’t easy. The wind was blowing a good 20 mph or better. Before we left the dock in the protected bay, we both donned our life jackets. The big waves and wind made it slow going. Fred did a great job dodging logs and plowing through the ugly conditions and we were able to spot his floats in the heavy chop. The first pot produced no keepers, and the second only two keeper-sized crab and one rock crab. I had crabbed with Fred during the summer season a couple years ago with his father, and we got our limits. We had been stalled by heavy fog after leaving the Everett harbor, and watched the solar eclipse while we waited for it to clear. Then we encountered a breaching humpback whale on our way to retrieve our pots.

However, today we fought our way back to the dock where Fred had everything ready to clean and cook our catch. He’s been crabbing for years on Puget Sound and really has it down. We added our take to the limit he took the day before and sent me home with four nice crab, which my wife and I enjoyed on Monday evening for dinner.

I checked in with my buddy who works for the Colville Tribe on the fishing at Rufus Woods Reservoir. He said that he is seeing an improvement in the fishing on the big reservoir. There was a boat out for three days and took home limits of triploids and one was over 10 pounds. Last Monday he had already seen fish taken from the rock point off Highland Road and at Brandts Landing. One of the fish was just over 5 pounds and the rest were 2.5-pounders. He also said that there was a boat fishing the net pens over the weekend and they caught a bunch. Most were in the 3- to 4-pound range in size. After hearing his report, I jumped online and checked to see if the water was dropping on Lake Roosevelt. That can make a huge difference in the fishing on Rufus Woods. Sure enough, the water is finally coming down. This is not only good news for those who like to fish Rufus Woods but also those who are after the giant kokanee and rainbow on Lake Roosevelt. If they keep lowering the water up there, the fishing will go into high gear.

I hope I can sneak out and give Lake Roosevelt a try in between meetings and shows. If I do I’ll sure let you know how we do!