I got out on the water a couple of times in the past week. I got some video work done on Banks Lake, Soda Lake, and Potholes Reservoir. I got some fishing in while I was at it, on Banks and Soda Lake, so folks can learn more about the opportunities these lakes offer for walleye fishing, in particular.

I had a trip scheduled with Joe Zellinski, Gold N Chrome Guide Service, for last Thursday morning on Banks Lake, and we were very close to canceling. We were concerned about the high winds that were in the forecast, but we went ahead anyway and met at the Steamboat State Park launch. I have known Joe for several years and scheduling a time to do that was difficult with both our schedules. I was very glad that we finally made it out on the water. I learned a lot from him about side planing with crankbaits. This is Joe’s preferred method for catching walleye. He said he starts pulling cranks as early as May and continues doing it into the fall. On the day we fished, we stayed in Devils Punchbowl. It was a good place to be, as it offered some protection from the wind that increased in force while we were out there. The first fish we got was 21 inches long and we released a 24 inch fish that morning, too. We were pestered by little largemouth bass and perch, but still put five walleye in the live well before we tossed in the towel after just three hours of fishing. I’m sure we could have put more fish on board, but there are many more calm days ahead of us this season. I have posted the video that I did with Joe on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel, and you’ll want to watch this one. If you want to learn more about pulling crankbaits for walleye, this one’s for you. This week’s photo is of Joe with a 24 inch walleye that he released immediately after we took the photo.

I wanted to add Soda Lake to the videos that I am doing of Grant County fishing opportunities, and my friends James Lebow and Ryan Harris were glad to help out. The last time the three of us fished Soda we got limits of nice walleye. We got off to a bumpy start. When James pulled into the launch area we found that he had a blown wheel bearing on his tandem axel trailer. James had that wheel off in no time and we launched with three wheels on the trailer. That’s the benefit of having a tandem axel trailer! We motored down the lake to find the “hot spot” that had produced for us last time and Ryan got two walleye in the boat right away. However, the walleye were elusive and smallmouth bass abundant. We searched and searched for walleye along the western shore of the lake and did manage to land a few more walleye, and lots of smallmouth bass. The video will show the fun of fishing Soda Lake, and although we didn’t duplicate our past experience of great walleye fishing, we will be back. The fish we got in Soda were of excellent quality, and that’s fishing! The video I did is posted on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel for you to see. Soda Lake is just over 100 acres in size, and it can be easily explored by small boats and kayaks. Two kayaks launched just before we put our boat in the water and they worked the shoreline, casting for bass. I am sure they had a great time, they were still at it when we left. There is good shore access at the top end of Soda, where the Potholes canal enters the lake. I remember fishing here in the spring many years ago with my brother Rick and we caught a bunch of the big lake variety whitefish from this shore.

I had a great day on Banks Lake recently. Tom Verschuren and I traveled to Banks for two reasons. One was to shoot a video, from the water, of all the boat launches on the big reservoir. The other was to take a few minutes to cast for bass near the launches while we were at it. We put the boat in at the Coulee City campground, and motored around the corner to the backside of the breakwater and caught a whopper smallmouth. We fished in Devils Punchbowl, across from the launch in the State Park, and caught both largemouth and smallmouth bass here. We got a nice smallmouth fishing along the riprap near the boat launch in Osborn Bay. Then we shot some video at Coulee Playland and then ran over to the Barker Canyon boat ramp. We fished a couple of spots on our way to the bottom end of the lake where we started. The shoreline across from the Upper Million Dollar Mile boat launch is a favorite area for fish to Tom and me. I have put hundreds of smallmouth in my boat fishing with Tom and others casting to the shale slides and sunken rocks along here. The video we did is also now available on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel.

Last weekend was Free Fishing Weekend, and I hope that people got out to try their luck. No license is required for this annual event provided by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. I spent the weekend at Bob Feil Boats and Motors for the Summer Kick Off event. Christine Lee organized two days of fun for kids, entertainment, and education. Youngsters enjoyed catching plastic fish in the pond made from a john boat. The live music was provided by excellent local musicians. Represented there was the Brewster Salmon Derby, Sheriff’s Department Boating Safety division, the Lake Chelan Pirates, Crescent Bar, Apple Sox Baseball, and others. There were seminars offered on topics from salmon fishing to trout and bass fishing. The food and espresso trucks had excellent food and drinks for the event. Those who participated in the “scavenger hunt” won amazing prizes. Although the Summer Kick Off was competing with High School Graduation ceremonies and family get-togethers, plus the Free Fishing Weekend, the turnout was good enough to assure that the event will happen again next year. You won’t want to miss it.