The weather in our region continues to be unsettled, so you have to pick days that promise at least calm water. It seems that the sunny days are the ones that I can’t seem to get away for some fishing. I did enjoy watching other people fish at the annual Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce Trout Derby last Saturday. I did get on Lake Chelan late last week to try for kokanee, too.

There were sunny skies in Quincy for the Trout Derby and there was a good turnout for the event. There were 96 adults registered and 30 in the youth category. Derby headquarters was set up at Quincy Lake where the derby was held this year. Burke Lake was rehabbed last year and was planted with 3,500 catchable rainbow prior to the March 1st opener. Quincy would offer a better opportunity to catch larger fish during the derby. It was a good decision.

As the deadline approached for the final weigh in at 1 p.m., a big crowd was forming at Derby Headquarters. The number of carryover rainbow that were being turned in outnumbered the yearlings that were planted earlier this spring. Lots of 15- and 16-inch fish were being weighed and measured by the volunteers from the Quincy Chamber and the community that supports the event.

When I first arrived, I walked over to the boat launch. I noticed a guy flicking a fly right next to the launch. I thought, what the heck is he doing there? I wondered how he was doing and, avoiding his back casts, asked him how it was going today. He said pretty good. In fact, I watched him hook and land a rainbow that was at least 15 inches long while I was standing there. I took a photo of him with his fish and asked his name. It was Joshua Shew. I would hear that name later at the award ceremony. Joshua Shew won the adult category in the derby! He barely edged out another angler for the longest fish, but his stringer outweighed everyone else’s by far. It was over 6 pounds. The photo in this week’s column is of Joshua Shew with the fish he landed while I watched.

John Akins, from Akins Market in Quincy was there, and I learned that he was responsible for providing most of the prizes for this year’s derby. Bob Feil Boats and Motors also provided many of the prizes handed out to the derby winners and those who purchased raffle tickets. Instead of buying a boat to give away, the derby organizers decided to put their resources into more prizes, and the crowd was pleased. I want to give Cari Mathews and her folks at the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce a big thank you for the good work they did running a very successful derby again. People should look for the announcements about their Pike Minnow Derby. It will be coming up in May this year.

I made a trip to Lake Chelan on Thursday last week, choosing a day when the wind wouldn’t be howling. It was supposed to be pretty warm, too. So I thought it would be a perfect day for my first spring trip on the lake to try for kokanee. I had been hearing reports of good fishing for kokanee for quite a while but hadn’t been able to make a trip yet. My brother in law, Tom Verschueren, and I launched the Kingfisher Escape 2025 at the State Park and ran to Green’s Landing, which is just above the Yacht Club channel. I had run into a friend at Hooked on Toys in Wenatchee a couple of days earlier and he told me that this would be the place to find good numbers of fish. We ran out two rods, both with the new Kokabow Copper Series blades and Tom’s favorite orange, Talon squid. I baited the hooks with white shoe peg corn that had been soaked in Graybill’s Guide Formula Kokanee scent. My buddy was right. We got our first fish at 8:30 right after I had put the gear out and we got six boom, boom, boom. Then the bite died. I trolled by my friend and he said he had 18. He said he had his riggers set at 105 feet. Mine were at 103 feet and we were trolling the same speed. It just quit. I didn’t see him land a fish after about 9:30, but he may have been able to scratch out his limit.

We ran up to Mitchell Creek and then even further up the lake and got just three more kokanee. It was pretty obvious that you needed to be on the water early that day if you wanted a limit of kokanee. I made sure to bring a tape measure with me to check on the size of the kokanee this year. The fish were all 12 or 13 inches. That’s much larger than they were last year at this time. I remember catching 9- and 10-inch kokanee then. It looks like it’s going to be another really fun year of kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan with even bigger fish.

Austin Moser gave everyone an update on the fishing for giant kokanee on Lake Roosevelt at Bob Feil Boats and Motors last Monday. The fishing for the really big fish is much better than last year. There are some tough days though. Right now, they are dropping the lake level a foot-and-a-half a day and that’s unsettling for the fish. When the level stabilizes, the action will be much, much better. So don’t give up on Lake Roosevelt. The best fishing of the season should be ahead of us. I remember four years ago when the fishing for whopper kokanee was terrific we were catching them into June. The water at Spring Canyon is way down but there is a dock at the bottom of the launch so there is no problem getting on the water.

The next fishery to watch for is going to be the walleye fishing on Potholes. It should be about to take off. Just a slight uptick in the water temperature should get it started. I would start to look for fish near Crab Creek or Perch Point. That’s my guess and I hope to get down and try it very soon!