Winter just doesn’t want to release its ice grasp on our region. Although I see some 50-degree weather down the road, higher elevations are still covered in deep snow. I will be carefully choosing the days I plan to get out on the water. Heck, I don’t even mind a little rain and I will avoid days that are anticipated to be windy.

One of the most popular fisheries in Eastern Washington is for kokanee on Lake Chelan. Every year these fish are abundant and keep anglers busy even when temperatures are still very chilly. There was a kokanee derby on Lake Chelan recently and pretty much every boat came off the water with limits. Some in just a couple of hours. Although I was getting reports of kokanee of 15 to 16 inches being caught on Chelan, the biggest one turned in at the derby was 14 inches. I wish anglers would take a tape measure with them. I really like this kokanee fishery. Even if the fish aren’t big, the action is typically fast, and people that don’t get to fish a lot have a ball cranking in fish after fish. I am very eager to get up to Chelan as soon as I can get my boat dug out of the snowbank up here. I just had to include a photo of my wife Eileen on my Facebook Page that shows her scraping the snow off the windshield of the boat at the launch. We drove through a snowstorm on our way, but it turned out to be a nice sunny day.

One of the events that anglers look forward to every year is the annual Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce Trout Derby. This takes place in the Quincy Wildlife Area and this year anglers can fish both Burke and Quincy lakes to win prizes. This derby used to be scheduled for the first weekend in March since this is when several lakes in the area open to fishing each spring. All too often the derby had to be delayed due to ice. This year the event will happen on Saturday & Sunday March 25th & 26th, so no worries. Anglers will be happy to learn that the Quincy Chamber has purchased additional trout to be released into these lakes prior to the event. Most will be of “catchable” size but a good number of whoppers are included in the release. To learn more about the derby and even register you can go to my website at www.fishingmagician.com and click on the “Something Fishy in Quincy” logo on the Home Page. There will be cash prizes awarded for the Longest Fish in both adult and youth categories, and as usual, there will be some great prizes to win through raffles. I hope to see you there!

I got a call from a friend in Moses Lake the other day asking if I knew about the drawdown on Banks Lake. He was under the impression that it was going to be severe. I checked with the folks at the Reclamation District, and they said there were going to be the usual normal levels on Banks this season. Recently the Bureau of Reclamation began pumping water out of Lake Roosevelt into Banks, and that has certainly destabilized the ice. The first area to be impacted is the north end, near Coulee Playland Resort. Potholes Reservoir and Billy Clapp will see the effects of the annual operational activities of the Bureau in March. The agency has begun to operate the Potholes Reservoir/O’Sullivan Dam outlet works. Water has begun to flow into Billy Clapp Reservoir and the Bureau of Reclamation has started operating the Billy Clapp Reservoir Dam outlet works. The Bureau sent out an announcement a couple of weeks ago, and I reported on this in the Exchange weekly papers. There has been concern that ice anglers on Banks would be fishing unstable ice and should pack it in for the season. So, no drastic drawdown planned for Banks this year.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to hear updates and staff briefings on a variety of topics, including game management planning, carnivore management, and a proposed property transfer, and make decisions on proposed land transactions and spring black bear petitions during its March 16-18 meeting in Wenatchee. The Commission kicks off work Thursday with meetings of its Wildlife, Fish, Habitat, and Big Tent committees to discuss game management planning, cougar management, habitat restoration, co-manager hatchery policy, conservation policy, and other topics.

The full Commission meets Friday morning for a Commissioners’ discussion, open public input opportunity, and deputy director and regional director’s report. The Commission will then consider approval of three proposed land transactions in Asotin, Okanogan, and Thurston counties. The Commission will hear a staff briefing and public comment before making their decisions.

A presentation from the Reardon Future Farmers of America (FFA) Agriculture Group will take place over a working lunch on Friday. The Friday afternoon session includes an Advisory Committee for Americans with Disabilities report, Klickitat Hatchery transfer briefing, and a Game Management Plan update. On Saturday, the Commission will hold an open public input opportunity followed by an executive session. The remainder of the day will include a briefing and decision on three spring black bear and timber damage petitions. Commissioners will also hear a briefing from Department staff and other speakers during a wolf management workshop.

The March Commission meeting will be held on a hybrid in-person/virtual platform, with public attendance permitted via webinar, phone, and in-person. The meeting will also be recorded and posted online so people can watch afterwards at their convenience. For more information about attending the meeting, please view the meeting agenda online.

As many of you know, there are lakes open to fishing in the Columbia Basin, and people are renewing their fishing licenses to fish them. Washington State licenses are due to be renewed by April 1st. Don’t be the one that causes a delay on a fishing trip because you forgot to get your new license. It’s easy to do online now. Colville Tribal licenses should also be renewed on this date. You can get all of your licenses and permits to fish reservations online by going to www.cct-fnw.com/regulations-permits.