The weather is chilly and wet throughout the region, but there are some great fishing opportunities right now. Many lakes opened to fishing on March 1st, and anglers are out after rainbow trout. One of the most popular spots is the Quincy Wildlife Area.

Sunny but chilly and windy weather greeted anglers for the opening of the lakes in the Quincy Wildlife Area on March 1st. I visited several lakes to see how anglers were doing and what size trout they were catching. Many of these lakes are planted with both catchable size trout and fry each year, and I saw people with this year’s yearling fish and some carryovers from last season. I ran into Joe Zellinski, who was doing creel checks for the WDFW. He participated in a test fishery two weeks ago and found many of the trout to be 13 and 14 inches and one was a 19-incher that probably weighed 3 pounds. Almost all the anglers I visited with had trout on their stringers at both Burke and Quincy lakes. The same was true at Martha Lake and Caliche. Those who had to wait for the weekend to make their trip to these lakes should have had pretty good fishing. It looked to me to be one of the best opening days I have seen in a few years. I wanted people to know that the video I did on bank fishing at Keller Ferry is now posted on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel. This week’s photo is of a typical rainbow caught at Burke Lake on the opener.

When I stopped by Caliche Lake I saw a young father with his two youngsters. It warmed my heart to see this. I was lucky to have a father that took us fishing. Some of my earliest memories are of fishing from the shore at one of the lakes in our region. I remember a chilly morning at Alta Lake fishing with my Dad, Grandfather, and brother. I laugh now when I think of asking for help when I was trying to reel in a 14-inch rainbow. We used to camp at Wapato Point and then rent a boat and fish for trout at Wapato Lake in the evening. We caught some whoppers. One of my favorite photos I took when I was working at Fishing and Hunting News back in the 70s. It was of my little brother Lane struggling to hold up a stringer of trout and perch we caught at Wapato Lake. The perch were as big as the trout! When my daughter was about four years old, she caught a pike minnow and promptly named it Timmy. We talked her into letting it go so she could visit him next time we were here. What great memories!

Fans of fishing Rufus Woods Reservoir will be pleased to learn about a recent plant of triploid rainbow trout. The Colville Fish and Wildlife Department has announced that they are releasing over 15,000 fish, with an average weight of 1.5 pounds. The fish were released on Thursday of this last week. Typically, the release sites are at Seatons Grove at the top end of the reservoir and from the State Park, which is just above Chief Joseph Dam near Bridgeport. This will certainly improve catches for both bank and boat anglers. Those who fish Rufus Woods are reminded that all of the trout released into the reservoir are provided by the Colville Tribe. The Colville Tribe also said that they are now going to release trout into the lakes within the reservation boundaries. Some of the fish being released are at least the size of those going into Rufus Woods and some of them will be larger. Twin Lakes, near Inchelium, and Buffalo Lake are a couple of the lakes that allow non-tribal members to fish, and often receive some whopper triploids each spring. Further releases of trout are planned through the months of March and April.

I had a great time in Yakima at the Sportsman Show. I was down there with the guys from Bob Feil Boats and Motors and got to meet some of the folks I see every year at the show. I also met a bunch of new people that are followers of my reports and had some great conversations. I want to thank them for their compliments on what I do. That’s what keeps me going. The busiest corner at the show was Lunker Lake, the fishing pond full of trout for kids to catch. It is always fun watching the action and seeing the grins on the faces of these youngsters. Many of them were catching their first fish. I also got to learn about the new fishing boats that have arrived at the Bob Feil Boats and Motors dealership in East Wenatchee. Star Weld is a new line of very family-friendly fishing boats, and the pontoon boats from Sylvan always get a lot of attention. Wait until you see the new Phantom from Smoker Craft. Wow. Now is a great time to drop by the dealership as it is full of new aluminum and fiberglass recreational boats.

It’s time to mark your calendars for the annual Trout Fishing Derby on Burke and Quincy lakes. The Quincy Chamber of Commerce has been doing this event for years and has made some changes to make it even more popular. The best change has been to move the date to later in March. It will take place on Friday, March 22nd, and Saturday, March 23rd this year. Too often in years past the derby date has had to be delayed because the lakes were still frozen. Once again there will be prizes awarded for the longest fish and cumulative weight in both adult and youth categories. There is always a huge pile of prizes, thanks to local sponsors, and you don’t need to catch a fish to get a chance to win. Just buy some raffle tickets. Something that is new this year is the Trout Derby Photo Contest. People can vote for their favorite photo through the Quincy Chamber’s Facebook page, and the winner will receive a 70 inch flatscreen TV. Get the details about the derby and photo contest by clicking on the Something Fishy logo on the home page of the Fishing Magician website at www.FishingMagician.com. I hope to see you there!