Every day brings us closer to May 4th and the possible announcement of the reopening of the outdoors to the public.  Anglers are champing at the bit to get back out fishing.  There are a couple of meetings taking place earlier this week that should let anglers know what is planned.  I don’t believe anything is going happen prior to May 4th.

Here’s a “What If” for everyone.  What if recreational fishing opened on May 5th?  Where would you go first?  Now that I have all my fishing gear organized, and the boat is fueled and the batteries charged, what would be my first choice for a place to go fishing?  I live in Leavenworth, so Fish Lake is pretty close.  It is known for good trout fishing in the spring and last year I had a couple of really good trips fishing for largemouth bass.  

I am getting low on my supply of vacuum sealed fish in my freezer.  I think I would be able to replenish my supply of kokanee by fishing on Lake Chelan.  The fishing was pretty good when everything closed down, so I figure it will be great when things open up.  This is a really fun fishery, too, with lots of action.  I am also very eager to get out on either Banks Lake, Potholes Reservoir or Moses Lake for walleye.  I have a feeling it is going to be a better year for walleye fishing on all three of these waters.

I also think that the fishing for big kokanee and rainbow on Lake Roosevelt will still be good.  The last time the big kokanee showed up in numbers like we have seen this year, we were still catching them into June.

Given the concerns about social distancing, there are a few lakes that come to mind where there is plenty of shoreline to spread out and not be “too close” to fellow anglers.  A good one is Jameson Lake.  On the east end of the lake, starting near Jack’s Resort (famous for their home-made pies), the shore access is great in both directions.  I have seen excellent catches made from the shore at Jameson.  Blue and Park lakes, near Soap Lake also offer very good shore fishing.  One stretch, that starts just up the lake from the resort on Blue Lake, is almost two miles long.  

Down in the Basin, there are several lakes in the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge that have good, long shorelines and good fishing for trout and spiny rays.  In the Quincy Wildlife Refuge, Burke Lake, which got a plant of 5,000 catchable-size trout prior to the March 1st opener, is a good one for shore access.  In the Wenatchee Heights, the best lake for shore fishing is Beehive Reservoir.  This lake is on the way to Mission Ridge, and anglers can find spots to fish from shore all around his lake.  It is also known to provide very good trout fishing when it first opens.

Okanogan County has many lakes with lots of room to spread out.  The Green lakes come to mind, and Leader Lake is another good one.  These are just a couple of many trout lakes that offer excellent fishing when they open in the spring.

Those of us who fish the Columbia River know how important the current plays into a successful day of fishing.  I try to avoid fishing on the weekends on the river as typically, this is when flows are low, and fishing is slow.  It has always been frustrating, as we don’t know what kind of flows to expect until we reach our fishing destination.  Well, there’s some great news.  Chelan County PUD has created an app that when downloaded to your phone, will tell you what the flows and river levels are at their two facilities:  Rock Island Dam and Rocky Reach Dam.  I got the app and it took just a couple of minutes to get it loaded onto my phone.  Once there, it was easy to navigate the app and find out what the cfs was above each dam.  There are other features, such as descriptions of the launch sites near the dams and water temperatures.  Just open the Chelan PUD web site and under the Parks and Recreation menu you will find a link to River Conditions and you can install the app.  This a great tool for those of us who fish, boat, jet ski or kayak near these Columbia River facilities.  

There was an article in Northwest Sportsman magazine that got my attention.  The article detailed, and included photographs, of an unusual catch made by a commercial carp fisherman.  He was fishing at Bateman Island near the mouth of the Yakima River, and landed a pair of what are apparently shortnose gar.  One was 24 inches and the other 36 inches long.  If you are not familiar with these very toothy critters, they can reach a length of 9 feet!    These fish are native to the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River, and must have been released from someone’s pond or aquarium.  

Most people are aware of the current threat and efforts to remove northern pike from the Columbia River, and having shortnose gar appear is not a good development.  Just how well these gar would survive in the Columbia River is not known, and the Yakima Tribe is conducting an electro shocking effort to locate and remove these fish.  So far this has been unsuccessful.  Hopefully, only this pair exists and there is no evidence of a widespread problem.  I want to remind everyone that the Colville Tribe is paying $10.00 for each northern pike head turned into stations along Lake Roosevelt.  Visit their web site to learn more. The photo at the top of this week’s column is of this toothy shortnose gar.

Here’s hoping I will be seeing you on the water very soon!