Typically, I have made a few trips to Moses Lake, Potholes Reservoir and Banks Lake to fish for walleye.  This year has been very different.  The usually good spring bite has been delayed by our unseasonably cold weather.  We are at least two to three weeks behind schedule this year.  I am just now starting to hear of some decent, but not great fishing for walleye.

I wanted to get down to Moses Lake and do some walleye fishing, but forecasts for high winds and rain kept me away.  The weather picture looked much brighter last Friday so I ran down and met my fishing buddy James Lebow at Connelly Park that morning.  It was more cloudy and cold than we expected and the run up to the north end was chilly.  The fishing up here was cold, too.  Nothing biting.  The only good thing I can say about our visit to the upper end of Moses Lake is that there are now weeds showing up, which usually happens in April, and the lake hasn’t turned over yet.

So, we headed back down to a spot that we have fished before, below Connelly Park, and on the other side of the lake.  This particular area produced some dandy walleye when the north end failed to offer good action last season.  We trolled light bottom bouncers over a rocky and sticky bottom in 10 to 12 feet of water.  I was using a worm harness with a Smile Blade on one rod and a Slow Death Hook on the other. The first fish we landed was a big smallmouth, which was no surprise.  This rock strewn bottom is very attractive to smallmouth.  Then James hooked a walleye that measured 21 ½ inches.  I immediately switched to green-mirrored Smile Blades, like the ones James was using.  I landed another walleye that was close to being a twin of the first fish a little later.  James landed a 17 ½-inch fish right before we called it quits.  This week’s photo is of me with one of the walleye we landed.

I had a great day fishing for kokanee on Lake Roosevelt out of Spring Canyon earlier this week, and there are some other fisheries coming up on the big reservoir.  If you aren’t aware, the Colville Tribe pays $10.00 for each northern pike head that is turned in at multiple locations along the reservoir.  This is prime time to fish for northern pike.  Click on the Catch.Kill.Report logo on the Home Page of my website to learn more about the suppression efforts and the rewards program.  I fished for northern pike about this time in the past with Kevin Witte, of Up River Guide Service, and although we didn’t get a pike I caught the biggest walleye I have ever seen.  We finished the day fishing for walleye, and you can watch the video we did by going to the Fishing TV page on my website and clicking on “Northern Pike and Walleye Tactics on Lake Roosevelt”.  Sturgeon fishing on Lake Roosevelt opens on June 18th, and this has become a very popular and productive fishery.  I also did a video on sturgeon fishing with Kevin Witte, and you can also watch this one on the Fishing TV page.  Look for “Sturgeon Fishing on Lake Roosevelt”.

Here are some details about the Lake Roosevelt white sturgeon fishery that opens on June 18th.  The season will be open seven days a week from Grand Coulee Dam to China Bend Boat Ramp (including the Spokane River from Highway 25 Bridge upstream to 400 feet below Little Falls Dam, Colville River upstream to Meyers Falls Dam and the Kettle River upstream to Barstow Bridge).

Daily Limit is 1 sturgeon. Annual Limit 2 sturgeon (applies statewide). It is legal to retain sturgeon between 50 inches and 63 inches fork length. Fork length is measured in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the fork in the caudal fin (tail) with the fish laying on its side on a flat surface and the tape measure/ruler positioned flat under the fish. All harvested sturgeon must be recorded on a Catch Record Card (Catch Code 549). Two pole fishing is allowed. Only one single-point barbless hook and bait per rod is allowed. Closed to night fishing. Anglers must cease fishing for the day after obtaining a daily limit and for the season after the annual limit has been taken. All other statewide rules for white sturgeon must be observed.

Anglers are asked to use heavy gear (50 lb. test mainline and leader at a minimum) and 14/0 hooks or smaller to avoid catching and/or injuring large wild adult sturgeon. The request to use heavier gear will ensure anglers hook and land sturgeon effectively, but also is protective of large wild adult sturgeon that, if hooked, should be played to hand quickly and released. It is unlawful to remove sturgeon greater than 63 inches, totally or in part, from the water. In addition, WDFW recommends that any fish that will not be legally retained should not be removed from the water prior to release.

White Sturgeon hatchery programs began in 2001 in British Columbia (BC) and 2004 in Washington. Stocking ranged from 2,000-12,000 juvenile sturgeon per year from 2001 to 2010 (including both Washington and BC releases). Survival of hatchery-produced juvenile sturgeon was higher than anticipated, resulting in a surplus of hatchery-origin sturgeon available for harvest from Lake Roosevelt.  In order to limit fishery impacts to wild adult sturgeon, the portion of Lake Roosevelt from China Bend upstream to the Canadian border will not open to fishing in 2022.

The Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce had another great Pike Minnow Derby, with lots of happy anglers winning cash and other prizes.  Derby participants removed nearly 1,000 pike minnows from the Columbia River, which really helps the survival of our salmon and steelhead smolts.  If you are interested in the results of this year’s derby, I have posted a photo of the winners in both adult and youth categories on my Facebook page.  You can see it at:https://www.facebook.com/FishingMagiciancom-364101253577/.

One of the biggest Holiday weekends of the year is coming up.  Memorial Weekend is when thousands of families head for the outdoors, and many of them are headed our way.  Be patient at the boat ramps, be safe and have fun!