I had a terrific time on the water this past week. I was on Moses Lake two days and shot a great video of the walleye and smallmouth bass action on board Austin Moser’s boat with a crew from Bob Feil Boats and Motors. I fished another day with James Lebow and caught some nice walleye. On Sunday I dropped in at the Quincy Valley Chamber’s Pikeminnow Derby.

The weather was perfect when I drove down to Crescent Bar where the Quincy Valley Chamber’s Pikeminnow Derby was wrapping up. The staff from the Chamber were busy counting the pikeminnows that were being turned in. There was a trailer parked here that was filling up with fish, and it had never been as full. This year the derby participants turned in 2,336 pikeminnows, weighing a total of 1,306 pounds! There were 124 adults, and 26 kids registered this year—way more than previous years. The chamber had over $30,000 in prizes to award. Anglers over 18 years of age paid a $50.00 entry fee, and kids aged 17 and under got to fish for free.

The way the derby worked is anglers got a ticket for each fish turned in. They got one ticket for each fish over 9 inches long, and one ticket for each 10 fish under 9 inches. So, anglers were walking around the parking lot with yards of tickets. They met at the outdoor dining area of Tower Pizza where everyone registered for the event was treated to free pizza, wrap sandwiches, salad, and non-alcoholic beverages. While anglers enjoyed their lunch, prizes were stacked and piled at the edge of the dining area. It was a very impressive collection. It included depth sounders, premium coolers, barbecue grills and a wide assortment of fish tackle and accessories.

There was a special drawing for a 55-pound thrust Minn Kota bow mount electric motor with remote, and then the other awards were announced. Cody Schuyleman weighed in the biggest fish, a 6.5-pound pikeminnow, and he received a check for $500.00. In the youth division, William Peterson got the $100.00 check. Turning in 119 pounds of northern pikeminnow, Keith Allen had the heaviest cumulative catch weight. There were five anglers in this category that each got to choose from the pile of loot. Joseph Schuyleman was the youth division cumulative weight winner, and the five young anglers got to choose prizes that were especially acquired to appeal to the kids. The next prize drawing was for the Grand Prize, a Polaris 4 Wheeler with flatbed trailer. The lucky ticket holder was Morgan Moery from Falls City. His photo is in this week’s column.

Congratulations to all the anglers that not only had a lot of fun participating in the derby but also made a serious dent in the northern pikeminnow population that threatens our salmon and steelhead smolt. A very special thanks goes out to the Quincy Valley Chamber that organized the event, Grant County PUD, the major sponsor, and all the businesses that contributed prizes.

The fishing was so good on Moses Lake last Monday that I went right back on Wednesday. My buddy James Lebow brought his boat and met me at the Connelly Park boat ramp right when the gates opened at 5:30. We wasted no time running up to the far north end of the lake, where we had terrific fishing just two days prior. However, we trolled for over three hours and just landed one fish.

We gave up on this spot and drove down to a shoreline across from Connelly Park. We started off with no action and then I put on a naked nightcrawler on a Slow Death hook. That changed everything. We landed six fish in about an hour. James had the right idea to move to a different location and trying different methods. When we hit on the naked Slow Death hook, it really paid off. I figured what made the fishing slow at the north end was the temperature change. It was sixty something when we launched on Monday, and just 38 degrees when we launched on Wednesday. Big temperature swings like this can put fish off the bite. That’s my excuse!

I enjoyed a spectacular day of fishing on Moses Lake last Monday. I was on board with Austin Moser and several guys from Bob Feil Boats and Motors. Austin had told me that the walleye fishing had just lit up on Moses Lake, and that the smallmouth bass fishing was also great. We headed up to the very top end of Moses Lake and trolled bottom walkers and spinners on side planers in just 5 feet of water. The walleye had just finished spawning and they were hungry. The action was fast and furious. We had a few doubles and landed 15 fish from 14 to 19 inches. We did get one female walleye that was 23 inches, and everyone agreed to let her go. She will continue to contribute to the great numbers of walleye on Moses Lake.

Then we went bass fishing. Austin put us off one of his favorite shorelines and we cast Senkos toward the bank. We caught a bunch of nice smallmouth and I was very impressed with the size. I have always taken my bass gear along when I fish Moses Lake. A combo day of walleye and bass fishing is a terrific way to spend a day.

I did a video of the action on Austin’s boat on Monday. In the video Austin explains the technique of trolling bottom bouncers on side planers, which is an unusual method. I had only observed it once before. He also talked about using Senkos when fishing for smallmouth bass on Moses Lake. I think you will enjoy watching this video and you can do so by searching the Dave Graybill channel on YouTube. You can find a link to the video on the Fishing Magician.com Facebook page right now, and it will soon be available on the Fishing TV page of my website, fishingmagician.com.

Other videos I have done recently are of the Colville Tribe’s efforts on removing northern pike from Lake Roosevelt. I also did one on sport fishing for northern pike with Kevin Witte from Kettle Falls. These are available on my Facebook page and the northern pike video is also on my Fishing TV page.