I had another terrific week of fishing here in North Central Washington. I fished close to home at Fish Lake and walleye fished on Moses Lake and Rufus Woods Reservoir. We finally had a week without snow here in Leavenworth, so I think it is safe to say that spring is definitely on its way. With all our lowland lakes open to trout fishing now too, there’s all kinds of opportunities for anglers throughout the region.

I am lucky to have a wife that really enjoys getting out in the boat and doing some fishing with me. I am also lucky to have a place like Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee, that is just 20 miles away. So, when she says, let’s hook up the boat and go, I GO! Fish Lake is a beautiful spot, with vistas of snowcapped mountains in the distance, ospreys circling around and occasionally hitting the water for a fresh fish meal. The lake has been a destination for trout anglers and a real favorite for perch pretty much year-round. I have had some great days fishing for largemouth bass at Fish Lake, and now I have another really good reason to visit the lake—kokanee! That’s right, last June the WDFW introduced 63,000 kokanee to the lake, and they are thriving. I heard of folks getting them through the ice this winter and I have caught some the last two times I trolled my Kokabow gear up there. The kokanee are a solid 12 inches and have the dark colored meat that make them sooo tasty. You wouldn’t need downriggers either. I am catching them at less than 20 feet deep.

One of my favorite places to fish in the early walleye season is the upper end of Moses Lake. The water is very shallow in the areas I like to troll and usually warms up by now. My buddy James Lebow and his fishing friend Michael Erikson invited me to join them for a morning of fishing on Moses last Wednesday. We launched at Connelly Park and made the long run up to the very top end of the lake. We put two side planers out with light bottom bouncers and spinners with worms on one side of the boat and one planer and two rods out the other side. We got one good hit on the north side of the lake and crossed over to the far bank. There was a brief bite, and we put three walleye in the live well over here. Then it died. We got a couple of other hits but didn’t hook up. There were no weeds in this area yet, which made trolling easy. When the water warms up a few degrees the walleye bite will really take off.

Austin Moser is winding down his fishing season on Rufus Woods Reservoir, and he invited me to join a crew of anglers to shoot a video on how to fish for walleye at the upper end of the big impoundment. He has been launching at the Colville Net Pens site at the middle net pens, and then making the short run up to the Nespelem Bar. He has enjoyed tremendous success catching walleye, and he says it was a learning process. What he has been doing mostly is jig for walleye on certain spots he has found on the large bar, which is across from the upper most net pens. There were four anglers on the boat, and I was busy shooting video. We landed 18 keepers and released five or six that were over 22 inches. There was very little flow, which always makes fishing on the river a challenge. Austin was still able to keep us busy, though.  This may have been one of the last trips to Rufus Woods this spring. He will be moving his focus to Moses Lake soon. You can watch a video of him fishing Moses Lake last spring on my YouTube channel, and I finished editing the latest video from Rufus Woods on jigging for walleye. It is now posted on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel! This week’s photo is of Nic Alexander who was fishing with us when I shot the video on Rufus Woods.

I hope you have your calendar marked for the Quincy Chamber’s Annual Pike Minnow Derby. It’s coming up on May 13th through the 15th. The popularity of this derby has really grown the past few years. Not only do anglers make a significant contribution to the health of the Columbia River for salmon and steelhead by removing hundreds of pike minnows, but they are also rewarded with cash and prizes by participating in the derby. I am amazed at the amount, and quality of the prizes handed out to winners and through the raffles. The derby organizers also treat derby participants with a great lunch right before the awards ceremony. It is easy to get the derby rules and even register for the event online. Just go to www.fishingmagician.com and click on the “Something Fishy in Quincy” logo on the Home Page.

I have been a Mercury Motors Pro Staffer for many years, so I get some notifications about new postings to their Dockline Blog. There are always interesting articles and videos in this blog that all anglers would be interested in. This last one has some good knots and even some tasty recipes. You can sign up for the free blog by clicking on the Mercury logo at the bottom left of my website and then click on the Dockline Blog item on the Mercury Motors Home Page.

I have heard that the kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan is on fire now. The last time I passed by the lake there was the biggest fleet of boats I have seen yet this season down in the lower basin. Most of the boats were concentrated below Rocky Point, and clear across the lake. I have also heard that there are some 16-inch kokanee being caught in Wapato Lake. I hope to get out and try either one of these kokanee fisheries or both in the coming week.

There are some very nice days coming up, weatherwise, now. I am going to try to take advantage of as many as I can. Kokanee fishing is on my list and so are walleye. Smallmouth bass fishing should be very good right now, too, on several reservoirs. What a great time of year!