I got out on the water a lot last week. I really put the new Smoker Craft through its paces. I fished for kokanee and walleye. It is great to get out on the lakes in our region and fish for some of the most prized species that exist here.

Funny how other anglers success or failure can change your mood. I fished Lake Chelan on Monday, and although the weather was clear and warm and the company on the boat was great, the fishing sucked. I had the worst day ever on Chelan. I was trying to catch kokanee and my brother-in-law Tom, who has been on many kokanee trips with me to Chelan, said he couldn’t remember ever not catching at least some kokanee. I couldn’t scare up a single fish. I felt defeated until I ran into the fish checker at the State Park. He rattled off the names of guides that had complained about the tough fishing. Some of them claimed to have had their worst day ever on Chelan, too. Whew, I felt better. I did learn that the kokanee fishing really picked up on Chelan later in the week. Some of the guides were getting limits again.

On Tuesday I fished Banks. I felt pretty good about the four fish I landed—until I got to the ramp at Northrup. A guy there had 14. He said, and I quote: I watched your videos to learn how to catch walleye, and now I am out fishing you! I was happy for him and I was humbled for sure. I won’t be bragging about my day on Banks. I will go back up there as soon as I can. The angler I talked to had been fishing Barker Flats. I usually fish Barker but hadn’t marked fish there when I fished there with my buddy Brian Neilson on our previous trip to Banks. Lesson learned. I will be sure to check out Barker Flats on my next trip.

I do want to mention that I have changed tactics and have caught some dandy walleye by going back to methods that I used when I first started fishing for walleye. That was with a worm harness. I got most of my fish with my favorite Dutch Fork Custom Lures Blue Tiger blade on a harness. I am always reminding myself to try different techniques and get stuck on trying one thing way to often or too long. I am not going to abandon fishing with Slow Death Hook rigs. I have done very well fishing this technique for walleye. I will troll these hooks with a small Butterfly blade just above the worm or “naked”, without a blade or even a bead.

I have wanted to get to Moses Lake for a while, but have been putting it off, waiting for the lake to fill. It is full now, but my buddy James Lebow said it may still take a while for the walleye fishing to kick into gear. He was willing to join my brother-in-law Tom Verschuren and I for a try at Moses Lake last Wednesday.

We launched at Connelly Park and trolled over the flat above the park. Not marking enough fish, we drove up to the very north end. We were marking a few fish here and I landed a whopping 24-nch fish. I think this was the biggest walleye I have ever caught on Moses Lake, and I was thrilled. I got this fish on a gold and black hoochie style rig with a large gold sparkle Butterfly blade. This week’s photo is of this big walleye.

James suggested that we try the point across from the park, so off we went. We were marking more fish here, but we were also getting snagged a lot. I decided to try a naked Slow Death Hook and that did the trick. I got bit several times and managed to hook and a land a nice walleye of just over 20inches. Walleye fishing is about to take off on Moses, and I want to get back and be there when it happens. I also noticed a bass fisherman landing some fish.

With warmer temperatures this time of year comes high water. Our area rivers are filling with runoff and flows are changing. The Chelan County PUD offers a handy App for those who like to play on water, particularly the Columbia River in the Wenatchee area and on Lake Chelan. It’s called the Currents App. Knowing river elevations (measured in feet above sea level) is important for anyone boating in the Columbia River reservoirs, recreating in the river parks, and living along the river.

The Currents App is free from the Chelan PUD, and it is easy to download to your smartphone, so you can check on water levels before you plan to go out and play on the water. Just go to my website and click on the Currents App photo on the right hand side of the page. Very handy and helps keep you safe on the water. Something else that you will want to check out from Chelan PUD is the free passes you can get that are good for day-use parking. The passes are good at three-state operated parks—Confluence, Daroga and Lincoln Park. To get your free day-use pass, just visit chelanpud.org/parks.

I am very excited about what I have planned for next week. I have been invited to go up to Kettle Falls and go along on the joint effort by the Chelan PUD, the Colville tribe and other agencies and tribes on the northern pike suppression effort on Lake Roosevelt. I will be going out on one of the boats when they pull gillnets that were set earlier in the week. This is the most successful method of removing these predators from Roosevelt. It is important work. It is the hope that with this effort they can prevent the spread of these voracious predators down the Columbia River and below Chief Joseph Dam. They pose a very serious threat to our salmon and steelhead populations.

On Thursday and Friday will be fishing for northern pike with rod and reel. My Kevin Witte says he will show me where to catch them, how to catch them, clean them and where to turn in the heads for the $10.00 reward offered by the Colville Tribe. Oh, boy!