It was a great week of fishing and not catching for me. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Experienced anglers know that you just don’t fill your stringer or live well every time you get out on the water. You just look for good opportunities and try the best that you can.

Success for coho anglers on the Icicle River varies at lot from day to day. I got a text with a photo from my friend Kevin Fegl that showed two four-fish limits on the bank. That got me excited, and I had to give it a try on Sunday morning.

Surprised to only see four other anglers on the Icicle, I found room at one of my favorite spots. I almost didn’t stay. The wind was howling, and it was raining pine needles. The water was covered with them, and big mats of needles covered the surface of the water.

Oh well, I was there so I spent an hour casting the Rock Dancer jig that produced for me earlier. Nothing would hit it, and even switching to a larger, metallic blue jig didn’t work. I thoroughly covered a good stretch of the stream: casting and moving slightly and casting again. There were some fish rolling and I saw a couple scooting up and down the river, but none of them were hitting. I had hoped that a big bunch of fish would have moved into this area of the river, but apparently not. Hey, it’s still early. More fish should show up soon. The Icicle continues to be very low and clear. When the water comes up and gets some color, fishing will improve dramatically.

I had heard some reports of really good fishing for a variety of species on Potholes Reservoir. Limits of walleye were being taken and excellent catches of big crappie and whopper bluegill were being made. Wanting to see for myself, I called my friend Brian Neilson in Moses Lake and planned a trip for last Thursday.

I met him and his friend Russ Shiraishi and we launched my boat at Mar Don and headed out to an area above the State Park. This part of the big reservoir has treated us to good walleye action in the past and is often the spot we chose to start our day.

Sure enough, we saw walleye on the bottom, and we put out bottom bouncers with spinners on Slow Death Hooks. We trolled around this area in water from 22 to 35 feet seeing fish all the time, but just didn’t get bit. We moved around, trying some other areas that have produced in the past, but still couldn’t get any fish in the live well.

We saw Shelby Ross, who is the lead guide on Potholes, bouncing around like we were. I sent him a text later, asking how he did. He said he got ten walleye for the day, and just one after 10 a.m.

We did see a good number of boats fishing for crappie and bluegill. It appeared that they were locating a habitat box with the depth finders and anchoring nearby. I could see them jigging away and catching fish.

Every time I go to Potholes I say that we should try fishing for crappie and bluegill. It would be fun. This time we got five bites that we were sure were walleye but didn’t hook up. We got three catfish, which are a nuisance and one nice crappie and a big bluegill. It just wasn’t our day. The clear and flat calm conditions didn’t help. This week’s photo is of Russ Shiraishi with an example of the crappie you can catch on Potholes.

Last year we had a bear in the neighborhood that was raiding the chicken coups. It left when everyone secured their structures better, but it came back this year, and managed to get inside one of them and ate every last chicken. This is a reminder to those of us who live in areas near wildlife.

You should know that 95 percent of the calls about conflicts with wildlife are the result of irresponsibility on the part of people. Access to trash, pet food, bird feeders and improper storage of food while camping make up the majority of the calls. Bears will dig under barriers or break them down to get food, including garbage. This is the time of year that bears are active. They need to put on weight prior to hibernation. You can avoid bears getting into your garbage by putting it out before the truck arrives, not the night before. Keep fish parts or meat waste in the freezer before you put it in the garbage can. Spraying the can with disinfectants can help, too. You can ask your waste management company if they offer bear-proof containers. The cost isn’t that much more.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is currently seeking public comment on updates to a variety of fishing rules and regulations affecting state waters. The proposed changes would have several effects, including reclassifying bull trout, Dolly Varden, eastern brook trout, and lake trout from “trout” to “char,” closing a portion of Puget Sound to recreational sea cucumber harvest, and clarifying language and intent of other existing regulations. The proposed updates are needed to clarify rules for the general public and align them with the latest science and conservation efforts. This latest effort follows a round of rule simplifications completed in 2019.

“We know that fishing regulations can be confusing and we’re always looking to make the rules clearer,” said Kirt Hughes, head of WDFW’s fish management division. “At the same time, we have to be adaptive to ensure the regulations help in meeting conservation targets statewide.”

Anyone interested in providing feedback on the proposed rules can submit comment – as well as view the full list of proposed changes and reasoning for each proposal – at https://publicinput.com/RecFishing. For a hard copy of the proposed rules, please call 360-902-2700.The public will also have the opportunity to comment on the proposals during the Dec. 2-4 meeting of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting.
 
The comment period is open until Dec. 4, 2021. If adopted, the rules are expected to take effect in summer 2022. I have a trip to Rufus Woods for rainbow and walleye planned. I’m pumped!