I hope you all enjoyed a great Christmas Holiday, and I am wishing everyone a Happy New Year. I am enjoying the mild winter weather we have had recently. It makes getting outdoors much easier. For those of you who enjoy ice fishing, you will have to look for lakes at high elevations to find ice thick enough for safe fishing.

When the cold weather hits here in Leavenworth there are anglers that are happy to see it. Each cold day brings them closer to ice fishing on Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee. I played Santa Claus the other day, delivering some gifts to friends on Lake Wenatchee, so I stopped by Fish Lake on the way home. There is ice on the lake, but we are a long way from having thick enough ice to allow for fishing. Judging the ice condition on Fish Lake is tricky. It will get cold enough to put a layer of ice on the surface, and then it snows. The snow insulates the ice, and it doesn’t get any thicker. Then it rains and water pools on top of the snow and freezes. I have drilled through a layer of crusty ice and hit water, and thinking I have drilled to the water and drop my sinkers into the hole, and they stop after a few inches. I needed to keep drilling through the layers of ice and snow before I got the water. Remember, you need at least four inches of solid ice for safety. This is probably weeks away at Fish Lake.

I mentioned earlier that I was in the Grand Coulee Dam area recently, and the purpose of the trip was to shoot a video on upper Rufus Woods Reservoir. The Grand Coulee Dam Chamber of Commerce commissioned the video, as it’s a major attraction to the area. I started at Seatons Grove to show the “no fee” access that many anglers use to fish the Buckley Bar and the upper net pens. Next, I showed the access behind the Colville Tribal Greenhouse. It is a great fishing spot, and anglers need to have an Access Permit and Tribal license to fish here, which is right below the mouth of Nespelem Creek. I inserted a shot of the upper net pens, where there is no public access, but it is the primary destination for most boating anglers fishing upper Rufus Woods. I ended up at the Colville Net Pen and RV site, where the boat ramp is at the middle pens. There is a loud background noise on the video here, as the feed was being pumped to the pens, while I was shooting. The video is now available to view on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel. Check it out.

I got buried in snow here in Leavenworth with a recent storm. I had no idea we were going to get as much as has fallen in the past day. No choice but to grab the shovel and start digging out. I did get some news earlier this week that had me thinking about summer, and the fun I had this past year fishing for sockeye on Lake Wenatchee, and on the Brewster Pool. Even before that season ended people were speculating about what to expect next year. Well, the forecast for the salmon returns to the Columbia River are out, and things look good. Last year the forecast was for 400,000 sockeye to enter the Columbia River and the actual return was over 760,000. Most of these fish passed through the Brewster Pool on their way to Canada, except for the thousands that were harvested by sport anglers. The forecast for Lake Wenatchee last year was 97,000 and over 190,000 were counted over Tumwater Dam. This year the sockeye forecast is 350,000 to enter the Columbia and 248,000 for the Brewster Pool. Lake Wenatchee is expected to see 94,000 sockeye. Even at minimum it’s great news. This week’s photo shows the sockeye forecasts for next season.

I have had a few perch meals already this winter, and I plan to enjoy many more. There are several ways to prepare perch. Some people chunk up the fillets and steam them until they are white and then dip them in butter. Poor man’s lobster is what it’s called, and it is delicious. I usually make an egg wash, sometime adding a bit of lemon pepper and coat the fillets with Panko, which many anglers who dine on perch or walleye regularly are familiar with. The coated fillets are fried in olive oil and butter. Just this past year I discovered that Panko comes in a coconut version, with flakes of real coconut in it. I have coated my walleye fillets in this and baked them in the oven and they turned out great. Recently some friends gave us some of their Krusteaz, Fri-Eaz-Seasoned, Breader and Batter m i x . This turned out to be very tasty and we have been using it ever since we tried it. When we ran out, I was able to find it online, but only a 5-pound box. That’s okay, we’ll share some and if I get more perch this winter, we will go through it fast! You can find this product at their website at: www. krusteazpro.com.

It will be here before you know it, so you had better make plans now to attend the Molson Ice Fishing Derby in Molson, near Oroville. This will be the 21st year that the community has conducted a derby, and it just gets bigger and better every year. I attended the event several years ago and was very impressed with how this small community turns out to make sure everyone is having a good time. It will take place on Saturday, January 18th this year and the actual fishing will be on nearby Sidley Lake. Registration can be done online through the Oroville Washington Chamber of Commerce website. Also, you can register at the event starting at 7 a.m. and the derby starts at eight and runs through one. There is a wonderful breakfast served at the Molson Grange Hall, and a lunch provided by Sitzmark. Hot chocolate will be available right on the lake while you’re fishing. Thanks to a functioning aerator on the lake, fishing has vastly improved the past few years. The festival is sponsored by the Oroville Chamber and proceeds benefit the local community. This is truly a very fun event that the whole family can enjoy.