I hope you like ice fishing. That particular form of the sport is offering some of the best fishing in the region. Several lakes are attracting big crowds when there is a clear and sunny day. People are keeping a close eye on some others lakes, like Moses Lake, in hope there will be a safe layer of ice on them soon.

The reports that I am getting on the fishing at Spring Canyon, Crescent Bay and Keller on Lake Roosevelt haven’t been great so far this winter. Most people are complaining about the fact that the lake level hasn’t dropped. I pulled up the short video I did on shore fishing at Keller that I posted on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel and saw that I did it last February. Roosevelt was still pretty high as I recall. As you can see in the video, I don’t think I got a bite. However, the one other angler that was fishing nearby got his limit. Imagine my frustration with my luck on that particular day. As many of you know, fishing on Lake Roosevelt improves when the water is being drawn down. Theory is that this draws the daphnia downstream, and fishing is much better in the area from Keller down to the dam. I checked in with a buddy of mine that works at Grand Coulee Dam and he thinks that the water level will begin dropping very soon. This is good news. He’s been catching kokanee but running all the way up to the Goat Farm to get them. This week’s photo is of a great catch of rainbow and it was taken at the boat launch at Spring Canyon Park.

This is the time of year that fish managers release their Joint Staff Report on returns to the Columbia River for 2025. The managers that participate in the development of the report include the Washinton and Oregon Departments of Fish and Wildlife, and members of several Confederated Tribes. The Report is 112 pages long, so I am going to share a few snippets of information, mainly related to the returns of Chinook to the upper Columbia. The forecast for 2025 for Spring Chinook is for 122,500 to enter the Columbia, which is eighty eight percent of the 10-year average. The Snake River is expected to see 56,200, seventy percent of the 10-year average. Summer Chinook returns are down again this year. The forecast for 2025 is reported to be thirty-eight thousand, which is only fifty eight percent of the 10-year average. It appears that this run is continuing its downhill slide. The sockeye return to the Columbia for 2025 is down from the record of over seven hundred and sixty thousand to just over three hundred and fifty thousand. These fish may surprise us again and show up in much higher numbers. We have had great fishing for sockeye even at the forecasted number.

I am off to a great start this year. Maybe not so much for fishing success, but progress in other areas. I posted my first video back in 2009. Since then, I have posted over 200 videos fishing here in Central Washington State, and even some on outdoor cooking. I just got a notice from YouTube that the number of subscribers to the Dave Graybill YouTube channel just passed 5,000. You probably have heard about YouTubers with millions of followers but given the narrow focus of my content I consider this a respectable number. I launched my website in 2001, and it has attracted a lot of visitors. I now average over 140,000 Unique visits a month. I reluctantly started my FishingMagician.com Facebook Page in 2010 and began posting the reports that appear on my website. I am not a typical Facebooker, in that I am not trying to engage in conversation but just deliver good fishing information. This has shown steady growth as well, and I now have over 10,000 followers. A recent report from Facebook indicated that my page had over 395,000 views. I get a lot of positive comments through these various media, so thank you everyone for being loyal to the Fishing Magician Brand!

The weather throughout the region has been very chilly and it’s not going to change for a while. Many anglers stay inside when it’s this cold out and miss some great fishing. Several years ago, I began to acquire cold weather gear to end the discomfort. For Christmas one year my wife got me a heated jacket, and I am super pleased with it. Many people get a heated jacket but expect it to keep them warm all by itself. Not so, at least in the temperatures I am exposed to. I put on a Columbia “sweater” weight jacket over it and even a light raincoat as a wind breaker. That does the job no matter how cold it is. To relieve my cold toes, I got the Muck Boot, Arctic Sport model. I have friends that have followed my lead and got these and are very happy with them. When sitting in a boat I add heated socks to my footwear. There are some great ones out there now that you control the heat with a remote. A friend got me some electric pocket warmers, and these work better than chemical ones. Okay winter, bring it. I am prepared!

If you try fishing from the shore, your line freezes to the spool on your reel if you make many casts. It’s too cold to be out on the water in a boat unless you have curtains that enclose it and can have a fumeless heater going. What’s a guy going to do? The Seattle Boat Show is a good option. It’s the biggest boat show on the West Coast, and you can see everything from big luxury yachts to all kinds of recreational and fishing boats. There are so many boats on display that there are two locations to view them. The main show is at Lumen Field Event Center, and the other is at Bell Harbor Marina. There’s a free shuttle that you can take between the two venues. There are more accessories and unique water toys to see here than I can describe. There are also seminars on a wide range of interests. It runs through February 8th. Tickets are available on the Seattle Boat Show website or you can get them at the venue.