Happy New Year everyone. If you are like me, one of my resolutions is to fish more often. I had a very good year, but I always feel like there was some great fishery that I missed. I will continue to provide reports on current fishing in our region and plan on doing more videos in the coming year.

My fishing buddy James Lebow was willing to take his boat out on Moses Lake last Friday, and I was waiting for him at Blue Heron Park boat launch. Our good friend Ryan Harris came along, too, and James drove the boat down to the I-90 Bridge. When we stopped and anchored the boat, James made the first cast, and within two minutes landed a walleye that measured 22 inches! We didn’t get another bite here, but could see anglers in other boats landing perch, so we moved closer to the bridge. Our luck improved. I had four doubles of perch with my first four casts, and we all had doubles. In fact, I had a total of ten doubles that morning. Everyone in the boats near us were reeling perch after perch, and so were the anglers on shore and from the bridge. It is a perch fishing festival on Moses Lake, and it has been going on for weeks. The perch we caught ranged in size from about 9 inches to 11 inches, and there a some even larger landed occasionally. There is no sign of the action slowing down. Ice fishing could be great this year. This week’s photo is of the walleye that James caught.

I was in Grand Coulee Dam recently to shoot a video on upper Rufus Woods Reservoir. While I was there, I took the time to check on a couple of places that I know are popular this time of year. Right now, the water is still high on Lake Roosevelt, and that makes launching at Spring Canyon very easy, and it continues to be a good place to launch to troll for rainbow and kokanee through the winter. Until the water is drawn down, though, there is a very convenient place to get your boat in the water just down the hill from the town of Grand Coulee Dam. When you are driving down towards the dam, look to your right and just past the small park there is a road that leads down to the water. This is the access to Crescent Lake and Crescent Bay and if you keep going straight it will lead you to a boat launch that is just above the dam. There is a long dock on the ramp and even a pit toilet at the site. This will put you in prime trolling areas for rainbow trout and kokanee.

One of the things that I have done in the chilly months is troll plugs on Potholes Reservoir, before it freezes. Not for walleye but for rainbow trout. I think that the trout fishing is underrated on Potholes, and not that many anglers target them. Knowing that good numbers of rainbow are caught from Medicare Beach, that is where I will look for them. On a winter day a couple of years ago I took a friend to Potholes, with the intent of getting some trout. I ran over to Medicare Beach and put out two plugs. One was a perch pattern Rapala, and the other was a crawfish pattern Flicker Shad. I started at the bottom end of the beach and trolled up the reservoir, trying to keep the boat in 20 to 30 feet of water. Not long after we got started, the inside rod went off, and we could tell it was a big fish. It turned out to be a big walleye, stretching the tape to just over 27 inches. We released this one and started trolling again. This time the outside rod went off and once again it wasn’t a trout, but a 21-inch walleye. We never did land a trout.

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. 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.

My daughter Whitney joined my wife Eileen and I for Christmas this year, which makes this Holiday even more special. We always make plans to get out on the boat and do some fishing. Winter fishing isn’t her thing, though. However, I do remember a trip we made to Rufus Woods one winter years ago, when Shane Magnuson invited us to fish from his boat. It turned out be one of the coldest days we had that winter, with the temperature hovering around eight degrees. I knew Whitney was suffering from the cold, but she didn’t complain. I did scratch winter fishing off the list of things to do when she visits at that time of year. After all, we have had many great days in the warmer months.

I still consider the perch fishing on Moses Lake the hottest thing going on this winter. I prepared a perch dinner for some folks recently, and now my brother-in-law is eager to get some more perch. I hope to make that happen very soon.