by Dave Graybill, February 27, 2013

This was a big week for folks here in Central Washington, particularly in the Wenatchee Valley. Before I get into what I did earlier last week and what’s coming up for the weekend, I wanted to thank Merle and Bev Shuyler and their staff for putting on the first Wenatchee Valley Sportsmen’s Show here at the Town Toyota Center. It was a great success, and wouldn’t have happened without them and a very long list of sponsors and vendors that committed to the show. Thanks also to all of you that turned out. I hope that it was the first of many more to come.

There are some anxious anglers out there waiting to see if in fact the Methow River will open to steelhead fishing again this season on March 1st. Conditions should be right for good fishing on the river. Judging by what has been happening on the Wenatchee since it reopened there will be some great fishing to be had on the Methow. I got out a couple of times for steelhead on the Columbia last week. I fished from shore below Wells Dam with my wife, Eileen, last Monday and hooked and released a hefty 10-pound wild hen. The next day my fishing buddy Rollie Schmitten and I tried below Wells Dam from a boat. We got a few bites and hooked and released two fish. Then we pulled the boat and headed downriver to Chelan Falls. We put the boat in at the day-use park there and ran up river to just below where the outflow of the Chelan Hatchery enters the river. There were some hungry fish waiting for us. We hooked five and landed and released four nice wild fish. We were both using bobbers and jigs. This was a pretty good day of steelhead fishing, and I am anxious to get out again. Thanks to Bob Feil Boats and Motors I will be able to put the new Kingfisher boat in the water soon. My wife always gets the first trip, and I am sure she’ll want to fish for steelhead at Bridgeport. We’ve had some really wonderful days up there in the late season.

On March 1st several lakes in the Columbia Basin open to fishing. In the Quincy Wildlife Area there are several that are popular with anglers. Quincy Lake offers very good shore access and fair to good trout fishing for 11- to 13-inch trout in most years. Quincy is shallow and is often mostly ice-covered on the opener, but should be wide open this year. Next to Quincy is Burke Lake. This is the site of the Quincy Valley Tourism Association’s Derby on March 2nd, and provides excellent trout fishing. There is good shore access at Burke and a good launch. The catch of 11- to 13-inch rainbow is supplemented with larger fish for the derby, including some that weigh up to 6 and 7 pounds. Dusty Lake, which is reached via trail, is popular with fly anglers and produces rainbow and brown trout to over 20 inches and tiger trout that can be even larger. Dusty is a quality lake, with selective gear rules, and a limit of one fish per day. Often overlooked are two small lakes that are also reached via trail, Cup and Dot. These are not known for producing large catches of trout but the fish caught can be really big. To the east of the town of George is Martha Lake, and it is the most productive of all the March 1st opener lakes. Anglers take limits of 10- to 14- inch trout and a surprising number of carryover rainbow to 18 inches and larger. To the west are the Caliche lakes. I’ll bet that the largest of the three lakes will produce good catches of rainbow of 11- to 13 inches this year. A lake that also opens on March 1st is Lenore, just north of Soap Lake. This can be a good one for Lahontan cutthroat. I want to remind everyone that Lenore is catch and release until May 31st. To the south near Beverly two lakes that are very popular with fly fishers, Lenice and Nunnally will open on March 1st as well. These are quality lakes under selective rules, with a limit of one fish per day.

I have saved an important reminder for last this week. On Saturday, March 2nd hordes of anglers will be lining the shores of Burke Lake. They will be there to enjoy the fishing, but also hoping to catch one of three trout that are wearing a tag worth big money. For the third year the Quincy Valley Tourism Association will be putting on their trout derby, and I expect it to be the best ever. The fact that last year an angler turned in a tagged fish that was worth $2,000.00 has everyone eager to get fishing in this year’s event. Even if a money trout isn’t caught the fishing should be excellent. In addition to the fish anglers usually expect at Burke Lake each spring, the Quincy Valley Tourism Association will be putting 150 trout from 14 to 18 inches and 35 that weight between 6 and 7 pounds into Burke just in time for the derby.

Anglers shouldn’t forget about the year-round lakes that can offer particularly good trout fishing in the early spring. A lake that very few people try for trout is producing some large fish again this spring, and that’s Banks Lake.

I’ll be at the Quincy Valley Tourism Association’s Derby on Saturday, and I hope to see you there. It’s going to be a blast!

By Dave Graybill

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