Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 4/2/2012

Once again, steelhead fishing is in the news. This time it is the announcement that the season has closed, prior to the hoped March 31 extension. Anglers had put their gear away last Sunday evening. It was great to get a few more days, though. Now on to spring fishing! My fishing buddy Rollie Schmitten and I had a great trip last week. We traveled north on the Columbia River, practically...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/19/2012

Daylight Saving Time is extending our days, and spring fever is rampant among anglers here in Central Washington. I had a chance to take an early season walleye trip to Lake Roosevelt. It seems that even the fish are ready to go this year, even though winter is reluctant to release its icy grip. We were breaking a thin layer of ice as we left the slip in the marina at Two Rivers. Rick Roveg...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/5/2012

The early trout opener in the Quincy Wildlife Area and the lakes near George was a great one. Anglers got limit numbers of rainbow at most all of the lakes. Over 400 anglers participated in the Quincy Tourism Association’s Tagged Trout Derby at Burke Lake, and it was a huge success. I stopped my Martha Lake on March 1st, the opening day of the early trout season and found the banks of this ...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 3/5/2012

This is the time of year that anglers put winter behind them and spring fishing begins. On March 1st several lakes in the Quincy Wildlife Area and a couple near the town of George open to fishing. The official start of trout season has begun. Thousands visit these lakes every year to shrug off the late winter blues and get on with the business of trout fishing in earnest. One of the most p...

Author: Stan Fagerstrom

Posted: 2/24/2012

The Columbia River has produced another whopping big walleye. The latest monster weighed 18.6-pounds. It was caught by Denis Fillion, a resident of the Tri Cities. There are several similarities between the whopper caught recently and the catching of the Washington State walleye record back in 2007. The state record walleye was caught on Feb. 5, 2007. It weighed 19.3-pounds. Fillion boate...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 2/24/2012

I spent last weekend at the town of Molson, attending the 8th Annual Ice Fishing Festival, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. According to the sign on the road approaching Molson the population is 35. I think that everyone in town either participated in the event or helped out by volunteering for the many chores associated with such an event. This is a community effort, where everything fro...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 2/12/2012

There is an abundance of choice in Eastern Washington when the prospect of ice fishing is considered. There are lakes near and far. Some offer trout, others spiny ray and still others that offer burbot (freshwater ling), but they all offer the same thing: angling during a season that often offers limited options to the ardent angler. You know the type. They just gotta go fishing, and the hec...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 1/17/2012

Ice Fishermen Hoping for Repeat Of Great Fishing on Moses Lake It may seem odd, but there is a large contingent of anglers hoping for really cold weather this winter. Granted, they are an odd bunch. These are the folks that are waiting for a solid cap of ice to form on Moses Lake so they can break out their ice augers and other specialized gear to go ice fishing. The ice fishing on Moses La...

Author: Jason Brooks

Posted: 1/16/2012

As you make the turn from highway 97 to the entrance of Wells Dam just north of Chelan, WA there is a rest area and overlook of the Dam and the Upper Columbia River. I had just finished lunch and was lying on the manicured grass under one of those trees at the entrance trying to recover from our early morning launch at 4:00 am. The mid-morning sun drove us off of the water and my Dad and I decided...

Author: Bob Johansen

Posted: 1/3/2012

Fall Fishing for Lake Pateros Steelhead Lake Pateros, located at the town of Pateros, Washington. It is actually the dammed up section of the mighty Columbia River behind Wells Dam. The town of Pateros, located at the confluence of the Methow River and the Columbia River, is an ideal destination for fall steelhead anglers. Not only is the steelhead fishing quite productive, but also the Pate...

Author: Dave Graybill

Posted: 1/3/2012

Happy New Year everyone! I had a Holiday season full of visits with family and some old friends. I ate too much, stayed up too late and overall had a great time. I hope you all did too. As the Holidays fade away we can all get back to business, and the business of planning out winter fishing adventures. We kicked off the New Year with some disappointing news for steelhead anglers. Most of...

Author: Mike Carey

Posted: 1/3/2012

2011 Year in Review Welcome to my annual “Year in Review” report. Maybe we should call it “State of the Web Site” report. Well, our State is “Good”! The big achievement this year has to be the updating of our Forum. The old forum was buggy and causing unexpected episodes of crashing WashingtonLakes.com. Not a very good thing. Aaron got to work and coded a new forum software system which is...