When out and about last week I saw a lot of anglers fishing various waters. Although the weather was rainy and cold at times, it didn't keep them from enjoying trolling or fishing from the banks of local lakes. I sure hope the weather turns out to be nice for the annual opening of the lowland lakes statewide this weekend, the 25th and 26th.
WDFW Trout Derby Details
The annual WDFW Trout Derby kicks off April 25th and runs through Oct. 31st this year. For the Trout Derby, the WDFW has placed special green tags near the dorsal fin on trout stocked in more than 100 lakes statewide. Anglers who catch a tagged trout win a prize donated from a nearby business. Now in its 11th year, the Derby features more than 900 prizes valued at nearly $45,000. Businesses have donated a wide variety of prizes including gift cards, fishing gear and tackle, Seattle Mariners tickets, rounds of golf, local aquarium admission, a kayak, a guided lake fishing trip for two, handheld GPS units, stays at local resorts and campgrounds, and more. According to the department, there are hundreds of prizes for those who catch a tagged fish, and they plan to stock most of the same lakes as they have in the past. The Trout Derby has been very popular over the past 11 years. The generosity of our license vendors and donors is what makes the Trout Derby a huge success, and something many anglers look forward to. Find more information on the WDFW Trout Derby webpage, and even see which lakes have tagged trout in them. This week's photo is of Travis Maitland, showing a tagged trout.
Antillon Lake Video Adventure
I had checked the forecast for last Saturday and it said cloudy and no wind. So, I decided to run up and do a video on Antillon Lake. This lake gets little attention, probably because there is limited shore access and a small and steep boat launch that can only accommodate very small watercraft. Antillon is loaded with brown trout, which I fish for when I visit the lake. It is also a terrific crappie fishery. However, when I arrived it was pouring rain. Well, I was here so I decided to go ahead with the project. When I got to the area at the boat launch there were two anglers standing under a tree. They had launched their small boat but were waiting to see if the rain would let up. Like me they hadn't expected the rain and were wearing black garbage bags to keep dry! I'll bet that you have been there and done that yourself sometime in the past. I continued to shoot video and wanted to include the upper lake, which I seldom fish. I was surprised to see several groups of people camping here and fishing for the brown trout on the small upper lake. I want to mention that the video I did for my subscribers to my Facebook page. I will soon be posting a video on early season walleye fishing on Banks Lake with Nate Stully. I will also be doing a video, with a special feature for subscribers with Shane Magnuson on spring salmon fishing, and Buzz Ramsey. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and to see when these will be available and subscribe to view them.
Roses Lake Fishing Success
After I made my trip to Antillon Lake I stopped by Roses Lake, which is over the hill from Manson, to see if there were people fishing there, in spite of rainy weather. Boy, was I surprised. The new fishing pier was crowded with anglers, and so was the dock at the boat launch. There were several boats on the water trolling and some putting in. I visited with the folks on the dock, and they were catching rainbow that were about 11 inches long, for the most part. One angler pulled one in while I was on the boat launch dock, and it was more like 14 inches. One person said she had been there a few days before and saw the WDFW release about 2,000 rainbow. That explained why so many of the fish were the same size. I also talked to a couple that had just come off the water, and they said the trout bite was amazing. They had a blast catching and releasing fish that morning. They also raved about how much fun they have on Roses, catching everything from rainbow, tiger trout, brown trout, largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, perch and even big catfish.
Pike Minnow Derby Announcement
The very popular Pike Minnow Derby conducted by the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce is coming up next month, and I wanted to give everyone a heads up so you can plan for it. It is scheduled for May 15-17. Every year the Chamber invites anglers to come down to the marina at Crescent Bar and head out to catch as many pike minnows as possible. This is a fun way to contribute to the effort to move as many salmon and steelhead smolts downstream to the ocean. Pike minnows are deadly predators, and the derby catches hundreds of them every year. Thanks to Grand County PUD and many other local sponsors there is a very impressive number of prizes handed out, and I particularly like how they take care of the youngsters that participate in the derby. They are still gathering prizes and haven't announced the grand prize yet, so click on the Derby image on the Home Page of my website for updates. Also, I am happy to announce that if you call the Holiday Inn Express in George you can get a ten percent discount when you attend the derby. Just be sure to mention the code: FISHINGMAGICIAN!
Opening Weekend Boating Tips
The last Saturday in April will see as many as 200,000 anglers out for their first trip of the season. It always surprises me how many boaters show up at the ramp and actually launch their boat before they try to start their motors. Then they tie up the ramp while they figure out they have to pull the boat. I even saw one guy leave his boat on the water at the launch while he went to town to buy a new battery! Often, even if the battery is charged there can be a fuel issue since the boat sat for months without treatment. All boaters should be using some kind of additive, like Star Tron, in your fuel tank. It is essential with the amount of ethanol in our gas.
Good luck on opening weekend!
