I made a couple of trips around the region recently, to check out the conditions on some of the lakes in the area. I wanted to see if any of them had frozen over. I also went to the lower end of Rufus Woods Reservoir and did some videos of the fishing accesses there.
One of the places I visited when I was on one of my sweeps through the region to check on conditions was Potholes Reservoir. I saw that one boat had launched at the State Park and there was no ice near the ramp. The same was true at Blythe, and I noticed a number of walleye carcasses near the ramp here. Someone is catching some walleye on Potholes. I stopped at the tackle shop at Mar Don, and the fellow there said that yes, there are some walleye being caught. He said you shouldn’t expect to get a dozen but three or four is quite possible. Most walleye anglers are using blade baits or Jigging Rap style of jigging baits this time of year. I asked him if he had heard of trout being caught off of Medicare Beach and he said that they come in for bait, but then never stop back to tell him how they did. Some weekends you will find quite a number of anglers fishing from the shore off this beach, which is on the east shore of Potholes. There is a park here, Discover Pass required, with picnic tables and restrooms, which makes it nice. This week’s photo is of Dave Easley and Karl Reinecker, from Wenatchee, who were fishing, without success, at Medicare Beach.
It has been chilly enough lately that I wanted to check on the conditions of some of the lakes in the region. There could be the possibility of ice forming and making things difficult for anglers who like to fish some of the lakes that are open year-round. So, I drove up to Manson, near Lake Chelan, and visited Roses Lake. This lake received a plant of 20,000 triploid rainbow trout in November and anglers have been enjoying very good fishing this fall and early winter. I fished it earlier this fall and we caught a mix of both rainbow and tiger trout on Roses. I found the lake ice free when I checked on it earlier this week. A couple of anglers arrived just as I was leaving. They were heading out on the new fishing pier to try their luck. I also noticed that boaters can still use the launch here, too. Trout fishing should be good until it starts to freeze, and if the ice gets thick enough, ice fishers will be targeting the perch at Roses. Perch are abundant in the lake and mostly filleting size as well.
I got a call from Beau Harmon, who put me up at his place in Curlew when I fished the Kettle River earlier this fall. He and his wife had driven down to Keller and fished near the marina for the triploid rainbow trout in Lake Roosevelt. They had a great time fishing from the shore, landing six before his wife got too cold to continue. The fish ranged in size from about 16 inches to one they estimated weighing 4 pounds. Although they usually get their fish on a marshmallow and worm combo, they found the fish weren’t interested. His wife put a small single egg on with the marshmallow, and that changed everything. The fish would only take this bait that particular day. Another angler that was fishing next to them wasn’t having any luck, so they gave him some eggs, and he immediately landed a fish. Now I am going to have to bring another type of bait along when I fish out of Keller. I need to plan a trip up there soon. Roosevelt rainbow are fun to catch and smoke up great! There is good access to the water at the park below the marina, and at the mouth of the marina bay. Beau also checked on Curlew Lake for me. He said there is five inches of ice off the State Park now, and some folks are pulling lots of perch through the ice. He said that the water depth of about 30 feet is where they are finding them. Perch range in size from 8 inches up to a foot long. The ice is just forming off the beach at Tiffany’s Resort, but when it gets thick enough for safe ice fishing it’s a very good place to go. Tiffany’s isn’t open and doesn’t rent cabins this time of year, but for a ten dollar fee you can park near the boat launch and fish from there. The ice fishing is good enough that many people pay the fee to fish here.
I have been wondering what the kokanee fishing has been like this winter on Lake Chelan. I figured if anyone would know it would be Nate Stull, of Stully’s Guide Service. He guides for kokanee, even in the winter, on Chelan and we are going to do a video on winter techniques for catching these fish sometime soon. When I sent him a note he said he had just fished a short day with his wife. Although they just put ten 10- to 11-inch fish in the cooler, he said the action was great. He had a lot of double to quadruple hits on his gear and even boated a few small mackinaw while he was out there. This got me excited about getting out on the lake. I have had many successful trips in the winter months on Lake Chelan. Even if the fish aren’t very big it is a ton of fun catching them when the action is like what Nate experienced. You have to be prepared for changing weather when you plan a trip. Winter days can range from bright and sunny to snowy and cold. It’s great to be out on the water no matter what.
There were 200 people that turned out for the 22nd Annual Molson Ice Fishing Derby that took place last weekend. The winning trout came from Sidley Lake and measured 22.5 inches. This was worth $500 to the lucky angler that caught it.
