The Fishing Magician: January 9, 2026

I can report that the trout fishing is still very good for nice sized trout at Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee. With the late winter and fairly mild weather, there should be good fishing for trout on many of the lakes in our region.

I was going to play Santa for some friends that live at Lake Wenatchee recently, and I decided to stop by Fish Lake on the way. It took me a little while longer than anticipated as heavy snow began falling as I drove up the Chumstick Valley. Then, as I reached the steep, winding road down to Plain, I hit stop and go traffic. One of the trucks that was hauling materials for the repair of Highway 2 had run off the road and that had it choked down to one lane. When I finally reached Fish Lake, I took the time to shoot a short video showing the conditions. A few days later, the sun had come out here in Leavenworth and when I checked the web cam at the lake, I saw it was bright and sunny up there. I couldn’t resist making the drive up there. It’s such a beautiful spot in the winter. I shot another short video to show the contrast of how the weather can change so quickly this time of year. I noticed a skim of ice on the water at the Cove, but we are a long way off from ice fishing at this popular lake. Later in the week I returned to Fish Lake. Rollie Schmitten and his grandson Noah were going to be fishing here and invited me to join them. On their last trip the person on the dock with them found fishing below a bobber, and not on the bottom was working the best, so they were rigged up that way, and I brought two bobber and jig rods with me. We were getting bites but having trouble hooking the trout that were nibbling on our shrimp baits. Finally, Noah hooked a fish that measured 14 inches. Then another angler came down to the dock and started fishing. He was fishing on the bottom with the same bait and immediately landed a 16-inch fish, and another one shortly after. Well, we learned that what Scott West, owner of the Cove Resort, had told us earlier was correct. To catch the trout at Fish Lake right now, put a weight on the bottom, two hooks above that and put cooked and dyed shrimp on the hooks. It works! This week’s photo is of Steve Mikkelsen with one of the fish he caught off the dock at Fish Lake.

I mentioned that I have plans to visit several fishing destinations this winter and I thought I would mention some of my favorites. In the early winter, before there is enough ice on the lakes in the region for safe ice fishing you will often find me in the Grand Coulee Dam area. I have had some great days fishing for trout from the shore at Spring Canyon. I walk down the beach below the swimming area and look for a place where I think my bait will be in ten to twelve feet of water. I set two rods in holders and wait for a bite. Another place I have had great success on trout is at Keller. I drive to the park below the Keller Marina and walk down to the beach. I usually set up at the last access, but there are several other spots where people fish along this park. I have even seen people fishing from the shore in the marina bay. My friends and I also like to fish from the shore at the Colville Net Pens site. I have spent many cold winter days enjoying hot fishing at each of these locations.

When I am thinking about where I want to go for some good fishing, I will often look back at what I was doing at this time of year, maybe even a few years ago. I don’t keep a journal. I use my photo library, and my phone will show me “Memories for this Day” in the past. This morning it showed me a photo of my brother in law, Tom Vershuren, with a very nice rainbow. It was taken at the beach at Keller. I remember this day very well. It was the first time that I had taken Tom to fish from shore at Keller, and we had such good success that he has accompanied me to this same spot several times in recent years. We were fishing from the Federal Park with two rods each and casting a shrimp and marshmallow combo as far as we could. We never had to wait long for one of our four rods to start bouncing. If I remember correctly we both had our five fish limits in less than two hours. The fish ranged in size from 16 to 21 inches. It was a sunny day in early January and we had a blast.
As you have probably noticed through my reports that I like to fish several locations in Okanogan and Grant County in the winter months. I am constantly looking at the weather forecast apps on my phone to determine which highways I should travel to reach these destinations. Driving in snow, ice, and freezing fog can be nerve racking. Even when it’s not snowing or foggy it can be difficult to see the edges of the highway due to the low contrast light. If I am going to fish in the Grand Coulee Dam area, I will often drive up the day before and spend the night at the Grand Coulee Center Lodge. The rooms are nice and they always ask if I am bringing a boat so they can save a space for me. They have power available to charge my bow mount motor batteries, too. There have been many times that I wish I had done this, instead of driving through a snowstorm or across the plateau from Waterville in dense and often freezing fog in the morning. Too many white knuckle trips. I would rather be in my warm room watching a football game instead.

One of my plans for next week is to try steelhead fishing on the Snake River. I will share all the details with you next week!