The weather has warmed up considerably recently, but I chose the coldest day of the week to get out on the water. I want to warn fishermen that the ice is getting thin on the lakes that they were fishing a couple of weeks ago. I suggest looking to do some fishing from shore in the near future.

I promised my friend James Lebow that it would be sunny and warm last Monday. A perfect day to fish for triploids at the net pens on Rufus Woods Reservoir. He got his boat ready and headed out from Moses Lake that morning. He almost wound up in the ditch a couple of times, due to freezing fog on the road to Pinto Ridge. He made it though, and we made it to the launch at the middle net pens. Still no sunshine. The fog had lifted, but the sun just couldn’t break through. We tried fishing on the bottom next to the upper pens and didn’t get a bite. We moved toward the shore and made two passes downstream, trolling spinners on bottom walkers. We have had good success doing this, catching both trout and walleye. Not on Monday. No bites. We moved back up to the upper pens and tried fishing bait on the bottom again. It was about 12:30 now, still fogged in, but James got a bite, and landed a trout of about 3 pounds. Ten minutes later, I got a bite and landed a trout that was slightly bigger. No sunshine but we took home two nice triploids. This week’s photo is of me with one of the triploids we caught at the upper net pen.

We are into February now and should be in the depth of winter. It’s going to be rainy, and temperatures are in the 40s here in Leavenworth. Ice has gotten thin on most lakes, but it was thick enough on Bonaparte Lake, for the second annual Ice Fishing Derby. In spite of rainy weather and slush and water on the ice, there was a very good turnout. According to Eric Cruz, owner of the Bonaparte Lake Resort and organizer of the derby, there were 560 entries this year. The Big Fish honors went to Idaho angler Brian Rogers with a 4.75-pound rainbow. He won a gift certificate to Sheels and $1,899. The Multi Species category was won by Chris Marcolin from Omak. He took home a Vexlar flasher basket and $1,319. The winner in the Youth division was James Magnuson and he received a Sheels gift certificate and $397. Eric said that about 200 people came up to him to thank him for putting on the derby, so you can count on the Bonaparte Lake Ice Fishing Derby to be back next year. Plus, Eric said he is working on a derby on Curlew Lake. I’ll keep you posted.

While most anglers are looking for places to launch their boats and fish from shore, there are still others out there drilling holes through the ice. On my way back from fishing at the net pens on Rufus Woods, I pulled into the marina at Coulee City. I noticed some fishing shacks out on the ice at Banks Lake on my way to meet my friend at Big Wally’s and I wanted to check on the ice conditions. When I pulled up on the dike there were two anglers loading up their sled to head out. I learned that there was about six inches of ice, and they were looking forward to fishing through the night for whitefish. I thought that the people I saw out there were fishing for perch, but no, whitefish are the target. I know that ice anglers make excellent catches of whitefish through the ice at the very top end of Banks Lake but didn’t know they were available in such great numbers at the bottom end. Whitefish make up about 50 percent of the biomass on Banks, so I guess it makes sense. Still, I think the ice is too thin to tempt me out there.

There are two events coming up on the weekend of February 17th. On the east side of the mountains is the Okanogan Valley Bass Club awards banquet and fund raising dinner. I attended this banquet many years ago, and what I remember about it was being very welcomed by the members. Many people aren’t aware of the amazing bass fishing on the Okanogan River. There are miles and miles of great habitat for smallmouth bass. I have had some great days fishing at Monse and Mallot. I even floated from Oroville down to Tonasket once, fly fishing for smallmouth. The biggest smallmouth I have ever caught was at the Monse Bridge. If you want to learn more about the terrific bass fishing available in Okanogan County, it would be a great idea to get to know the folks in this group. To find out how to get tickets to the event, visit the Okanogan Valley Bass Club Facebook page. The deadline for ticket sales in Saturday, February 10th.

If you are a fly fisher, there’s an event especially for you scheduled for February 17th and 18th. It’s the annual Seattle Fly Fishing Show that is held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. At the show you can see fly tying and casting demonstrations and attend seminars and classes. The International Fly Fishing Film Festival starts on Friday, February 17th at 6 p.m. You can see all the newest products and visit exhibitors from lodges, resorts, and exotic vacation destinations. There’s $60,000 in door prizes given out at this year’s show. You can get all the details by visiting www.flyfishingshow.com.

One more event that you should know about is the annual Central Washington Sportsmen Show in Yakima. It will take place on February 23rd to the 25th at the Sundome. It opens at noon on Friday, and the first 100 people to enter will receive a gift bag from Cabelas. There are some great seminars during the show, and lots to do for the kids. To learn all about the show visit www.jlmproductionsllc.com. I will be there with the folks from Bob Feil Boats and Motors, so stop by and say hi!

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