Man, I am loving this weather! Sunny skies and rising temperatures makes me eager to get out on the water. I am not alone. More and more anglers are fishing from the banks of their favorite spring season lake, and boaters are more and more common. They are chasing trout, walleye and kokanee on many of our lakes and reservoirs in the region.

I made a swing through the region on my way up to Coulee Dam recently and wanted to share some of my observations. I met two anglers launching a small boat on Burke Lake. They had fixed up the 12 foot aluminum boat with plans to fish the Quincy Chamber’s annual Trout Derby, which is Friday, the 22nd and Saturday the 23 of March. This was the maiden voyage for the father and son, and they wanted to be sure everything worked, and it was water tight.

Evergreen Reservoir still hasn’t filled enough to use the boat launch at the west end. Next, I traveled to Billy Clapp Lake. A friend had told me it was filling fast and that we should plan a trip there soon. I found the water way up from when I last stopped by here. The end of the dock is floating, and I expect even large boats will be able to launch here very soon. I also noticed that the docks aren’t in at Northrup on Banks.

Some of you may have seen the video on did on Billy Clapp Lake about three weeks ago. This was done when the water was down, and I was showing people that there are some very nice rainbow taken from the shore. Now the water is coming up, and I posted a photo on my Facebook page, showing that the dock is starting to float and launching would be possible very soon. I was invited to fish Billy Clapp last Sunday and was pretty excited about it. I have had some amazing days here in the early spring. The rainbow can average 15 to 16 inches and are very healthy. I usually start the season fishing for the trout by flatlining plugs. I have a box set aside just for this purpose. It is full of a variety of the bright orange floating Rapalas of different sizes, including the biggest one they make. I have some other Rapalas in different patterns, like the perch and rainbow that also work very well. Sometimes I run these away from the boat on side planers, as these fish are in the top of the water column. Next week I’ll let you know how we do.

I drove up to Rufus Woods last Sunday afternoon and didn’t get to the middle net pens until about 6 o’clock. I fished for an hour without a bite and saw only a couple of fish caught from the shore here. No worries, a couple of friends were going to meet me there in the morning. I met James Lebow and Michael Ericson in Coulee Dam at 8 o’clock and we drove up to the pens. We had the beach all to ourselves, and although we didn’t get any action for the first half hour, things changed after that. Michael got the first fish and then we all pitched in, and we had six fish on our stringer before 11:00. We weren’t doing anything fancy, just Power Bait on the bottom with a sliding egg-style sinker. All but one of the fish were from the last release by the Colville Tribe and weighed about 2 pounds. Michael did get one that was a couple of pounds heavier than the others. We talked to one angler that was coming off the reservoir in his boat, and he said there are some much larger fish being taken at the upper and lower pens. In fact, I got a short video from Austin Moser showing a happy angler holding up a triploid that weighted 26.5 pounds! This week’s photo is of Michael with his fish at the middle pens.

I have mentioned that when I have been fishing from the shore at Keller Ferry that the water level on Lake Roosevelt has been higher than usual. When I was there in November there was a lot of shoreline exposed, but now it’s about as full as I have ever seen it. Fishing from the shore for trout has been very good, but I haven’t heard much about the kokanee. Anglers like to see the water being dropped as it draws the daphnia that the kokanee feed on downstream. Fishing from Keller down to the dam can be very good. Lake Roosevelt is famous for producing “giant” kokanee. Fish that measure over 20 inches are common, and I have seen fish that were 25 inches, weighing over 5 pounds. Since the water hasn’t dropped, I don’t think many anglers are out after the kokanee. Well, I just got a photo from a local angler that was trolling out of Spring Canyon, and he had caught two dandies recently. Looking at the photo the fish appear to be about 20 inches long. I would say that there is still a good chance of getting some of these giants after all.

Mark your calendars for the Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge, hosted by Reel Recreation. Last year’s event was a huge success, so you will want to get in on the action. It is scheduled for Friday, April 12th through Sunday, April 14th. The free kids fishing pond on Friday is not to be missed. Thanks to Pacific Seafoods, the “pond” will be loaded with big rainbow, and volunteers will be on hand to help the kids land one of these whopper trout. Some of the kids will catch their first fish ever, and the smiles will be priceless. On Saturday and Sunday anglers will be out on Banks Lake fishing for a variety of species, mainly trout, walleye, and bass. Family participation is highly encouraged, and prizes will be awarded for several categories in the Adult and Youth divisions. Coulee Playland on Banks Lake in Electric City is the headquarters for the event, and special activities are planned here for the kids. The aim of Reel Recreation organization is to introduce families to the fun of fishing, and they want you to join the fun. Learn all about the Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge by going to their website at www.ReelRecreation.com.

Back to Fishing Magician Articles