Even though it hasn’t been cold, it’s been rainy. Most days both, this past week. Only the hardiest of anglers have been venturing outdoors. I sure hope we get a break from this awful weather. I get out of sorts if I don’t get out on or near the water for a week or more.

This is the time of year that I often check out some of the shore fishing opportunities in our region. I had a meeting planned in Moses Lake on Thursday, and I wanted to see what was going on at Medicare Beach on Potholes. When I arrived at the shore I saw an angler reeling in a rainbow trout. What timing! I walked down to admire his catch and visit with the other anglers that were set up in a line on the bank. The angler I observed landing a fish already had another one in his cooler. They were twin 14 inchers, and he was willing to share his secret to success. He uses a marshmallow and nightcrawler combo, with a twist. Instead of putting the small, white marshmallow on the hook first, he threads on his crawler so it’s above the knot. The he pushes the marshmallow on the hook. He believes that he gets better hook ups this way, and he had two fish in the cooler for proof.

He said this is about this time of year when the rainbow bite gets going on Potholes, and the chance of getting a rainbow of 3 or 4 pounds is very good. The good winter fishing is just getting started, and there will be people catching rainbow off this beach until Potholes freezes. So, get a couple of sand spikes, a comfortable chair, some cold weather gear and pocket warmers and head down there to join the fun.

To get to Medicare Beach I go south on Highway 17 and then turn right on Road M. The next turn is to the right on Road 6 SE. I follow this road to Road J, where you will see the Sandy Point RV Park on the right, but you will turn left and follow the dirt roads down to park on the beach. This is a State Park, with some amenities. There are a couple of vault toilets down here and some picnic tables placed above the beach, too. A Discover Pass is required at this park. This week’s photo was taken at Medicare Beach.

It’s November now and in Leavenworth there is no doubt about it. There’s ice on the back eddies in the Icicle, and although there are still a few anglers trying to tempt a strike from coho a with their twitching jigs. Coho are pretty scarce in the Icicle this year, compared to the past couple of seasons. I place the blame on the extremely low water.

Looking back a couple of years, to see what I was up to in past seasons in the month of November, I came across a great photo of my long-time friend and fishing buddy Shane Magnuson. He’s holding up a walleye on Potholes Reservoir. As I recall, we both hooked up at the same time. His fish put mine to shame. I also found a photo of me with a nice kokanee on Lake Chelan. The background shows flat calm water and lots of sunshine. I am going to grab my kokanee blades and spinners and get up to Chelan soon. I am giving my daughter the last kokanee I had in the freezer this weekend, and I want to stock up. There’s nothing better than kokanee fish cakes in the skillet or a load of kokanee in the smoker.

Since I wasn’t going to be heading out in the boat this past week, I decided it would be a good time to load the smoker. I have a good number of sockeye fillets from the Lake Wenatchee season this summer. So, my wife pulled out the big crockery bowl that I use when brining the fish and I gathered the sugar and spices that I use to prepare the fish.

I put a layer of fish in the bowl and then sprinkle the fillets with kosher salt. Then I cover them with a generous amount of dark brown sugar. I don’t know when I started doing it, but for years I have then added basil flakes. I layer the fish and spices into the bowl until it is near the top. This is a “dry” brine, but by the time I transfer the bowl to the refrigerator, there is already a good amount of liquid forming in the bowl. Something I did this time that I had never done before was to “score” the fillets, making two or three shallow cuts across the fillets. This would help the brine seep into the fillets and the smoke to really get deep into the fish.

The bowl is covered with Press and Seal and stays in the fridge overnight. In the morning the fillets are immersed in liquid. I then rinse the fillets and place them in the trays that I have sprayed with cooking oil and let them dry while I get the smoker set up. My wife got me one of those Bradley smokers years ago and it has really been great. I can control the temperature and it automatically feeds the “biscuits” of chips, so I don’t have to check it and fill a pan with chips like I did with my old units. I have put hundreds of pounds of fish through this smoker and I am really pleased with the results.

I keep the temperature between 150 and 180 degrees and the fish is usually done the way I like it in about three hours, depending on the thickness of the fillets. I like my finished product sill moist. I am not a fan of jerky-like smoked fish. I put the trays in my garage to cool, and always take a piece to my wife for her opinion. She said this batch may be the best ever! The next step is to vacuum seal the fish, and what isn’t consumed immediately goes into the freezer. My family sure enjoys getting some of the pieces of this fish, or the spread that I make with it.

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