Things are really happening now in the region. I visited several lakes for the opening day of trout season and saw a lot of happy families enjoying the day. I also had a good day of walleye fishing on Moses Lake. Plus, I got to try the kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan.

I made a swing through Grant County to check on the opening day of trout season activity at a few lakes. The day was sunny and clear, but the wind was howling at Blue Lake. I stopped by the boat ramp and watched a couple of boats pick people up or launch, and it wasn’t easy. One boat stopped to pick up a friend and they already had a couple of limits. People were launching at mid-morning, and I figured that they had waited to see if the wind would lay down, and when it didn’t, they just decided to go anyway. Things were different at Park Lake. It wasn’t nearly as windy, and boats were coming in with their limits. The docks were loaded with folks fishing and I was seeing fish being landed the whole time I was there. I went by the cleaning station, and it was busy. I talked to a gentleman who was in line with his granddaughter, and he told me that this was the 63rd consecutive year that his family and friends had come to Park Lake for the opener. I loved hearing this and seeing so many families enjoying the fun of fishing! This week’s photo is of a Dad helping his young daughter land a fish on one of the docks at Park Lake.

My friend and fishing buddy for many years, Brian Anantatmula, invited me to give the kokanee fishing a try on Lake Chelan. We have had many very successful kokanee fishing experiences on the lake, often with his son and daughters along. This was the maiden voyage of his boat for the season and since it was a Friday we were on our own. We launched at Mill Bay and found the water level just fine. We fired up the Garmin and didn’t see any fish off Mill Bay, so we headed on down to an area below Rocky Point and launched the Minn Kota. We weren’t really marking many fish here, but did get a bunch of bites and landed one of the typical fish that are abundant in Chelan this season - which means a kokanee of 9 or 10 inches. I did get one that measured 15 inches on one of my favorite pink and silver Kokabow blades and a pink squid. Almost all of our hits came on our back rods, and not the riggers. It looks like there are two year classes in the lake so far. The small ones and the 15 inchers. All are fun to catch and tasty!

Last Wednesday I got to fish for walleye on Moses Lake. I went with my friend and guide Brian Nielson from Moses Lake and Mark Burlington from Chewelah. I was hoping the fish would be in the shallows at the very top end of the lake, so we launched at Connelly Park and ran up there. Well, they weren’t. All we got side planing in five feet of water was catfish. Before we headed down the lake Brian wanted to try a spot that we both liked, and sure enough there were some fish here. We landed a few and decided to make a stop at what we call the Eagle’s Nest. The Lowrance fish finder lit up with walleye along this bank and we landed several more nice walleye. Our last stop was on the flat above Connelly Park. We thought we had ten fish and that was enough, so I got out the fillet knife and went to work. It was then that we discovered we had only nine fish. I had just finished and cleaned the boat when my rod went off. It turned out to be our tenth fish and a 24 incher to boot, which we released, even though you are allowed to keep one over 22 inches in your daily limit.

When I visit lakes on the opening of trout season every year, I always make a stop at Jameson Lake. It has been a favorite of mine since I was a youngster. One of the outstanding features of Jameson is the generous amount of shore fishing space. As you approach the bottom end there are vehicles and folks fishing as soon as the water is deep enough to hold a trout. The road continues to be lined with anglers clear past Jack’s Resort. It winds up and around clear up to the boat launch. I have a great time cruising slowly along and watching people land fish and celebrate their catches. They were busy this year. There were a lot of loaded stringers. One angler was carrying his fish to the vehicle and was happy to show me the catch that he and his friends had made. They had some very impressive rainbow. It’s going to be a good year at Jameson. Of course, I never leave Jameson without saying hi to Ginger at Jack’s and getting a couple slices of pie. My wife’s favorite is the coconut cream. This time I tried their apple crisp, and it was delicious!

In my Spring issue of the Fishing Magician E-Letter I talk about a variety of species. I gave anglers some tips on how to fish for them and where to find good fishing. With the opening weekend of trout fishing coming up I wanted to share one of things I talked about. You know how kids like to cast. It is hard to get them to hold still and they always claim they are getting a bite, as an excuse to reel in and cast again. Here’s a way to take advantage of that. Put a casting bubble on their line and put a Woolly Bugger type fly behind it in on three feet of leader. They can cast and retrieve this and have a very good chance of hooking something. I have used this method myself many times with excellent success. I also encourage the use of this technique as there is no bait on the hook and it is easy to release the fish. I also suggest that you use a bead-head version, as this will give even more action to the fly. So, here’s a way to turn the impatience of your kids into a productive method of fishing.