by Dave Graybill, May 13, 2013

We went from a chilly spring right into blazing hot summer this past week. The weather warmed up the water on many of our larger lakes. That means that some of the popular warm water fisheries are getting close to really taking off. Walleye and bass fishing should be hitting their stride on Potholes Reservoir, Moses Lake and Banks Lake very soon.

I made a trip to Moses Lake during this hot spell. I like to fish Moses in early May for walleye and hoped that the weather would have warmed the water and had the walleye on the bite. Apparently it had, the day before we got there. While launching my fishing partner Eric Granstrom talked to a couple of boats that were putting in at Connelly Park. They were pumped, saying that they had caught double digit numbers of walleye the previous day. These same anglers were looking grim when we visited with them later on the water. They were shaking their heads wondering what had gone wrong. Nobody, including our boat, was getting anything. Of the half-dozen or so boats that were on the water that morning I only heard of two fish caught. We retrieved six or seven half worms from short strikes and that was it. By noon almost all the boats had pulled out and headed home. I will be back to Moses Lake, though. The water temperature was up to 70 degrees already and the bite will be better the next time. I know I will be there on May 18th to fish for smallmouth bass with Keith Jensen. We will be shooting video for a TV Show and I have a hunch he will know where they are and what they want when we get there. It should be a great day and a super show.

The Quincy Valley Tourism Association’s annual Pikeminnow Derby kicks off this weekend, and if you haven’t registered for the event you still have time. Registrations will be taken at the Crescent Bar Derby Headquarters until 5:30 today. This popular event not only offers a weekend of fishing fun on the Columbia River, there are two boats being raffled and over $9,000.00 worth of cash and prizes awarded to those who participate. It also serves another important purpose. It will help remove hundreds of northern pikeminnows from the Columbia River, and they are a primary predator of salmon and steelhead smolt making their way down the river to the ocean. Anglers not only experience the fun of fishing, they get a chance to win some cash and prizes and really help out our fisheries. Everybody wins with this one.

Spring salmon runs have been on the rebound on the Yakima River for several years now, and two sections of the river are open to fishing again this season. One is from the I-82 Bridge in Richland to the Grant Avenue Bridge in Prosser, about 1,000 feet below the Prosser Dam. This section is open through June 30th. The other section is from the I-82 Bridge in Union Gap to Railroad Bridge about 500 feet below Roza Dam. This section is open until from May 18th to July 15th. There is a pretty good list of special rules and reminders that anglers should review before heading for the river. These can be found on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife web site. I would look under “Latest News” to find the news release with the details. Also, it has been announced that Upper Wheeler Reservoir, near Wenatchee, is now a fly fishing only lake. Through an agreement with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wenatchee Heights Irrigation District and the Wenatchee Valley Fly Fishers public access has been granted. It will be open to fishing from May 18th to September 14th.

I want to remind folks that there some great fishing events for kids coming up soon. One is the annual Fishing Kids event at the National Fish Hatchery in Leavenworth on Saturday, June 1st. At this one the kids get to learn a few things before they fish. There is a boating safety station, a knot tying station, and one where they answer question about our local fish. Then they are handed a rod and reel and get to catch two fish. The trout are cleaned and iced for the trip home. To register for the events just click on the Pepsi logo on my web site and follow the links. Don’t miss this one!

I am very excited about my plans for earlier this week. I am traveling to southern Oregon to meet Jim Teeny and his wife Donna for some very special fishing. There are a couple of lakes down there on the Pronghorn Ranch that are loaded with big triploid rainbow trout. I am going to learn all about Teeny’s techniques to catch these brutes. He will school me on rods, reels, lines and flies. He plans to bring his vice along and actually tie an example of the fly that we will use. I am hauling along all my video gear and plan to shoot as much video as I can on this fishery, and you will be able to “go along with me” when we get it posted later on my web site, FishingMagician.com. I have known Jim Teeny for over 30 years, but this is the first time we have been able to fish together. I’m really looking forward to our trip.

When I get back I will start getting serious about bass and walleye, and I will be on Moses Lake for them. I going to hit Potholes for walleye right away, and then it will be time for some big time “smallie” fishing on Banks Lake, and boy is that fun!

By Dave Graybill

FishingMagician.com