by Dave Graybill, February 26, 2015

The good news for steelhead anglers is that the Wenatchee River has been open for steelhead fishing has been expanded. The new area of the Wenatchee now open to steelhead fishing is from the Icicle River Road Bridge to 400 feet below Tumwater Dam. It has been a few years since anglers have been able to fish this section and boy are people excited. This stretch in the scenic Tumwater Canyon is a delight to fish. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has determined that opening this new fishery will not exceed the impact limits on natural origin steelhead. With anglers’ help this fishery will reduce the number of hatchery steelhead on the spawning beds and reduce the competition between natural origin and hatchery juvenile production. I made a drive up the canyon on Sunday and found just a couple of anglers out enjoying the sunny day. As water levels continue to drop the probability of hooking a steelhead in this section of river, or the whole Wenatchee for that matter will get better and better.

Anglers should be aware that there are some closures to steelhead fishing on Methow and Okanogan rivers. The Methow will close to fishing on Sunday, March 1st from the upstream boundary of Heckendorn Park (across from East 20 Pizza) to the Highway 20 Bridge in Winthrop. The reason for the change is to allow the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery to capture natural origin steelhead Broodstock to meet hatchery production and genetic management goals.

Areas the Okanogan River will close to steelhead angling one hour after sunset on February 28th include: From the first power line crossing downstream of the Highway 155 Bridge in Omak (Coulee Dam Credit Union Building) to the mouth of Omak Creek. Also closing is the stretch from the Tonasket Bridge (4th Street) downstream to the Tonasket Logoons Park boat launch.

The Wenatchee River is open from the mouth to the Icicle Road Bridge, including the Icicle River from the mouth to 500 feet downstream to the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Barrier Dam. The Entiat River is open from the mouth to approximately ½ mile upstream to a point perpendicular with the intersection of the Entiat River Road and Hedding Street. The Methow is open from the mouth to the upstream boundary of Heckendorn Park in Winthrop and from the Highway 20 Bridge in Winthrop to the confluence of the Chewuch River. Fishing from a floating device is prohibited from the second powerline crossing (1 mile upstream from the mouth) to the first Highway 153 Bridge (4 miles upstream from the mouth). The Similkameen River is open from the mouth to 400 feet below Enloe Dam. All of these rivers, including the main stem Columbia River will be open until further notice.

The warm weather is good news for the organizers of the 5th annual Tagged Trout Derby on Burke Lake, near Quincy. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th and it looks like ice will not be an issue this year. The Quincy Valley Tourism Association will once again be placing tagged trout in Burke, with one worth $2,000.00 and other worth $1,000.00 to the angler that catches them. There will be many other tagged fish planted in the lake, and the QVTA will be paying $100.00 for every one of them caught and turned in. If the big money fish, worth $2,000.00 on the 7th isn’t caught during the derby the QVTA will pay $500.00 to the angler that catches it and turns it into the Quincy Chamber of Commerce office no later than June 1st. There will also be cash and prizes handed out for the heaviest fish and the heaviest cumulative weight in both the adult and youth divisions. There will be prizes awarded through raffles as well. Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $10.00 for kids under the age of 15. Tickets are available at Hooked on Toys in Wenatchee, Sportsman’s Warehouse in East Wenatchee, and at Quincy Hardware and Lumber and the Quincy Chamber of Commerce. You can also get the rules and registration information on line by logging onto www.quincyvalleytourism.org. Be sure you are looking at the information for the 2015 derby when you log on.

Meanwhile at Roses Lake... the lake was completely ice-free and just as I walked down to the shore a father and son teamed up to bring in a fat 12-inch rainbow. Trout fishing should be good for planted rainbow here and there was just one bass angler that had used the launch. Most of the year-round lakes should be ice free in the region and that means early fishing for trout and other species.

FishingMagician.com