The Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has high hopes for the trout fishing at Burke and Quincy Lakes this year in the Quincy Wildlife Area. Unfortunately, fisherman present for the March 1st Opener found ice instead of open water.

Today I went out to these lakes with my wife and son for some mid afternoon fishing. Both lakes were about 80 percent ice free and each had a good, but not overwhelming, number of anglers working the shoreline and water.

The sun was shining and the lakes were initially calm in classic Eastern Washington spring time weather. The fishing was not fast and furious for us at Burke Lake. Checking with anglers I found that people were averaging about a fish each. The fishermen doing the best were using powerbait from shore. Hardware anglers and trollers in boats didn't seem to fare as well. The size of the fish was very impressive. Every fish I saw ranged between 11 and 14 inches, with many of these fish close to a pound in size. The color on these fish was fabulous and the ones I saw hooked fought well, as rainbows always seem to do.

As for my family, my wife missed a nice strike and that was it before the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped, sending us on our way with our three year old.

I suspect the fishing will get better as the month goes on. With any luck, I'll be back in the next week or two!

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