Rollie Schmitten and I traveled to Carlton, on the Methow River and met Keith Roe earlier this week. We used the parking area at the launch site and set up shop to tape a session for the new television show. The skies were clear, no wind at all, and a brisk 18 degrees.

We had planned to get right to the fishing part of the show, but there was ice floating in the river, so we did the "tutorial" part of the show first. We took our time and could actually see the ice dissipate as the sun worked its magic. It must have been close to 28 degrees when we packed up and headed for our first hole on the river.

Nothing was waiting for us there, but we had better luck on our next stop, or I should say Keith did. He was using his special Raven jigs that he ties and took three fish, including one Coho and two wild steelhead from this hole. Roe's three fish were the total for the short day we had for fishing, and if you plan on fishing the Methow soon, don't be in a hurry to get there. Let the ice melt and hit it late morning or by noon.