Careful what you pray for is an old saying, and anglers that were praying for rain got maybe a bit more then they wanted on our local rivers. Water levels rose sharply and made fishing difficult for anglers fishing from the shore.

The weather on opening day was difficult even for boaters float the Wenatchee. High winds made boat control a chore and heavy rain added to the frustration. I did get reports that fish were being taken on all the rivers that opened earlier this week, and some indicated that fish are running larger than last year.

It seems the average size of the steelhead returning to our area varies from year to year, and this is good news. I had reports of fish taken from the Wenatchee, Entiat, main stem Columbia and Okanogan. The best report was from the Methow River.

Good numbers of fish are being found from the estuary up stream. Steelhead anglers fishing the mouth of Entiat also had good success opening day.

I will be fishing Pateros and the Methow myself, and I will be sure to let you know how I do.