Monday, April 7th

April is a huge month for fishing activity here in Central Washington.

There are kid's events, great fishing for trout walleye and bass already going on, and the annual general trout season opener at the end of the month. The Columbia Basin Kids Fishing Derby at Connelly Park takes place on Saturday, April 12th.

The following weekend is the annual Kids Free Fishing Day at the juvenile pond in Rock Island.

On the 26th and 27th of April is the new Triple Fish Challenge on Banks Lake. This is really going to be a fun one.

People will be competing to catch the biggest trout, smallmouth bass and walleye at this one.

Fishing has already been good at Banks, so this year's event will be great! To learn more about the Triple Fish Challenge go to my web site at fishingmagician.com and click on the ad on my Home Page. I will be fishing Banks this week, so I will have some tips for you in next week's ads.

Also, I have just posted four videos on the Fishing TV Page to help you make the most of a variety of fishing this spring.

Wednesday, April 9th

If you follow the dam counts you can see that spring salmon are beginning to make it over Bonneville Dam and heading up the Columbia River.

There are still questions about how these fish are going to make it over Wanapum Dam.

Well, I talked to the folks at Grant County PUD recently, and although they don't have a plan in place for the ultimate fix of the cracked monolith, they are working ahead on fish passage.

They are working on the fish ladder at Wanapum and at the same time are prepared to trap fish and haul them up river past Rock Island Dam. They will have the fish ladder operational and the trap and haul option both done by April 15th.

There has been a race against time knowing that spring fish will be returning, and it appears that with these options in place by the 15th they will be ready for the arrival of the spring return to our region.

Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that fish passage at both Wanapum and Rock Island will be accomplished, and prime fisheries like the Icicle River spring salmon season and the planned opening of the Wenatchee to spring salmon fishing will occur.

Friday, April 11th

I spent yesterday on Banks Lake. Eric Granstrom and I were going to do a new Fishing TV Show on walleye fishing here with Keith Jensen, of Big Wally's Guide Service.

What we did instead was try to catch three species, like we were doing the Triple Fish Challenge. This tournament is coming up on April 26th and 27th at Coulee Playland and offers cash and prizes for the biggest walleye, smallmouth bass and rainbow trout.

We started out just across from Coulee Playland at the north end and Jensen got a 20-inch walleye right off the bat. We then tried for smallmouth in the Devils Punch Bowl, and caught a bunch of them.

Next we fished for rainbow and got four nice ones in no time, trolling close to shore outside the Punch Bowl and at the rip rap at the very top of the lake. We then went back to where we started and Jensen put two more keeper walleye in the live well. What a blast.

We got all three species and had a great time doing it.

Don't forget, the annual Kids Free Fishing Day at Rock Island is coming up on Saturday, April 19th. Bring your fishing gear and plan to have a lot of fun.